Living by the Book/Living by the Book Workbook Set (9 page)

Having done that, let’s go back to verse 8. I noted the importance of
but
as a contrast.
There’s a second key term to notice; what is it?
The word
you
. Observe that it is repeated: “You shall receive power . . . You shall be My witnesses.”

That raises the question,
Who are these people?
The context tells me that they are the apostles (v. 2). From there I could make a list of general information that I already know about these individuals. For instance:

I could add more. The point is, when you come to something like this, recreate in your mind who the people are. In this case, they are people who have heard the Lord’s teaching, seen Him perform miracles, and spent a lot of time with Him. Now they have the opportunity to ask Him one of the most burning questions on their mind.

Another question to ask is,
What is the main verb in this verse?
Here, it is “shall receive.”
What tense is it?
Future tense. That looks ahead to something that is going to happen later.

What are they going to receive?
“Power.” That word could be translated “ability,” and in some translations you will see it that way. Jesus is not talking about physical power; He’s talking about the
ability
for the apostles to accomplish what He wants them to.

A crucial phrase comes next: “When the Holy Spirit has come upon you.”
What does that add to the verse?
First, it indicates a cause-effect relationship. The power won’t come until the Holy Spirit comes. Second, it answers the question of time. It tells us that the receiving of power will happen at the time the Holy Spirit comes upon them.

Earlier I observed that the word
you
indicates the apostles. Here I run into another person, the Holy Spirit.
Who is He?
Again, I could generate a list of what I know about Him. For one thing, He’s the third Person of the Trinity; He is supernatural. And He’s the Person linked with the power. So we’re talking about supernatural power.

Did the apostles need that? Definitely. The last thing they had done was to let down their Lord at the crucifixion, at the crucial time. So they needed the ability—the power—that only the Holy Spirit could give.

Next, notice that Jesus says that the Spirit is going to come “upon” them. That word indicates that the power does not exist within these individuals but rather is going to come from outside. There will be an invasion of supernatural ability on otherwise ordinary human beings. That says a lot about the task to which Jesus is calling them.

A moment ago we saw a cause-effect relationship in terms of timing. Here I want you to see one in terms of two statements, “You shall receive power” and the next phrase, “And you shall be My witnesses.” The apostles are going to receive power; that’s the cause. The effect is that they are going to be something—“witnesses.”

I notice that becoming witnesses is also in the future. That order becomes very significant, it turns out. It’s not, “You are going to be witnesses, and then
you are going to receive power,” but the other way around: “You are going to receive power, the result of which is, you are going to be witnesses.”

That’s an interesting point, because often we spend a lot of time trying to urge people to witness concerning the faith. Yet nothing inside of them would ever warrant their doing that. They have nothing to share with others, and if they tried, they would be doing nothing but putting on an act.

By contrast, suppose one of my female seminary students gets engaged over the summer. In the fall, she walks into my class, and the first thing you know she’s waving her ring finger in front of my face. I never have to beg her to show me her ring. No, there’s something
inside
that compels her to take the initiative. She’s in love with a man, and she’s got to share it. She can’t keep it to herself.

That’s the kind of dynamic Luke wants us to see in this passage. As a result of what the apostles receive, they are going to be witnesses.
But whose witnesses?
Christ’s witnesses. His by personal identification. They are going to represent Him.

What is a “witness”?
A simple definition would be someone who has seen and can tell others about an event, person, or circumstance. A witness is someone who has experienced something. That is exactly what these apostles are going to be. For three and a half years they have lived intimately with the Savior. Soon, as a result of their contact with the Holy Spirit and the provision of His power, they are going to be totally different people.

Until now, they have lived pretty much in their own strength. In fact, their performance has not been too impressive, if you read the gospels. They fall flat on their faces over and over again, particularly at the critical moment. Yet now that the Spirit is going to give them power, they are going to be the Savior’s witnesses.

What does the next phrase begin with?
“Both in Jerusalem.” If I tell you “both” of us are going downtown, you assume that there are two of us. But there are more than two things here. In fact, there are four different places mentioned. That’s odd. It’s one reason to look up this passage in a commentary by someone who knows the Greek language in which the New Testament was originally written. I’ll talk more about that under Step Two, Interpretation.

I’ve consulted a commentary on this passage and learned that the word translated “both” is an interesting term. It indicates the beginning of a series. There may be two in the series, there may be twenty-two. There are only four here. So “both” begins a series of four places where the apostles are going to be witnesses for Christ.

The first is Jerusalem. What do I know about Jerusalem? Let’s start a list:

After starting in Jerusalem, though, they are to go to Judea.
How can I relate Jerusalem and Judea?
A glance at a good atlas shows me that it’s what a city is to a state, such as Dallas, Texas, or Chicago, Illinois. Jerusalem was the city within the larger province called Judea. So the Lord is moving from the city to the province.

Three provinces were central in the apostles’ thinking: Judea in the south; Galilee in the north; and in between, Samaria. There was also a fourth one on the eastern side of the Jordan River called Peraea. Jesus tells them to begin in Jerusalem and go to Judea.

But notice the little connective, “and,” which brings them to the third place—Samaria. That’s fascinating, because they loved Samaria, right? No way.

Remember the woman at the well in John 4? The text says that Jesus
had
to pass through Samaria (v. 4). He was in the south; He wanted to go to Galilee in the north. The Jews would have said, “No, you must not go through Samaria.” Instead, they would have routed Him east, across the Jordan River, up the east bank, and eventually back west into Galilee. To return, He’d have to take the same steps in reverse. In other words, He was supposed to take the long way around. Under no circumstances was He ever to go through Samaria. Why? John 4:9 explains, “For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.”

But in Acts 1:8, Jesus says that the very area that the apostles would normally avoid, He wants them to invade. “Go to the place that is out-of-bounds for you, off-limits, the despised area.”

The next phrase tells them where else they are to go: “even to the remotest part of the earth.” Jesus uses a word for “earth” that means the inhabited earth. Consulting a Bible dictionary, I’ve found that several different words for “earth” are used in the New Testament. Later I’ll show you how to look up words and discover their significance, and the differences between them. Here, Jesus is talking about the populated earth. He’s not telling them to go everywhere in the world but everywhere there are people.

Let’s say this is the first time I’ve ever studied this verse. What have I discovered? Well, two things that are usually separated—Judea and Samaria—are actually linked together as one. I’ve also seen that the apostles are not to stop until they go to the very last part of the inhabited earth. And I’ve noted that these are the last words of the Lord.

So the question I ask is,
Is it possible that this verse is in any way an outline for the book? Do the apostles actually follow this pattern?
When I study the book as a whole, I discover that the answer to both questions is yes. Did they start out in Jerusalem? Acts 2 shows that they did. Then did they go to Judea? Exactly—but not by choice. It was by persecution (8:1). That got them started on their journey outward, until by the end of the book they are well on their way toward reaching the inhabited world of their day.