The promise of my Father – The promise which the Father had made to them through the Saviour. See Mat 10:19; Joh 14:16-17, Joh 14:26. The promise was, that they should be aided by the power of the Holy Spirit. He also doubtless referred to the promise of God, made in the days of Joel, respecting the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. See Joe 2:28-29, compared with Act 2:16-21.

Endued with power from on high – The power which would be given them by the descent of the Holy Spirit – the power of speaking with tongues, of working miracles, and of preaching the gospel with the attending blessing and aid of the Holy Spirit. This was accomplished in the gift of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. See Acts 2.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 49. The promise of my Father] That is, the Holy Ghost, promised, Joh 15:26. See Ac 1:4; Ac 2:33.

Until ye be endued with power] The energy of the Holy Ghost was to be communicated to them for three particular purposes.

1. That he might be in them, a sanctifying comforter, fortifying their souls and bringing to their remembrance whatever Jesus had before spoken to them.

2. That their preaching might be accompanied by his demonstration and power to the hearts of their hearers, so that they might believe and be saved.

3. That they might be able to work miracles to confirm their pretensions to a Divine mission, and to establish the truth of the doctrines they preached.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

It is questioned by none, but by the promise of the Father our Lord meaneth the promise of the Spirit, as it came down in the days of Pentecost. This effusion of the Spirit was promised under the Old Testament, Isa 44:3; Jer 31:33; Eze 36:27; most eminently, Joe 2:28, the apostle himself interpreting this prophecy, Act 2:16-18. See also Act 1:8, where the fulfilling of this promise of the Father, as it is called Act 1:4, is put beforeand ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in Judea and in Samaria; and is also expounded by, But ye shall receive power, after the Holy Ghost is come upon you. Our Lord also had said, I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever. Joh 14:16. In this text he saith, that he will send him; so also Joh 15:26; Joh 16:7; thereby confirming his disciples in this, that he was equal with the Father, and that the Holy Ghost was sent by the Father and him, yet sent by the Father upon the prayer of the Son, and in his name, Joh 14:16,26. This Holy Spirit is also called, power from on high; the power of the Highest, Luk 1:35. But here the gifts of the Holy Ghost may be understood, as also in Act 1:8, where it is said this power should be received after that the Holy Ghost should come upon them: until this time should come, which was in the days of Pentecost, Act 2:1, the disciples were bound to stay at Jerusalem, which accordingly they did. And we may from hence conclude, that these words of our Saviour were spoken to his disciples after his appearance to them in Galilee, (of which Luke saith nothing), which was the place where (as most think) he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once, 1Co 15:6.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

49. I sendthe present tense,to intimate its nearness.

promise of my Fatherthatis, what My Father hath promised; the Holy Ghost, of which Christ isthe authoritative Dispenser (Joh 14:7;Rev 3:1; Rev 5:6).

enduedinvested, orclothed with; implying, as the parallels show (Rom 13:14;1Co 15:53; Gal 3:27;Col 3:9; Col 3:10),their being so penetrated and acted upon by conscious supernaturalpower (in the full sense of that word) as to stamp with divineauthority the whole exercise of their apostolic office,including, of course, their pen as well as their mouth.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you,…. By which is meant the promise of the Spirit, called the promise of the Father, because he was promised by the Father to be sent, and poured on the saints in the times of the Messiah, Isa 44:3 and because Christ promised to pray the Father for him, and to send him from him; and that the Father should send him in his name, who would fit and qualify them for, and assist them in bearing a testimony for him; since he would teach them all things, lead them into all truth, take of the things of Christ, and show them to them, and bring to their remembrance all things they had seen and heard: and this promise of the Father was to be sent in a very short time, in ten days time, as accordingly it was; and might be very properly said to be sent “upon” them, since, when he was sent down, he sat upon them in the appearance of fire; and this being a marvellous thing, as well as of great moment and importance, it is introduced with a “behold”, as a note both of admiration and attention.

But tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem; for the space of ten days; here they were to continue during that time, and not depart thence; yea, they were to sit there, as the word used signifies: they were to sit still, and be silent; they were not to begin to preach; they were only to attend to prayer and Christian conversation, and to wait for the Spirit, the promise of the Father; and who also is designed in the following clause:

until ye be endued with power from on high; the Spirit of God is a spirit of might, and of power, as well as of knowledge, of understanding, of counsel, of love, and of a sound mind; whereby they were to be fortified, and inspired with courage and greatness of soul, so as to look their greatest adversaries in the face with boldness and intrepidity, and freely, and without fear, speak unto them; and whereby their ministrations would be succeeded to the conversion of many souls; and accordingly so it was: for after the Spirit was poured out upon them, they who before were timorous and fearful, came forth publicly, with undaunted courage, and resolution, and boldness, to the amazement of their adversaries; and their preaching was with the demonstration of the Spirit, and of power; who may be said to be “from on high”, since he descended from heaven upon them; and they may be said to be “endued”, or “clothed” with him, since there was such an extra ordinary and plentiful effusion of his gifts and graces on them: and now they were to wait in Jerusalem for this, that in the place where the Spirit had been dishonoured and blasphemed, and the unpardonable sin against him had been committed by the Scribes and Pharisees, the might be in a most visible and signal manner honoured; and also, because the doctrine of the Lord was to go out of Zion, and the word of the Lord out of Jerusalem. The Vulgate Latin version leaves out the word “Jerusalem”, and reads only, “sit ye in the city until”, &c. but then no other city can be designed.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Until ye be clothed ( ). First aorist middle subjunctive of or . It is an old verb for putting on a garment. It is here the indirect middle, put on yourselves power from on high as a garment. They are to wait till this experience comes to them. This is “the promise of the Father.” It is an old metaphor in Homer, Aristophanes, Plutarch, and Paul uses it often.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

I send [ ] . Rev., better, send forth, giving the force of ejx. I emphatic.

Endued with power. The Rev. has properly substituted the simpler clothed, which, to the English reader, conveys the exact figure in the word. This metaphorical sense of clothed is found in classical Greek.

Aristophanes has clothes with audacity; Homer, clothed with strength; Plutarch, clothes with nobility and wealth.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

THE ASCENSION OF JESUS IN THE PRESENCE OF HIS CHURCH

V. 49-53

1) “And, behold, I send,” (kai idou ego eksaposthello) “And take note, I send out and forth on a mission,” as I promised or told you I would, Joh 14:16-17; Act 1:8.

2) “The promise of my Father upon you:” (ten epangellean tou patros mou eph! humas) “The promise of my Father upon you all,” Isa 44:3; Joe 2:28; Joh 14:16-17, which He on my request and behalf will send forth, at Pentecost, and He did, Joh 14:27; Act 2:1-4.

3) “But tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem,” humeis de kathisate en te polei) “Then you all stay put,” in the city of Jerusalem, where you are, sit down, pray, and wait. Do not run ahead or linger when He comes, but move when He does come, Act 1:8; Rom 1:14-16.

