So, when they had come together as arranged, they asked,
"Lord, is this the time you will be restoring the kingdom to Israel?"
He said to them, "Knowledge about times or seasons is not yours to know
since the Father has fixed these by his own authority. But you shall receive
power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and from then on you shall be my
witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Sama'ria, in fact to the ends of
the earth."
In a Nutshell
Jesus' apostles were on a learning curve. They were beginning to ask probing questions, showing Jesus they indeed were eager to learn about their place in God's Kingdom.
Questions
Find the places in the gospels when the disciples asked Jesus a similar question (Matthew 24:3; Mark 13; Luke 20:9-18, see v.16). What had now changed? Think about the question of God's Kingdom in relation to Jesus' rising from the dead.
Think about the disciples' question? They are curious. Why wouldn't
they be? I'd be asking something like: "What's next?" So how does
waiting for God's Spirit, which Jesus had commanded them, fit into God's
Kingdom? Only a few years back, Herod
had butchered John the Baptist. A few months back the religious leaders and
Pontius Pilate had stitched up Jesus' execution.
Now here He is telling them to wait in Jerusalem. They were bemused. It's as if
He was saying:
Look I know you are feeling like sheep among wolves. I know you are exposed like you've never been under the pump before … but wait quietly. My Father has it all under control. The religious leaders, the Romans, whoever opposes you, do not call the tune. Your task will be world-wide in its scope. Nothing can stop that. But at this point, now, your task is to be patient. Wait for God's Spirit.
These students of Rabbi Jesus were no ignorant peasants. They knew what it had taken to nail their Master to a Roman cross. The angel's word had told the women to tell them that He would meet them back in Galilee. And now, having met there, He was telling them to wait in Jerusalem. They had been chosen to receive "power from on high", hand-picked by the Son of God Himself, and so they had to be ready and waiting for when God's promised Spirit was poured out, just as the scriptures had promised.
The disciples now faced a grim reality. Israel via its religious leaders had effectively taken a new god by joining in the killing of the Chosen One. The religious leaders of Israel had become complicit in the Roman Eagle's denial of God's law. And God's own special people were going to have to hear about this. How else would they now receive the covenanted blessings of the Almighty? Jesus had been raised. God's way had prevailed. So what next?
They were to wait in Jerusalem. They were to expect big things. Israel's healing and restoration was close at hand. That was the view that lay behind the apostles' question. In His reply, Jesus assured them that His Almighty Father was about to catapult them into a new era - an era in which their first action will be to wait, to wait for the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem. From there they will receive the power to reach all nations with the good news of God's mercy.