But you will be receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
Acts 1:8
The Lord Jesus Christ had been crucified just forty days earlier. The disciples were still astonished that what Jesus Christ said to them previously – of His dying according to the Scriptures, His burial and His resurrection according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3-4) – as actually come to pass. When walking with Him and listening to His teaching they didn’t really understand what it was that He was teaching them. Over and over again you read in the Gospels how they did not fully understand Him. After all, who would make such claims? John records that there were just so many things that Jesus Christ did that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written (John 21:25). Could it be that the disciples were still just trying to figure out how Jesus Christ did what He did while in His three and half year ministry here on earth?
Dr. Luke is writing a second account of Jesus Christ and His ministry here on earth. You will recall that he also authored the Gospel According to Luke – one of the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke). He is writing to his friend Theophilus and continuing where he left off with Jesus Christ’s resurrection (Luke 24). Jesus Christ had appeared to two disciples that were on their way to Emmaus and they were talking about the current events. They witnessed Jesus Christ die on the cross and they knew that He had been buried. But was it true that some of the disciples snatched His body from the tomb? After all, that was a rumor circulating in the news reports and the city’s gossip columns. Then all of a sudden – as it He came from nowhere, nowhere at all – Jesus Christ started to speak with these two men. Luke records Jesus’ response to them, O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe al that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into His glory? And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself (Luke 24:25-27).
Theophilus had to learn these truths and Dr. Luke had to tell him no doubt out of concern for his salvation. He so wanted Theophilus to know that Jesus Christ really is who He said that He is. That every promise of going to the cross to die and to be raised again was true.
Now in Acts, Luke is wanting to continue his writing on what it is that Jesus Christ continued to do after His resurrection. The Apostle Paul teaches us that there were many witnesses to the fact of His resurrection (Acts 1:3; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11). When Jesus Christ rose from the dead, He just continued to teach the disciples (Acts 1:1-2). In His teaching He gave directions to the disciples to stay in Jerusalem and there the Holy Spirit would come upon them (1:4-5).
But were the disciples concerned about the coming of the Holy Spirit? Well, it appears that they were more concerned still of the coming kingdom of Jesus Christ that would reign here on earth. After Jesus Christ gives them directions, they asked Him, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom of Israel? (1:6). Again, just as He did with Nicodemus, He points their sights to the proper perspective. They were to remain there in Jerusalem because they were to receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon them and they would be His witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth (1:8). After giving this further instruction to the disciples, the Scriptures tell us that while they were still looking at Jesus, He was lifted up, and a cloud took Him out of their sight (1:9). The amazement never ends with Jesus Christ!
Those who were there were just standing amazed and gazing at the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ (1:10). And then, all of a sudden, two men who were dressed in white garments informs them of Jesus’ future plans. They said to the disciples, This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven (1:11).
But what does all of this mean for you and me today? There is a very simple answer to this question but sometimes we make it so complex. The answer is this: We are to tell others of what it is that we have seen and known of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are to reach out to those around us – wherever we are – and tell them of this Jesus Christ. We can’t just sit here thinking that people will come to know Jesus Christ unless we are about the business of witnessing and telling others of this saving grace that He gives to all who believe.