4) “Until ye be endued with power from on high.” (heos ou endusesthe eks hupsous dunamin) “Until you are clothed out of and from the power on high,” with spiritual power and unction, Act 1:8; Act 2:1-21, to help you witness, 1Jn 2:27-28, from heaven, Holy Spirit dynamics. This same word meaning endued, as by adequate, becoming clothing, is used Jdg 6:34; Act 2:1-4. Such had come upon individuals before to prepare them for special tasks, but never upon an assembly body like the church body that Jesus had assembled and instituted as His body and house of worship and service, that replaced that one that Moses built, Heb 3:1-6; Mar 13:34-35; 1Ti 3:15.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

49. And, lo, I send. That the apostles may not be terrified by their weakness, he invites them to expect new and extraordinary grace; as if he had said, though you feel yourselves to be unfit for such a charge, there is no reason why you should despond, because I will send you from heaven that power which I know that you do not possess. The more fully to confirm them in this confidence, he mentions that the Father had promised to them the Holy Spirit; for, in order that they might prepare themselves with greater alacrity for the work, God had already encouraged them by his promise, as a remedy for their distrust. Christ now puts himself in the place of the Father, and undertakes to perform the promise; in which he again claims for himself divine power. To invest feeble men with heavenly power, is a part of that glory which God swears that he will not give to another: and, therefore, if it belongs to Christ, it follows that he is that God who formerly spoke by the mouth of the prophet, (Isa 42:8.) And though God promised special grace to the apostles, and Christ bestowed it on them, we ought to hold universally that no mortal is of himself qualified for preaching the gospel, except so far as God clothes him with his Spirit, to supply his nakedness and poverty. And certainly, as it is not in reference to the apostles alone that Paul exclaims,

(2Co 2:16,) And who shall be found sufficient for these things?

so all whom God raises up to be ministers of the gospel must be endued with the heavenly Spirit; and, therefore, in every part of Scripture he is promised to all the teachers of the Church without exception.

But remain you in the city of Jerusalem. That they may not advance to teach before the proper time, Christ enjoins on them silence and repose, until, sending them out according to his pleasure, he may make a seasonable use of their labors. And this was a useful trial of their obedience, that, after having been endued with the understanding of the Scripture, and after having had the grace of the Spirit breathed on them, (Joh 20:22😉 yet because the Lord had forbidden them to speak, they were silent as if they had been dumb. For we know that those who expect to gain applause and admiration from their hearers are very desirous to appear in public. Perhaps, too, by this delay, Christ intended to punish them for indolence, because they did not, in compliance with his injunction, set out immediately, on the same day, for Galilee. However that may be, we are taught by their example, that we ought to attempt nothing but as the Lord calls us to it; and, therefore, though they may possess some ability to teach in public, let men remain in silence and retirement, until the Lord lead them by the hand into the public assembly. When they are commanded to remain at Jerusalem, we must understand this to mean, after they had returned from Galilee. For, as we shortly afterwards learn from Matthew, though he gave them an opportunity of seeing him at Jerusalem, still he did not change his original intention to go to Galilee, (Mat 26:32.) The meaning of the word, therefore, is, that after having given them injunctions at the appointed place, he wishes them to remain silent for a time, until he supplies them with new rigor.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

49. And behold A new point is here presented parallel with Act 1:4.

The promise of my Father The

thing promised Luke has not anywhere told us what this promise was; but his words presuppose what John tells us Luk 14:16-26; Luk 15:26; Luk 16:7-11.

Tarry Jerusalem This must have been uttered after the return to Jerusalem from the visit to Galilee.

Mat 28:16-20; Joh 21:1-24.

Endued with power Clothed with power as with a garment.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

“And behold, I send forth the promise of my Father on you, but tarry you in the city, until you be clothed with power from on high.”

But before they can do this they will need exceptional power, that which the Father has promised them, the drenching with the Holy Spirit (Luk 3:6-17), power from on High. In Luke the promise was made from the beginning, and later confirmed (Luk 11:13), but in John it was also clarified and expanded (Joh 7:38-39; Joh 14:16-17; Joh 14:26; Joh 15:26; Joh 16:7-11). There may, however, also here be a reference o the Old Testament promises of the Spirit in Isa 44:1-5; Eze 36:25-27; Eze 37:9-10; Joe 2:28-29 as cited in Act 2:18)

This exceptional power came in two stages. Firstly in the Upper room it came to the Apostles alone as their eyes were opened to understand the Scriptures, and they received the Spirit of truth from Jesus ready for the task ahead, through Whose direction they would offer forgiveness to all who believed and come within the range of God’s mercy (Joh 20:23). And then it would come on the whole body of disciples, forming them into the new congregation of the new Israel at Pentecost (Mat 16:18; Act 1:6-8; Act 2:1-4), from where they would go out to proclaim the word of the Kingly Rule of God to the world.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Luk 24:49. Behold, I send the promise, &c. That is, I will shortly send; the present being used for the future tense, as it is frequently in scripture. Till ye be endued, or invested with power from on high, means, “Till you are inspired with the Holy Ghost from above.”

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Luk 24:49 . Encouragement to this calling of bearing witness by assurance of the sending of the Spirit, and they were not to leave Jerusalem until after they had received this mission. Comp. Act 1:4 . They were therefore soon to receive it, and not before their reception of it to enter upon their calling.

] it is I who send. The present of the near and certain future. Moreover, this assurance has as its presupposition the approaching ascension. Comp. Joh 7:39 ; Joh 16:7 ; Joh 16:13-15 ; Act 2:33 .

. . .] In respect of the difference of the evangelical traditions about the place of sojourn of the risen Lord and His disciples, see on Mat 28:10 . On , to remain , to abide in peace, comp. Act 18:11 .

Jesus characterizes the gifts of the Holy Ghost by the expression (Act 1:4 ), so far as God promised the bestowal thereof by prophetic prediction . [280] Joe 3:1-2 ; Isa 44:1 ff.; Eze 36:27 ; Eze 39:29 . Comp. Act 2:16 ff.; and on Eph 1:13 ; Gal 3:14 . The pouring out of the Spirit is the realization of the promise of the Father.

] till ye have been endued with (definitely; hence without ) power from on high ( vim coelitus suppeditatam ), to wit (comp. Act 1:8 ), by the Holy Spirit . The power is distinct from the Spirit Himself, Luk 1:35 . The metaphoric use of and other verbs of clothing, to denote spiritual relations into which man is translated or translates himself (comp. also Rom 13:14 ; Gal 3:27 ; Eph 4:24 ; Col 3:12 ), is not a Hebraism, but is also frequently found in the classical writers. See Kypke, I. p. 345. Comp. 1Ma 1:28 ; Sir 27:8 ; Test. XII. Patr . p. 587. So the Latin induere , Liv. iii. 33; Quint, Luk 1:1 , and elsewhere; and the Hebrew , Jdg 6:34 ; 1Ch 12:18 .

