Don't Leave Yet
Luke 24:44-49 NKJV
44 Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me." 45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.
46 Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 And you are witnesses of these things. 49 Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high."
Luke shares some of the last words of Jesus prior to His ascension back to heaven. He took time to show His disciples all of the scriptures that were in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms that concerned Him. To Jesus, it was important that His followers knew of the scriptural foundation regardingwho Jesus was and what He had come to accomplish. Not only did Jesus show them the Scriptures, He opened their understanding so they would comprehend what the Word of God was saying. That had to be some amazing ah-ha moments for the disciples as revelation came to them from Jesus. TheScriptures came alive as to what had happened to Jesus, and that all things were the fulfillment of the Scriptures.
So the disciples, who had walked with Jesus for over three years and now had personal revelation as to how Jesus was the fulfillment of Scripture, were also given a mandate. Repentance and remission of sins were to be proclaimed to all nations in Jesus' name, starting with Jerusalem. A side note here: the disciples missed the part about preaching to all nations, but so much of spiritual understanding is progressive. We grow into spiritual knowledge. In any case, you would think these disciples were totally equipped to fulfill their purpose and take the gospel to the world. They were the eye witnesses of all Jesus said and did, and were eye witnesses of His resurrection. But Jesus said don't leave yet.
Don't leave yet? Evidently, Jesus, who knew better than anyone what it would take to reach the nations, knew that the disciples needed more. They needed more than knowledge of Him. They needed more than knowledge of the Scriptures. They needed more than a calling. Jesus told them to wait for the Promise of the Father. To tarry, which means to wait, until they were endued with power from on high. The old commercials for American Express said, "Don't leave home without it," and that was exactly what Jesus was telling His disciples. Don't leave Jerusalem until you receive the power from on high, the ability of God.
Jesus was referring to the Holy Spirit. Luke, who also wrote the book of Acts, continues the story of the disciples waiting in the upper room. And on the day of Pentecost, a Jewish festival, the Holy Spirit made a dramatic entrance as the sound of a rushing mighty wind. He filled the upper room and the one hundred and twenty followers of Jesus, and they spilled out into the streets speaking with other tongues and magnifying God. After the Holy Spirit came, we see these disciples armed with more than just an intimate knowledge of Jesus. We see them not just knowing the Scriptures but operating in a divine ability that turned Peter, the fisherman, into Peter the preacher who saw three thousand people converted to Christ with one message.
Application
I have often thought about the men and women who knew and walked with Jesus during His time on earth. If they needed power from heaven to fulfill the great assignment given to them from Jesus Himself, how much more do we need this same power today? We have knowledge of the Scriptures and insight into who Jesus is and what He came to do, as did the disciples. We have an assignment to carry this gospel for repentance and remission of sins to the nations of the world as did the disciples. We may have greater communication tools than the early disciples, but we still need the same power from on high to get the job done. Effective communication methods aid but do not replace the power of the Holy Spirit to touch and reach the hearts of men. And thankfully, we don’t have to wait for Him in Jerusalem. He is already here.
Prayer
Thank You, Father, for the Holy Spirit. Show me how I can work with Him more to see Jesus glorified in my life and in my world.