The Forgotten Mission

…you will 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

Commissioned for Action

Just prior to Jesus’ ascension, he explains to the disciples what they can expect. He tells them that they will soon be baptized with the Holy Spirit (1:5) which leads them to begin to asking questions about the kingdom of Israel. In other words, he is speaking to them about eternal issues and they are focused on the issues of the moment. He is speaking of an eternal kingdom and they are speaking of an earthly kingdom.

Jesus then tells them that they do not need to concern themselves with such things. He says, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority” (1:7). Instead, he makes it clear what they should be concerned about. Jesus tells them, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (1:8).

In looking at verse eight, something stands out. Not once, but twice, Jesus says, “You will.” This is a definitive statement. He does not say, “you might.” Nor does he say, “you ought.” He says, “You will.” The first time he says this he is speaking of receiving the power of the Holy Spirit, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” This is to serve as an encouragement to you and me. We have a power that exceeds our own power. We have a means to the same power that raise Jesus from the dead.

The second time Jesus says, “you will,” he is giving us a command. He says, “You will be my witnesses.” You and I, through the power of the Holy Spirit, are to give a bold testimony of who Jesus is and what he has done for us. This command does not leave room for us to decide whether or not we will obey. We are told by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ what we are to do.

Unfortunately, I think we are sometimes like the disciples. We are more concerned with temporal issues, like “are you going to restore the kingdom of Israel?” than we are eternal issues. We get distracted by the momentary matters of this life and forget to give real attention to the eternal matters.

I wonder what life would look like, both as individuals and as a church, if we made fulfilling Jesus’ command our top priority. What if we gave this command as much energy as we do to taking care of our personal business or priorities? What if we were as passionate about the call of Christ as we are our own preferences? All this would radically increase the impact we have on the world around us.