] comp. Eph 4:8 .

[280] The discrepancy, apparent indeed, though too much insisted on by Strauss, II. p. 645 ff., between the passage before us and Joh 20:22 f. is perfectly explained when it is observed that in this passage the communication of the Spirit , which was the substance of the prophetic promise , is meant, and that this which was to follow at Pentecost does not exclude an earlier and preliminary communication.

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

THIRD SECTION
THE GLEAMING CROWN

Luk 24:49-53

The Prophetic Promise; the Priestly Benediction; the Kingly Glory

(Parallel with Mar 16:19; Act 1:3-9)

49And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem [om., of Jerusalem21], until ye be endued with power from on high. 50And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them.51And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried upinto heaven.22 52And they worshipped him,23 and returned to Jerusalem with great joy:53And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God.24 Amen.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Luk 24:49. I send the promise of My Father.Here the Lord speaks of the Holy Ghost, comp. Act 1:4-8, whom He had often before His death repeatedly promised, and He calls Him an , not quia sibi promissum (Grotius), nor merely inasmuch as God has promised the bestowment of the gifts of the Spirit by prophetic oracles (Meyer), but with retrospective reference to utterances like Joh 14:16, et alibi, and to the symbolical act, Joh 20:22. That this first actual, but yet preliminary and prophetical, communication of the Spirit did not, therefore, exclude a later but abundant communication on the day of Pentecost lies in the nature of the case. The meaning of our Lord is given more fully by Luke when he, Act 1:4, makes Him speak of the promise of the Father, .

.The command which Luke gives to remain in the Capital is in conflict with Matthew (De Wette) only if we consider the silence of the former respecting the Galilean appearance as a denial, and forget that this last command was only given after this and immediately before the Ascension of the Lord. The remaining at Jerusalem was to be not only a , but a retired, although temporary and not long continued , because they must there wait till the promise of the Spirit was fulfilled, and they were not to wait in vain, but to be clothed with , in consequence of the fulfilment of the promise of the Father. It is noticeable how Luke, at the end, as also at the beginning of his gospel, Luk 1:35, unites most intimately the conceptions of Spirit and power, without, however, entirely identifying them. As to the rest, we must compare Acts 1 with this whole concluding address and with the account of the Ascension, and in the treatment of this first chapter of Acts there will be occasion to discuss both more at length.

Luk 24:50. He led them out.Out of Jerusalem, where He was, together with His disciples, on the fortieth, as well as on the first day.As far as Bethany ( , as far as to the neighborhood of Bethany. The reading of Lachmann, who has B., does not appear to us worthy of acceptance.) The statement of the Acts that the disciples returned from the Mount of Olives is only apparently in conflict with this, if we consider that it was over this mountain that the way to the beloved Bethany passed, which lay on its eastern declivity; then the proceeding to this mountain, from whose summit our Lord appears to have ascended, may be called a leading out to the neighborhood of Bethany, although our Lord no longer entered into the last-named place. Perhaps, also, the name Bethany was given, not only to the particular village, but also to the whole region round about, to which also the Mount of Olives belongs. Thus, also, is the tradition justified which designates as the actual place of the Ascension, not the plain, but the middle of the three summits of the Mount of Olives, while, according to it, the angelic appearance shortly after the Ascension took place upon the highest summit. See Schubert, l. c. ii. p. 519.

He lifted up His hands.Comp. Lev 9:22. After the prophetical promise, there follows the high-priestly benediction, as it were from the threshold of the heavenly sanctuary into which He is about to enter. Jam non imposuit manus. The Epistle to the Hebrews, with its Pauline coloring contains the more particular elaboration of this beautiful image, in which the nature and destiny of the whole earthly and heavenly life of the Lord are, as it were, completely symbolized. In the midst of (), not after (), thus blessing is He parted from them. , He goes back a few steps from them, and immediately after that He is taken up. The passive . does not require us to understand angels or other means by which He was lifted up from the earth, but it leaves room, at all events, for the cloud of which Luke, in His more particular account, Act 1:9, speaks.

Luk 24:52. With great joy.Even in such little additions the fresh Pauline character of Luke does not belie itself. That they could now rejoice, in spite of the separation, nay, even over the departure of the Lord, because He was thereby exalted unto glory, and they should now soon receive the promise of the Father, is a speaking proof of the great progress which they in this forty days had made in this school of the best of Masters.

Luk 24:53. In the temple.More particularly defined in the upper chamber, which probably belonged to the buildings of the temple, Act 1:12; Act 2:1. In the Doxological conclusion of his gospel also, Luke shows himself a genuine Paulinist, comp. Rom 11:36

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. Although the account of the Ascension at the end of the Gospel of Luke, considered entirely by itself, and from a strictly historical point of view, does not perfectly satisfy us, yet the course of his representation offers us an advantage not to be rejected, that we from it learn so much the better to understand the near connection of the Resurrection and the Ascension. Over against the historical arbitrariness which almost identifies the Resurrection and the Ascension, as though the forty days had produced no essential alteration in the condition of our Lord, stands the shallow external interpretation, as though He after His Resurrection had continued to live yet forty days on earth in a wider or nearer circle, indeed, in separation from other men, and now, on the fortieth, is to be supposed to have exchanged converse with men for the society of angels. The one opinion, as little as the other, does full justice to the miracle of the Ascension. Without doubt, it must be apprehended as a special, and that as the last, stage in the history of the earthly manifestation of our Lord, but, at the same time, as a necessary consequence and as the most excellent crown of His Resurrection. The Ascension of the Lord was the completion of the Resurrection and the perfect expression of the exaltation. Martensen. Or to use Tholucks language (Stund. Christl. Andacht, p. 524): His Resurrection is a Glorification, yet not a full Glorification. From this position it causes comparatively little difficulty that Luke does not so sharply distinguish the appearance at the end of which the Ascension took place, from the other. Had the last appearance of our Lord not ended with the Ascension, then we should have had decidedly to assume that the one before the last had ended with such a miracle, whether with a visible or invisible one. The opponents of the history of the Resurrection could, therefore, not have got the least advantage, even if they had succeeded in setting aside the actual history of the Ascension. The whole history of the Resurrection has an Ascensional character; the whole history of the Resurrection is to be regarded as a giant tree of His Ascension in the wider sense, as the crown of which the actual Ascension stands forth. Our opponents, therefore, with the setting aside of it, would only have cracked the summit of the tree, or rather, only have broken off a branch of the same. For the apostles, the Ascension was self-evidently understood from the Resurrection. Lange, L. J., ii. p. 1766.

