4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Vs. 4-5 4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
Luke now recalls how Jesus after His Resurrection presented Himself alive to the disciples while they were all assembled in the room in Jerusalem, and thus taking His place amongst them, the Lord Jesus Christ told them to remain in Jerusalem, to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
Now Johns baptism was to prepare Israel
for the coming of the Messiah who is Jesus Christ, thus it was only with water
which itself only ritually cleansed everyone who was repentant in heart, preparing
them to receive the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, God’s Promise of Remission of
sins and New and Everlasting life did not come through John’s baptism but only through
Christ’s. For it is only by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ’s suffering death on
the Cross and Resurrection from the dead that we receive remission of all of
our sins and everlasting life. Now the remission of all of our sins is imputed
to us only by the Lord Jesus Christ’s shed blood on the Cross, for it is by His
shed blood that we are washed clean from all of our sins. That said there still
is His Promise of New and Everlasting and that also happens the moment we
believe in Him by His Holy Spirit which He now baptizes us with the moment we
believe in Him. And so, Luke now recalls how Jesus after He had Risen from the
dead and appeared to them told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem until He
baptized them with the Holy Spirit, for until then the Holy Spirit had not been
poured out into the world. And it is the Holy Spirit who transforms not only
their persons, but also ours, by bringing us to Spirit life and uniting us with
Christ. And so, in this we are also baptized into Jesus Christ’s death and
Resurrection, thus we die to what we once were, and we rise to what Jesus
Christ has now recreated us to be by His Spirit as new creations in Christ (Rom.
6; 8; 2 Cor. 5:17). Therefore, when the Lord Jesus Christ baptizes us with His
Holy Spirit, He not only saves us, sealing us and sanctifying us by His Spirit
for all eternity, but He also transforms us, making us new creations in Christ!
Therefore, by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ we have been delivered from the
power of darkness (from sin, Satan, and death) and conveyed into the kingdom of
Son of God’s love (Col. 1:13)!
Vs. 6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked
Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
Therefore, in answering them Jesus makes it clear that it is not for us to know times and seasons which God the Father has put into His own Authority (vs. 7). That is, we are not given a specific time in the Scripture when God will do this, (for God has reserved that knowledge for Himself), rather we are to live our lives down here in expectation that this may occur at any time! (consider Matt. 24:45-51; 25:1-13; Luke 12:35-48; 21:34-35 etc.)
Vs. 8 “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
The Lord Jesus then having moved the disciples focus away from Israel’s restoration and God’s end time agenda to what their purpose is to be down here, now tells them that they will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon them, and that they will be witnesses to Jesus Christ, first in Jerusalem, where He was rejected and Crucified, and then in all the surrounding region of Judea and Samaria, and finally even to the ends of the earth! Theirs and ours then is not be about speculating about Israel’s Restoration or the Kingdom of God’s establishment on earth rather theirs and our is to be His witnesses to the ends of the earth! For that is every Christians purpose for remaining here on earth, to bear witness to Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and thus the grace of God that comes through Him to everyone who believes! First in the place where we believed in Him, thus to our family and friends and acquaintances, or church family etc., and then as God moves or directs us, or gives opportunities to us, to everyone everywhere! For as the Lord Jesus says in giving us His Holy Spirit, He is giving us power (Gr. dunamis, Str. 1411) to be His witnesses to the ends of the earth! This then is every Christians point and purpose and service for God, not to continually speculate on end times events and happenings, (which profit or benefit no one), but as we see the end approaching to bear down and be about doing the work of the Gospel!
Scripture Quotations
New King James (1982):Thomas Nelson.
No comments:
Post a Comment