Awaiting the Final Verification

Introduction:

Acts’ writer has emphasized the interactions between Jesus and the apostles.

Luke has focused on the important 40 day period when Jesus demonstrated that he was living after his crucifixion ordeal.

Jesus remained the point of emphasis, but the author has specifically highlighted the apostles rather than a broader group of disciples.

He presented himself (Lk. 1:3)

He commanded them (Lk. 1:4). We will pick up here with this statement.

Luke also uses a string of important participles:

Being seen by them (Lk. 1:3).

Eating (Lk. 1:4).

Shortly, we shall have a few important questions to consider.

Revisiting the Last Command

Jesus commanded them not to leave Jerusalem rather to be remaining/awaiting the promise of the Father.

Lk. 24:49.

His apostles had already gone into Galilee as Jesus told them to, but as the time of Jesus’ ascension drew near, apparently, he met with them in Jerusalem as well.

The apostles, with Peter as their leader, according to John’s gospel contemplated a return to commercial fishing.

Jesus did not want them to leave the city of Jerusalem.

They were neither to return to Galilee nor to travel to any other part of Israel.

They were to remain in the city in state of expectancy of some future event.

The “promise of the Father which you heard from me” does more than repeats Lk. 24:49, it was a staple of Jesus teaching to his disciples.

John, more than the other Gospel writers, emphasizes this particularly in John 13-16 (but, as we may see, not just there).

The Reason for the Command

Jesus continues to speak, and Luke records the reasoning behind Jesus’ command to await the promise of the Father.

Notice the “because” phrasing where Jesus explains why his disciples should remain in Jerusalem.

It explains the why but also the issue.

The connection back to John the Baptist is important.

The first half of the statement looks backwards to John and his baptism.

The second half points toward something in the future.

All four gospels include John making this statement, a rarity.

Mt. 3:11-14.

Mk. 3:7-9

Lk. 3:15-18 (we will return to this one).

Jn. 1:33

Introduction: Part 2

For Luke, the 40 days were vital for the Apostles.

They received evidence that Jesus was living.

Not only did they need confidence, but they also needed guidance.

Jesus provided both instruction and guidance.

It was the combination of the appearances, the instruction, and the additional fulfillment of prophecy that reoriented their thinking and explains their subsequent actions.

Reckoning with the Accounts

Why does every gospel and Acts refer to this set of statements?

For a first century, Jewish audience, what did the one who would bestow the Holy Spirit mean? What did they anticipate?

John uses the statement to indicate that:

He is not Messiah.

The one coming after him is superior to him.

He is judge.

Luke, here, anticipates the Day of Pentecost event and Peter’s explanation about Jesus.

The promise of the Spirit isn’t about empowerment alone.

It functions as evidence that verifies Jesus as Messiah.

John 7:37-39

John notes the time when Jesus’ makes these statements.

The seventh day of the Tabernacles or Booths festival was known as Hoshana Rabba (The Great Hosanna or Supplication).

Tabernacles was known as a time of joyous festivities.

One the final day, one of the peculiar ceremonies was the water-drawing ceremony.

A golden pitcher holding three logs was filled by a priest with water from Siloam and brought through the Water Gate while the multitude recited Isaiah 12:3 “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” Amid trumpet blasts, the water was pour simultaneously with a libation of wine into a tube in the altar, through which it flowed mingling with the libation of wine by an underground passage to the Kidron.

The priests circled the altar chanting Psalm 118:25 “Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success!”

Note the passage that follows: Psalm 118:26 “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord.”

Rabbi Joshua ben Levi writing in the 3rd century, but thought to have been very familiar with the first century practices asked:

“Why is the name called, The Drawing out of Water? Because of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, according to what is said: Isaiah 12:3 “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.”

Note how Jesus, after he shouts about coming to him for water, connects this to the Holy Spirit, per John’s explanation.

Apparently, the Jews not only saw this as a time of remembrance of their wilderness journies, but they also called for Jehovah’s deliverance and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

The one who provides the Holy Spirit is the Messiah. He is Yahweh.

As the one who sent the Spirit, Jesus, then, fulfills the last expectation of Messiah.

He is the bringer of salvation.

He is the Messiah.

Reorienting the Apostles

Based upon the connections made by the Jews with the Messianic kingdom and the coming of the Spirit, the apostles’ question to Jesus makes sense.

Notice the “therefore” pointing the reader to this logical connection.

We must also consider the implications the coming of the Spirit has on Jewish thinking about the “end of days.”

Jesus uses a phrase “times and seasons” that has such implications.

Paul uses it in 1 Thess. 5:1 to refer to the “Day of the Lord.”

They asked if Jesus, as Messiah, was going to restore the kingdom to Israel.

Would Israel finally enjoy its independence again from foreign rule.

This has roots going back to the Babylonian captivity and especially the Hasmonean period (167-142).

The Jews lived under Roman rule after Pompey the Great’s march on Jerusalem in 63 BC.

Jesus responds by reorienting their understanding of their role.

The question of restoration belonged to God alone.

Their concern about the future was now going to be two-fold.

They would receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on them.

“You will be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

Witnesses: a forensic term that refers to someone who can give evidence of something.

They could recount the events, the teachings, and miracles of Jesus.

They could give evidence of the sequence of events that led to his crucifixion.

They could witness to Jesus being alive after crucifixion.

They could point to the evidence of the coming of the Spirit as evidence for Jesus’ person.