2. By this, however, it is by no means meant that the actual fact of a bodily visible Ascension of our Lord on the fortieth day is doubtful, or of subordinate importance. It has been asserted, among others, by Meyer, that quite early a twofold tradition grew up in this respect. According to the former, our Lord ascended to heaven on the very evening of the Resurrection (Mark, Gospel of Luke), according to the other, not till the fortieth day (Acts). But the indefinite statement in Mark, Luk 16:19 : , surely does not constrain us to assume that our Lord, according to this gospel, ascended immediately after the preceding utterances; just as well might it be deduced from Luk 24:20 that the disciples, on the very same night or the following morning, had begun to preach and to do miracles. And, as it respects Luke, is it conceivable that he in his gospel should represent our Lord as leaving the earth in the night-time, when He had already at evening revealed Himself at Emmaus, and had appeared at least three hours after to the Eleven? In truth, unless we will invent absurdities for the Evangelist, it seems that we are constrained to assume that he, by the statement of a more exact chronology in the Acts, has not contradicted his gospel, but decidedly complemented it; how, moreover, assuming that his earlier account contained an actual incorrectness, could he have omitted to recall this, at least, with a brief word? Were his more detailed narrative to be put to the account of a later more or less mythical tradition, the pious invention would certainly not have contented itself with a final act of our Lords life so little pompous and brilliant, and if Luke, at the conclusion of his first work, had already the design of writing afterwards the history of the apostles also, he might, even in the interest of his historical pragmatism, consider it as desirable to touch here on our Lords Ascension only with a brief mention, and at the beginning of the history of the kingdom of God to come back more particularly to it. In no case can the course of the event itself offer convincing ground for doubt and contradiction. It may be called laughable, when some, in reference to the body of our Lord in the beginning of its glorified condition, will be talking about the laws of gravitation and the force of attraction. Heaven, it is true, is everywhere where God reveals His glory, but nothing hinders us, on the position of the Scripture, from supposing a locality of the creation where God permits His glory to be seen more immediately than anywhere else, and to conceive our Lord as repairing directly thither. Though it has been said a thousand times and repeated that we are not to understand heaven as a place, but as a condition, and must not here speak of a , but only of a , yet we confess that we can only conceive the enjoyment of this condition as experienced in a locality where one is separated from this visible world. An exaggerated spiritualism might here easily mislead to Acosmism and Pantheism. And finally, as respects the often advanced objection, derived from the partial silence of the sacred authors, this silence appears to us neither so general nor so inexplicable as has been already countless times asserted. Respecting that of Matthew, see Lange on Matthew, p. 561. John evidently knows a visible Ascension, Joh 3:13; Joh 6:62; Joh 20:17, and must have assumed it, unless we are to suppose that he doubted of the fulfilment of such words uttered by his Master Himself. With Peter it is, 1Pe 3:22, also distinguished as a separate statement from His Resurrection, even as the descent into hell. Even so with Paul, Eph 1:19-20; Eph 2:5-6; Eph 4:8-10; Rom 8:34; Col 3:1, and in the Epistle to the Hebrews there is even almost more weight laid upon the Ascension of our Lord than upon His Resurrection. In short, in reference to most of the epistles we must agree with the opinion: Even though the outward fact is not here found, yet so much the more is the dogmatically important consequence of the thus effected exaltation, the sitting at the right hand of God, found throughout the whole New Testament, and that in expressions which also indicate the event itself (Schmidt, Bibl. Theol. d. N. S. i. p. 189). And as respects the gospels, all of them have set forth the Risen One in His glory, although two of them are silent as to the moment in which He has ascended this highest degree. Nay, this Ascension itself, the final goal of the earthly manifestation of the Lord, what is it itself in its turn but a transition to a new, but by no means to a last, period of His miraculous history? Here, according to our opinion, lies the deepest ground of the seemingly enigmatical phenomenon, that the miracle on the Mount of Olives is not placed more strongly in the foreground. No final point, but a point of rest, is it. The Lord is indeed gone away, but in order to return again, and the whole heavenly life into which the Ascension introduced Him is only a great interval, comprehending centuries, between His first and His second appearance. The angels themselves declare it: the history of the Lord in relation to the earth is with the Ascension not accomplished, but is only momentarily interrupted, in order afterwards to be continued. If a John and a Matthew in this hope saw the Lord ascend, why should they then feel themselves peremptorily obliged to fix the last moment of their being with Him with such diplomatic conscientiousness, as though thereby between the Master and the earth all connection were now and forever done away?

3. Respecting the idea of the Ascension in connection with the corporeality of our Lord, and respecting the distinction of the Lutheran and the Reformed conception, Dogmatics and the History of Doctrines must speak. Oh, that we might yet learn to stop at the right place! R. Stier.

4. Our Lords bodily and visible Ascension is the worthy crown of the history of His earthly life. Many a word that He uttered is thereby most strikingly confirmed (Joh 6:62; Joh 20:17; Mat 28:18, et alibi), and the harmony of the events of His life becomes only through this miracle perfected. A second death, even had it been ever so soft, would have taken away the whole significance of His Resurrection, and the poetical expression (Hase): Even as Moses grave, so was His never seen, can only elicit an exclamation of astonishment and displeasure. He a grave, He, who swallowed up death eternally! (Olshausen). Whoever contents himself with saying that He went to the Father, although one does not know how, where, or when, such a one lets his history end with an unsatisfactory note of interrogation, and unthankfully repels the satisfactory solution which His first witnesses have given. Now, His manifestation displays itself to our eye as a ring whose ending is lost again in its beginning, while both Bethlehem and the Mount of Olives bear the stamp of a still and hidden, but even thereby heavenly greatness. And as the Ascension of the Lord thus first diffuses over His person a perfectly Satisfying light (Joh 6:62; Joh 16:28), so does this event stand as well with the incipient perfection as with the happy continuation of His work in direct connection. Never would the apostles without this miracle have been freed from the last remains of their earthly-minded expectations; now did they, on the other hand, become by this very means capable of receiving the Spirit of truth, of love, and of power. Never, so long as the visible presence of the Lord on a spot of earth had remained, could a kingdom have been founded that embraced all nations, and as little would, in this case, the Church have been able to maintain herself without an incessant intervention of continually increasing miracles. Now, raised above all finite limits, the Lord reigns everywhere where His word is preached in the power of the Holy Spirit, and, far from bringing any harm, it is His departure which for His people has become a source of incalculable gain (Joh 16:7). This whole event reveals the full glory of the kingdom of God, is surety for the highest blessing of the kingdom of God (Luk 24:49), and prophesies the final perfection of the kingdom of God. No wonder that the Ascension also has been painted and sung by the Christian art of all ages. We have only to mention the names in the first sphere, of Raphael, Peter Perugino, Titian, Paul Veronese, Ricci, Raphael Mengs, and others, and in the other the venerable Bede, Tersteegen, Lavater, Knapp, Luis de Leon, not to mention many Others.

5. Superficially considered, the homage which the apostles bring to the glorified Saviour appears to be more or less on a level with the reverence which often was rendered to the kings of the Orient, especially to the King of kings, the Messiah. See Mat 2:2; Mat 20:20. But if we consider that this homage was now offered by the disciples of the Lord at the moment when they see Him crowned with superhuman glory, and honor in Him more than ever the bearer of the Divine nature and majesty, then we shall hardly be content with the assertion that our Lord was here worshipped in His Messianic dignity, but must, on the contrary, acknowledge that He here, not only on account of His kingly rank, but also and above all, for His Divine nature, deserves the honor of adoration. Thus do we find in Luk 24:52 an intimation how the command, Joh 5:23, must be understood and followed.

