The Witness

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSLTLES

THE WITNESS

Acts 1:6-11

6 So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" 7 He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."  9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. 10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."

NIV

There are several truths in this exchange between Jesus and his disciples and then between the disciples and two angels. Jesus had told them to wait, that in a few days they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit, just like John baptized with water. We should have noted in the previous verses, the parallel Jesus used between John baptizing with water and the baptism with the Spirit. When we were baptized in water, we were totally emersed in the water. This is how it is when we are baptized with the Spirit,  we are completely emersed with and by Him. It is also interesting that after spending three years with Jesus, hearing him teach, preach, perform healings and miracles and being told what was  going to happen, and then watch it happen, they still had not gotten the truth deep down within them. They still asked if this was the time he would restore the kingdom to Israel. Is this the time he would overthrow Rome, destroy the Roman army, kick them out of Israel and set up his throne in Jerusalem. One day that is going to happen, but it is not for any of us humans to know when. However, we do have a commission from Jesus, a mission to be about doing. This truth he told to his disciples applies to all of us who learn from Jesus. For the Greek word translated as disciple means to be a learner, therefore, we are his disciples and we receive power when we are baptized with the Holy Spirit, and we are to be witnesses to the ends of the earth. Although it is good some are called to be missionaries to some of the ends of the earth and we support a portion of their expenses, that does not relieve us from being witnesses about Jesus because we happen to live at one of the ends of the earth. That brings up the question as to how do we witness. It cannot be by just being a good person, or going to church. If we use our lives as a witness, then we must reflect the glory of God, so others can see His Glory shining out from us. But the idea of being a witness, as witness in a courtroom, is to testify what we have heard, seen, and what has happened to us. That requires us to speak up, use our voice to tell the story about Jesus. There just isn’t any other way around that truth about being a witness. We will leave this exchange with the angels for later, because this truth about being His learner, His disciple means we need to be the witness.