Ye shall be witnesses
Today's focusJesus tells the disciples to wait for the promise of the Father, says they will receive power when the Holy Ghost comes and be his witnesses to the uttermost part of the earth, and is taken up into heaven.
Read
4And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. 5For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. 6When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? 7And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. 8But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. 9And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. 10And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; 11Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
Reflection
As the disciples gather with Jesus, they are eager for answers about the future. They ask if he will "restore again the kingdom to Israel" at this time. Jesus does not give them a calendar or a map of political change. Instead, he tells them that "it is not for you to know the times or the seasons" which rest in the Father’s power. Like the disciples, you may feel an urgent need to know what happens next in your life, but Jesus calls you to a different kind of preparation: waiting for "the promise of the Father."
This promise is not a set of instructions, but the gift of the Holy Ghost. Jesus assures his followers, "ye shall receive power" to become his witnesses, reaching from their local streets to "the uttermost part of the earth." Even as Jesus is "taken up" and hidden by a cloud, his work does not end; it simply changes form through his people. You are not left to serve in your own strength. By the same power promised to those men of Galilee, you are called to live as a witness of the "same Jesus" who will one day return.
AI-written reflection on the passage above. Let Scripture itself be the main thing.
Reflect
Where is your 'Jerusalem', the people and places closest to you, where you can be a witness for Jesus?
Pray
Lord Jesus, you are risen and ascended, and you will come again. Fill me with your Spirit's power. Make me your witness, starting where I live.