6. The command of our Lord, before His departure, that His disciples should remain at Jerusalem, testifies as well to His wisdom as the final promise of the Holy Spirit gives witness of His love and might. But, at the same time, there lies in the manner in which His first friends fulfilled this command (Act 1:12-14), an apologetic element that must not be overlooked. With one accord do the disciples remain together; this is the first blessing of the exaltation of our Lord; now that their visible centre is wanting, the young church feels the necessity of an inward union more intimate than ever. Undisturbed and publicly are they ten days continually together; a proof that they had not stolen the corpse, and that the Jewish council itself does not believe its own charge. Composed and quietly do they wait; this is what no excited enthusiasts do. Praying do they expect the fulfilment of the promise of the Lord; the miracle of Pentecost was thereby a direct hearing of prayer, of whose inestimable blessing the consideration of the history of the apostles will now give further testimony.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

The friends of the Lord are brought unto the school of waiting; therewith is their inner training perfected; so then; so previously (Jacob, Moses, David, &c.); so even yet.I will send upon you the promise of My Father. Thus can only the Son of the Father, none of the servants, speak; how altogether differently Elijah, 2Ki 2:10.The Benediction of the departing Lord: 1. The crown of His earthly manifestation; 2. the symbol of His heavenly life; 3. the prophecy of His coming in glory.The Lord departs in order to remain.The exalted King of the kingdom of God, the worthy object of the most reverential homage.How can the disciples return with great joy to Jerusalem? 1. Faith sees in this farewell the highest glorifying of Jesus; 2. Love thinks of His gain, not of its own loss; 3. Hope waits unshaken for the fulfilment of all His promises.Jerusalem the grave of the Old, the cradle of the New, CovenantThe inward connection of the young Church with the old Israelitish temple.Gods glory the last word of our narrative, at the same time the concluding word of our whole gospel, and the final accord of the whole history of the world.

The Ascension of our Lord in its high significance: 1. For Himself, a. the confirmation of His words, b. the clearing up of the events of His life, c. the beginning of His most powerful and blessed activity; 2. for His apostles, a. the perfection of their training, b. the energy of their labor, c. the prophecy of their future; 3. for His people all, a. the Ascension the honor of mankind (Heb 2:5-9), b. the way of the renewal of the sinner (the Holy Spirit), c. the source of the joy, rest, and hope of Christians.The Ascension a hearing of the Lords own prayer, Joh 17:5.The feast of the Ascension the feast of the coronation of the Lord. This coronation: 1. The end of the Saviours strife; 2. the beginning of the highest honor; 3. the source of the richest blessing; 4. the pledge of the most blessed hope.What sees the Christian when He on the Ascension morn directs his look believingly towards heaven? (comp. Act 7:56): 1. A glorified Son of Man; 2. an Almighty King; 3. an ever near Friend; 4. an open place of refuge; 5. an approaching triumph. But to see all this, we must (24:55), even as the first Christian martyr, be: a. a disciple of the Lord, b. filled with the Holy Spirit, and c. have our eyes directed towards heaven.Heaven and earth considered in the light of the Ascension morn.The Ascension the last palpable revelation of our Lord on earth: 1. His majesty; 2. His wisdom, a. time, b. place, c. witnesses, d. circumstances, e. consequences, of the Ascension; 3. His beneficent faithfulness to His own, comp. Mat 28:20.

Starke:Osiander:Whom God sends into the holy ministry, them does He also equip with the necessary gifts.To the receiving of the Holy Spirit there belongs a patient waiting in prayer and consideration of the word.Whom Jesus blesses, he is and remains blessed.Beautiful and edifying is it when parents depart from the world, for they even thus bless their children.Brentius:Christ has at His Ascension bequeathed us the blessing, why do we longer fear the curse?Bibl. Wirt.:Jesus departed to prepare the place.Hedinger:Thus have we then a sure and open entrance to the sanctuary that is within the heavens, Heb 10:19-20.J. Hall:Rejoice, oh thou holy soul, for thy last conflict also shall be crowned with triumph.The fellowship of the Spirit makes a fellowship in the worship of God.Servants of God labor, pray, suffer, and praise God in fellowship.Osiander:Jesus is ours also, with all His treasures, therefore let us praise and glorify Him with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Heubner:The place of the Passion of Christ also the place of His glorification.With blessing did He come, with blessing did He part.How different this blessed parting from that on the cross !The apostles showed after the Resurrection far more reverence for Jesus; they had a sense of His Godhead, therefore we read here for the first time: they worshipped Him.Worship befits Christ, else would He not have received it.The disciples return back, in prayer unseparated from Christ, no longer alone.Arndt:The Ascension of Christ the perfection: 1. Of His prophetical; 2. of His high-priestly; 3. of His kingly, office.Schleiermacher:The promises of the departing Redeemer.Palmer:The lovely position in which the departing Redeemer hath left us behind in this world: a. above our heads we have an opened heaven, b. above our eyes a blessed home, and c. under our feet the way which the feet of the Lord have smoothed and hallowed.Ruperti:Why do we stand after the Saviour has ascended and look towards heaven?Schmid:What the earth is to them who look after the Risen Saviour towards heaven.Why does the Saviour point us at His Ascension to the Holy Spirit?Ahlfeld:The last will of our Lord Jesus Christ.Steinmeyer:The separation through the Ascension is the source of true union.Souchon:The comfort which the Ascension of Jesus Christ assures to us.Tholuck:The refreshing thoughts to which the history of the Ascension leads us: 1. The place of His suffering the place of His parting; 2. veiled is His beginning, veiled is His exit; 3. the conclusion of His ways is blessing for His people; 4. He has departed from us and yet has remained to us; 5. He remains veiled from His people till He shall appear in brightness.W. Hofacker:The significance of the Ascension-day: 1. As a day of the richest and most glorious blessing; 2. as a day of the grandest homage; 3. as a day of the most joyful encouragement.Harless:The way to the blessed understanding of the Ascension of Christ.Von Kapff:The Ascension of Christ as: 1. The glorification of Jesus; 2. of our human nature; 3. of our whole earth.Schuur:Heart and soul towards heaven! 1. Here is darkness, there is light; 2. here is strangeness, there is home; 3. here is combat, there is victorious palm; 4. here is sorrow, there is bliss.Florey:The Ascension of our Lord the crown of His glory.

Compare further on this whole section the well-digested essay of Dr. H. G. Hasse: Das Leben des verklrten Erlsers im Himmel, nach den eigenen Aussprchen des Herrn, ein Beitrag zur Bibl. Theol. Leipsic, 1854, and Die Christl. Glaubenslehre, herausgegeben von dem Calwer Verein, 2 Theil, 2 Abthlg. pp. 266286, Stuttgart, 1857.

