Jesus’ Final Words
TRANSLATION
(44) Then he said to them, “These are the words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” (45) Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. (46) He said to them, “This is what was written that the Messiah should suffer, on the third day rise from the dead, (47) and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins is to be preached in his name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem. (48) You are witnesses of these things. (49) I will send you what my Father promised, but remain in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
(50) Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting his hands, he blessed them. (51) While blessing them, he left them and was carried up into heaven. (52) Then they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy (53) and stayed continually in the temple, praising God.
OBSERVATIONS
While the only repetition found in this segment is the verb, “blessed/blessing” (vss. 50 & 51), three important truths emerge from this last segment of Luke’s Gospel. First, Jesus emphasized that his earthly ministry had fulfilled all that the Old Testament anticipated about the first coming of the Messiah. Then he reminded the disciples that his suffering, death, and resurrection had been clearly prophesied in the Old Testament scriptures. Finally, the one thing that had yet to be accomplished was the proclaiming of “repentance for the forgiveness of sins” to all nations, the task of bearing witness to the Gospel that he now entrusted to his disciples and those they would bring to saving faith.
This missionary task was not something his followers had to do solely on their own. According to Jesus’ final statement before he ascended, he would empower them for the task by sending “what my Father promised.” In other words, they were to wait until they had been “clothed with power from on high” by the baptism of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4). This brief paragraph summarized the core message of what Luke’s second volume, The Acts of the Apostles, would later set forth in much greater detail.
OUTLINE
I. Jesus’ final responsibility was to prepare the disciples to represent him upon his departure. (44-49)
II. Having completed his earthly ministry, Jesus ascended into heaven. (50-53)
IDEA STATEMENT
In view of his departure, Christ commissioned the disciples, empowered by the Holy Spirit, to carry the Gospel witness throughout the whole world.
APPLICATION
The Great Commission is found in each of the four Gospels as well as in the Book of Acts, proving it to be an indispensable part of what Christ gave the church to accomplish once he had left them. Luke’s version emphasized Jesus’ directing his disciples to remain in Jerusalem, waiting until they would be “clothed with power from on high.” Once they had received the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit, they would be equipped to testify to the whole world regarding the significance of Christ’s life, death, burial, and resurrection.
That same Holy Spirit has been the possession of all believers throughout the Church Age, including each of us who is saved by faith in the risen Christ. Paul wrote about this to the Corinthians: “All (of us) are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills” (1 Cor. 12:11). Two verses later he added, “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body – Jews or Greeks, slaves or free – and all were made to drink of one Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:13). While we individually may have differing gifts and complementary roles in the Body of Christ, all of us share in the responsibility of bearing witness to the world regarding the glorious Gospel of Christ, the one truth that alone provides salvation for all who are lost in their sin and alienated from God.