“But you’ll receive power when the Holy Spirit has come and you’ll be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the far points of earth” (Acts 1.8).
Now we’re talking. Three years of waiting and following and now, now it is on. We’re going to turn the tables on everyone. We’re going to have power.
I don’t know what he means about a “holy” spirit, but Jesus has always been a little cryptic. He’s probably just being cautious. Just in case someone’s listening. After all, he can’t just come out and say certain things. The Romans and the Temple leadership would be on us in a minute if he said that we’d be taking charge soon.
And won’t all those big shots be sorry then when they realize they were on the wrong side. They’ll be answering to us now.
It all makes sense now. He had this planned the whole time, and we’re the ones who get it. And he’s going to put us in charge—underneath him, of course—to take not just Judea and Samaria but the whole world back for him.
Because that’s power. That’s what he’s been hinting to us the whole time.
Isn’t it?
Risen One, as Pentecost draws near, help me remember what true power in that you sent forth witnesses and not conquerors.