Footnotes:

[21]Luk 24:49.The of the Recepta is decidedly spurious. [Omitted by B., C.1, D., Cod. Sin., L., Itala, Vulgate, &c.C. S.]

[22]Luk 24:51-52.The words: and are, remarkably enough, omitted by the same authoritiesD., several copies of the Itala, &c, see Tischendorf. Apparently the eye of the copyist slipped from () to (), and he overlooked , while he confounded with . We thus comprehend better (against De Wette), how this was omitted, than how it should have been interpolated if not original. [Cod. Sin. omits the words; a much more important fact than their omission in D.C. C. S.]

[23]Luk 24:51-52.The words: and are, remarkably enough, omitted by the same authoritiesD., several copies of the Itala, &c, see Tischendorf. Apparently the eye of the copyist slipped from () to (), and he overlooked , while he confounded with . We thus comprehend better (against De Wette), how this was omitted, than how it should have been interpolated if not original. [Cod. Sin. omits the words; a much more important fact than their omission in D.C. C. S.]

[24]Luk 24:53.In some MSS. , in others are wanting. Perhaps errors of a wearied hand at the end of tho Gospel. At all events, the number and the weight of the authorities, [B., C.1, Cod. Sin., L. omit .., D. omits ..,] is not so great as to make it needful with Griesbach to suspect the former or with Tischendorf to omit the latter.

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

Ver. 49. Until ye be endued ] Gr. , clothed. Carnal men are naked men; when the saints are arrayed with that fine white linen and shining, Rev 19:8 .

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

49. ] This promise is explained ( Act 1:5 ) to be the baptism with the Holy Ghost , and the time is limited to ‘not many days hence.’

. ] The procession of the Holy Spirit from the Son is clearly here declared, as well as that from the Father. And consequently we find Peter, in Act 2:33 , referring back to these very words , in ascribing the outpouring of the Spirit to the now exalted Saviour. In that verse, the of this is filled up by the proper supplement of it here also.

The promise itself is not found in the three Gospels, but expressly and frequently in John 14-16; see Luk 14:16-26 ; Luk 15:26 ; Luk 16:7-11 ; Luk 16:13-14 .

The present, , is not = a future, but implies that the actual work is done, and the state brought in, by which that sending is accomplished; viz. the giving of the . , Mat 28:18 .

No stress need be laid on : see reff.

The word . is probably interpolated by some who, believing these words to represent the Galilan discourse, placed it here for an explanation: or perhaps Act 1:4 gave occasion to it. This command must have been (historically) uttered after the return from Galilee: see above.

. ] Though the verb is used in the O.T. (see Jdg 6:34 ; 2Ch 24:20 ; 1Ch 12:18 ) of inspiration by the Spirit , it here has its full meaning, of abiding upon and characterizing , as a garment does the person: this, as Stier remarks, was the true and complete clothing of the nakedness of the Fall.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Luk 24:49 . . .: the promise is the Spirit spoken of in prophetic oracles (Isa 44:1 , Joe 2:28 , etc.). , sit still, patiently but with high hope. : without , because the power is expected to come without fail. : till ye be invested , a natural figure, and no mere Hebraism. Cf. Rom 13:14 , Gal 3:27 . There may be a reference to warlike armour ( , Euthy. Zig.).

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

send. Greek. apostello, but T Tr. A WH R read exapostello, send out or forth. App-174.:2.

the: i.e. the gift of pneuma hagion. According to Joe 2:28 (Act 2:17, Act 2:78). See Isa 44:3. Eze 36:26.

upon. Greek. epi. App-104.

power from on high. This defines the meaning of pneuma hagion, which is synonymous with it. See Act 1:4, Act 1:5.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

49.] This promise is explained (Act 1:5) to be the baptism with the Holy Ghost,-and the time is limited to not many days hence.

.] The procession of the Holy Spirit from the Son is clearly here declared, as well as that from the Father. And consequently we find Peter, in Act 2:33, referring back to these very words, in ascribing the outpouring of the Spirit to the now exalted Saviour. In that verse, the of this is filled up by -the proper supplement of it here also.

The promise itself is not found in the three Gospels, but expressly and frequently in John 14-16; see Luk 14:16-26; Luk 15:26; Luk 16:7-11; Luk 16:13-14.

The present, , is not = a future, but implies that the actual work is done, and the state brought in, by which that sending is accomplished;-viz. the giving of the . , Mat 28:18.

No stress need be laid on : see reff.

The word . is probably interpolated by some who, believing these words to represent the Galilan discourse, placed it here for an explanation: or perhaps Act 1:4 gave occasion to it. This command must have been (historically) uttered after the return from Galilee: see above.

.] Though the verb is used in the O.T. (see Jdg 6:34; 2Ch 24:20; 1Ch 12:18) of inspiration by the Spirit, it here has its full meaning, of abiding upon and characterizing, as a garment does the person: this, as Stier remarks, was the true and complete clothing of the nakedness of the Fall.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

This Exposition belongs to last weeks Sermon, but there was no space available for its insertion there, and no Exposition appears to have been given before the preceding discourse.

Luk 24:49. And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

The promise of the Father was, as you know, the gift of the Holy Spirit. By this gift our Lords rising again into glory was celebrated. The Holy Spirit was the heavenly largess of the great King by which he did honour to the return of his Son to his ancient throne. The apostles and the other disciples were to wait for this gift. They might have to wait for some days, but it is better to wait for divine equipment than to go out to holy service in our own strength. All that you do will have to be undone unless it is done in the power of the Holy Ghost. But tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high. Has that command ever struck some people who profess to be serving the Lord? Are there not men who preach whom God never sent to preach? The best advice we could give them would be, Tarry ye. Are there not some who teach, and some who take office in the church, whom God has never endued with gifts or graces for such work? Powerless workers stand in the way of true workers, they block up the path of those whom God sends to serve him.

Luk 24:50. And he led them out as far as to Bethany,

The ruling passion was strong in the hour of his departure. Well did he know that place, Bethany, the place of love, where he had received a welcome such as he had experienced nowhere else on earth, where lived Mary, and Martha, and Lazarus; there did he bid Good-bye to his disciples.

Luk 24:50. And he lifted up his hands, and blessed them.

He never had lifted up his hands to strike them, or to invoke curses upon them. Those hands were filled with blessings, and the last thing that was seen of Jesus by human eyes was his hands uplifted in the act of blessing.

Luk 24:51-52. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him,

Then they were not Unitarians They worshipped him, and there were angels present at the time who would have been sure to have rebuked them if it had been a wrong thing for them to worship him. Indeed, they themselves, both as Jews and as Christians, would have felt, in their inmost soul, that they could not worship anyone but God; but Christ is God, so they did well to worship him.

Luk 24:52. And returned to Jerusalem with great joy:

Back to the place of his murder, back to the place where they were likely to be themselves murdered.

