Forty days after the resurrection of Jesus, the
disciples are faced with the absence of Jesus/God.
His final words to his followers are recorded in
first chapter of Acts:
“So when they met together, they asked him, ‘Lord,
are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’
“He said to them: ‘It is not for you to know the
times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive
power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in
Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ “After
he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from
their sight.
“They were looking intently up into the sky as
he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ‘Men of
Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same
Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way
you have seen him go into heaven.’” (Acts
1:6-11)
With the ascension of Jesus and consequent
absence of God came a pair of promises. First, Jesus repeated His promise that
with His departure they would not be left alone, but the Holy Spirit would come
to them. (See also John
14-17.) Second, the angels promise that the “same Jesus” who ascended into
the heavens will “come back in the same way you have seen him go” into the
heavens.
The first of these promises is fulfilled ten
days later on the Jewish Day of Pentecost (or Shavuot). “When the day of
Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the
blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where
they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated
and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” (Acts 2:1-4)
The purpose of the coming of the Holy Spirit was
multifaceted, according to Jesus’ teaching. The Holy Spirit, understood by
Christian theology to be the third person of the Godhead, would comfort and
guide the followers of Jesus in His absence. The Spirit would be the presence
of Jesus to his people. The Spirit would instruct them, remind them of what Jesus
taught them, give them words to speak, and lead them into all truth.
The second promise, made by the two angels on
the day of Jesus’ ascension, points us to the fourth movement of the advent of
God in history, the Consummation. (see tomorrows blog)
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