Luk 24:53. And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.

So bold were they that the very central spot for the worship of Jehovah we made the place where Christs divine sovereignty was proclaimed.

This exposition consisted of readings from Luk 24:49-53; and Act 1:1-12

Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible

Luk 24:49. , I send) The Present. Comp. note on Joh 20:17.[274]- , the promise) i.e. the Spirit, who has been promised; Act 1:4; Act 2:33, notes. [Ammonius says, is applied to one who undertakes or engages that he will give to him who has asked; , of one who of himself promises or engages to give.] This was clear to them from the conversation He had with them, Joh 14:16-17 [I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot receive, etc.]. For is for the most part used of persons; , of the person and of the thing. The abstract for the concrete is suitable to those times of the beginning of the Church; comp. note on Mat 4:17. [The first preaching was in the abstract, The kingdom of God is at hand; afterwards in the concrete, The King, or Messiah. The former suited the hidden beginnings of the Gospel; the latter, the glorification of Jesus.] So presently, , power.- , of My Father) The Father promised and gave His gifts through His Son.-, Jerusalem) For it was there that they were about to receive the promise. [If they had not received this direction, they without a doubt would have left the city.-V. g.]-, until ye be clothed [endued]) suddenly and completely. We are naked whilst destitute of the heavenly power. They had heretofore been purified, viz. through the word, Joh 15:3 [Now ye are clean through the word, which I have spoken unto you]: now clothing also is promised to them.- , from on high) to which Jesus ascended. The height, put for heaven, is an expression from sacred poetry. See Eph 4:8, from Psa 68:18 [When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive].

[274] I ascend unto My Father, not I will ascend. The time of His ascension, and, here in Luke, of the consequent sending down of the Spirit, being regarded as already present. So as to the second Coming, I come, , not I will come, Rev 22:20. See note on Luk 9:51.-E. and T.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

upon you

See note, (See Scofield “Act 2:4”)

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

I send: Isa 44:3, Isa 44:4, Isa 59:20, Isa 59:21, Joe 2:28-32, Joh 14:16, Joh 14:17, Joh 14:26, Joh 15:26, Joh 16:7-16

but: Isa 32:15, Act 1:4, Act 1:8, Act 2:1-21

Reciprocal: Jos 6:10 – until the day Psa 68:18 – received Eze 47:3 – waters were to the ankles Zec 11:11 – knew Mat 10:1 – he gave Joh 7:39 – this spake Joh 20:17 – I ascend Act 2:33 – having Act 4:33 – with 1Co 12:10 – the working 2Co 3:5 – but Gal 3:14 – might Eph 1:13 – holy 2Ti 1:7 – but

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

SPIRITUAL POWER

And, behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

Luk 24:49

The question of questions for each of us to consider is, How am I to make my life the home and embodiment of this power from above? If we turn to our Lords own example, or to the life of St. Paul or any other of His followers, or to any life we have known and felt to breathe around it this same power of the Spirit, some things become at once very obvious and clear to us.

I. Whoever desires to have his soul purified and invigorated, to be charged with this Divine electric influence, must have something of separateness and independence in his life.He must feel himself as not merely one of the crowd moved by the desires, aims, hopes, tastes, and ambitions which may chance to prevail around him, but as a separate soul in direct communion with the Spirit of God. But if we are to realise this in our own life, it means that our times of daily prayer, whether in private or in public, are times at which we lay open our secret life to the Divine presence and influence; it means that we give some real thought and meditation to this presence of God in our life, and that we thus feed our souls continually on wholesome spiritual food.

II. But the hindrances that are always acting to undermine or destroy any such spiritual power in us are manifold, and seldom far away from our life.

(a) The world outside is always with us.

(b) Dullness of spirit.

(c) Worst of all hindrances is the harbouring of sensual appetite or craving, passion, or indulgence.

When you think of this Holy Spirit of God as a power in every good life, it become a very real question what and of what sort is the power that is holding sway over you in your leisure hours. This is indeed a question which never sleeps.

Bishop Percival.

Illustration

When I think what turns upon the possession or the non-possession of the Holy Ghost; when I consider that without Him a soulbe it what it may, however amiable, however goodis worthless in Gods sight, and lost; when I feelas every one who ever looks at his own heart must feelthat without the quickenings and sanctifyings of the Holy Ghost I can do nothingI cannot prayI cannot have a good thought; and when I know that on this mighty change, which the Spirit begins and ends, hangs my heaven or my hellthen I rejoice to know that God has not left the gift of the Spirit in a vague uncertainty, but He has made it the promise of the dispensationthe promise of the Father.

(SECOND OUTLINE)

THE GREATNESS OF POWER

I. The almighty power of the Holy Ghostwithin me, without me, in me, upon me. This is:

(a)Saving power.

(b)Separating power.

(c)Transforming power.

(d)Sustaining power.

(e)Soul-winning power.

II. Now let Thy love my soul inflame, fresh power to me impart.Thus:

(a)Power for service.

(b)Power for testimony.

(c)Power for suffering.

(d)Power for rejoicing.

Rev. C. G. Baskerville.

Illustration

It may be, you have something before yousome work, some cross, some difficulty. Now, whatever it be, be careful before you meet it that you have first sought and found power, power from on high. Let the young man be sure that he does not run into his profession, let a minister be sure he does not go to his ministry, let parents take care that they do not go to their duties with their children, let men beware, before they walk into their houses of business, or every man to his calling, let a man take care that he does not do it till he has good reason to know that he has found power, promised power, a power that shall enable him to go in the spirit of the words, Now I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

(THIRD OUTLINE)

SPIRITUAL INVESTITURE

This word endued signifies an investiture. You have it used in Dan 5:27. You have it used in Isa 22:21. You have it used in Lev 8:7. We too may be sure that this being endued with power from on high will give to us the investiture of priests, so that we too may have access into the very holiest, and we too may worship the Father in spirit and in truth.

Turn with me to three instances in the Old Testament Scriptures, where you find three men clothed with the Holy Ghost. And as we watch one character after the other, we shall see what is the result of this enduement of power.

I. The first man is in Judges 6Is Gideon to fly again? No. We read in Jdg 6:34 : The Spirit of God clothed Gideon, for so it is on the margin, and he blew the trumpet, and Abi-ezer was gathered unto him. Oh that the Spirit of God may thus clothe you to-day, and as you look back upon the past and see failure, and as you to-day determine in the strength of the Lord to go and fight against the foe, even when the foe waxes still more outrageous against you, may the Spirit of God clothe you!

II. The second man you will find in 1 Chronicles 12David is still an outlaw. But in the first twenty-two verses of the chapter you have a catalogue of the brave heroes that joined themselves to David whilst he was still hunted as a partridge upon the mountains. It is in Luk 24:18 that we read that the Spirit of God clothed Amasai and he said, Thine are we, David, and on thy side, thou son of Jesse. Peace, peace be unto thee and to thine helpers, for God hath helped thee. Oh that the Spirit of God might in the same way clothe this congregation here to-day, and that we might with one heart and with one voice say, even as Amasai said, Thine are we, Lord Jesus, and upon Thy side, Thou Son of God! Oh that every one of us might be clothed by the Spirit of God, that we may yield ourselves loyally, wholly, faithfully to our King!

III. But our religion is concerned not only with ourselves but also with our fellow-men, and therefore we must turn to the third man who is said to have been clothed with the Holy Ghost. In 2 Chronicles 24 you have an account of the reign of the young king Joash. In Luk 24:20 we read, The Spirit of God came upon Zechariah and said unto them Because ye have forsaken the Lord, He hath also forsaken you.

Rev. Canon E. A. Stuart.

(FOURTH OUTLINE)

THE MISSION OF THE HOLY GHOST

Pentecost, in the Churchs history, was to this dispensation what Bethlehem was to the Christian Era, and Christ ascended that His Spirit might be poured forth.

Wait, was our Lords command; wait for the promise of the Father. Again, ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.

I. This is the root idea of Christianity, not a new creed for each successive generation, but the heroism and might of a conquering force put into the Creed we have; not miracles wrought, ever and anon, for the Church, but wonders wrought by the Church with the material at hand; men and women carrying on Christs work as energised, Spirit-inspired witnesses, living over again Christs saintly life in the power which qualified and enabled them to do so, even the power of the Holy Ghost. This was the secret of Christs success, as it is the secret of all successful ministry.

II. In anxious days like these, the Church of Christ wants more and more living witnesses, laymen as well as clergy, who are taught of God, full of the Holy Ghost, and then used of God. If we would lift off the reproach too freely cast on our modern Christianity, that it is a creed of selfishness, we must show that we are not careful only of our own salvation, but that we are solicitous for the salvation of others.

Dean Pigou.

Illustration

Well do I remember being requested to visit one of culture and mental gifts on her deathbed in a town where I was conducting a Mission. I found her in the deepest distress of mind in the prospect of Eternity. She told me she knew she could not live, but that she had no hope for Eternity. On questioning her as to her religious convictions, she answered me that with her whole soul she longed to know Christ. They come, she said, and sit by my bedside, and bid me to believe and to accept Christ. Would to God I could, but I cannot. I asked her if she understood that it must be given to us to believe in order that we may accept; and when I proceeded to explain to her that it is the office and work of the Holy Ghost to convince of sin, to discover our need of a Saviour, to reveal Him to the soul, and to enable us to accept Him, and appropriate personally His precious blood, it all seemed to come to her as a new truth. She did not depart this life without having seen His salvation.

Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary

9

The promise of the Father pertained to the outpouring of the Spirit, and it had been made in Joe 2:28-32. The exact date of that event was not stated to them, hence it was necessary to tarry in Jerusalem until it came. Be endued is from enduno, and means “to be clothed with.” Power is from DUNAMIS, and means might or strength. This qualification was to be upon the apostles so they would be able to “preach the Gospel to every creature,” as Mar 16:15 words it. This is why it must be said that none but the apostles were able to carry out the “Great Commission.”

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Luk 24:49. I send forth. So our Lord speaks in Joh 15:26; Joh 16:7 and Peter (Act 2:33) ascribes the gift of the Holy Ghost to the exalted Saviour. Ye, on the earth, give testimony; and I, from heaven, give you power to do so (Godet).

The promise of my Father upon you. This means the Holy Spirit (see Act 1:4-5). The same passage indicates that the promise is not the general one of prophecy, but such specific ones as Joh 14:16; Joh 14:26. Notice the sending of the Holy Ghost is ascribed both to the Father and the Son.

But tarry ye in the city. A quiet, retired waiting is meant. Evidently this was spoken after the return from Galilee, especially as the next verse is so closely connected with it.

Until. Act 1:5 : not many days hence.

Ye be clothed. The figure is the common one of being clothed as with a garment, here applied to spiritual relations, as in Rom 13:14; Gal 3:27; Eph 4:24; Col 3:12. An abiding, characterizing influence is meant.

With power from on high. This power was not the Holy Spirit, but the direct result of His coming upon them, as is evident from Act 1:8. Comparing this verse with Joh 20:22, we find in the latter a symbolical act, prophetic of the Pentecostal outpouring, and yet attended by an actual communication of the Spirit preliminary to the later and fuller one (at Pentecost) which was preeminently the promise of the Father.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Luk 24:49. And behold, I send the promise of my Father Emphatically so called, namely, the Holy Ghost, in his enlightening, renewing, and comforting influences, that you may be enabled to understand, love, obey, and adorn the gospel which you preach; and in his extraordinary and miraculous gifts, that you may attest the truth and importance of it to the world. But tarry ye in Jerusalem, &c. As the divine wisdom hath seen fit that the first offers of mercy shall be made to this people, sinful as they are, and that the gospel dispensation, in its greatest glory, shall be opened here, and the fullest proof possible be given of its truth and importance, that those may be rendered inexcusable who shall continue to reject it; I charge you not to go from hence till you have received those gifts and graces with which you are to be furnished, for the perfect discharge of your ministry.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

24:49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, {i} until ye be endued with power from on high.

(i) Until the Holy Spirit comes down from heaven upon you.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

Having explained the disciples’ responsibility, Jesus next announced what He would do. The promise of the Father refers to the Holy Spirit that God promised in the Old Testament to pour out on His people (Isa 32:15; Isa 44:3; Eze 39:29; Joe 2:28-29; cf. Joh 14:16-17). These Old Testament prophecies are of an outpouring of the Spirit in the kingdom, as the contexts indicate, but a similar outpouring of the same Spirit came on Pentecost (Act 1:4-5; Act 2:16). It was perhaps this promise of the Spirit’s outpouring that led the disciples to view it as inaugurating the kingdom (Act 1:6). Jesus corrected their misunderstanding (Act 1:7).

Finally Jesus instructed the disciples to remain in Jerusalem until the Spirit clothed them (Act 1:8). This was a common figure of the Spirit’s enabling presence and power in the Old Testament (e.g., Num 11:25; Num 11:29; Jdg 3:10; Jdg 14:19; 1Sa 11:6; et al.). This "power from the Most High" has been evident through this Gospel (e.g., Luk 1:35; et al), and it is very evident in Acts as well.

". . . Jesus’ words in Luk 24:46-49 not only provide a bridge to the early part of Acts but fit with a series of statements describing the missions of key characters, from the summary of John the Baptist’s mission early in Luke to the summary of Paul’s mission late in Acts." [Note: Tannehill, The Narrative . . ., 1:298.]

". . . Luke not only presented Jesus as the fulfillment of the Isaianic Servant, but also worded his version of the commission to depict the disciples as those who were to take up the Servant’s mission after Jesus’ departure." [Note: Thomas S. Moore, "The Lucan Great Commission and the Isaianic Servant," Bibliotheca Sacra 154:613 (January-March 1997):47.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)