Luke 24:49, commentary and pictures

The risen Christ, after opening the disciples' understanding that He must suffer and rise and commissioning them to preach repentance and remission of sins, promised to send the Father's gift and charged them to remain in Jerusalem until clothed with power from above. Their waiting was active faith, meeting together in the temple and the upper room to plead His death, resurrection, intercession at God's right hand, and assurance that the Father gives what is asked in His name. The promised gift is the Holy Spirit in fullness, giving heavenly illumination, holy unction, courage, joy, and sure knowledge of connection with heaven to fit witnesses for soul-saving. In obedience they prayed ten days in heart-searching, confession, and one-accord fellowship, and then the Spirit came as a rushing wind, they spoke in other tongues and boldly testified, and about three thousand were added in a day. That same endowment belongs to believers today as truly as then, to be claimed by faith and fervent persevering prayer, for no one is authorized to preach or take up gospel work until fitted by the Spirit, since learning and eloquence alone cannot soften hearts or win sinners.

Setting and Meaning

The risen Christ spoke these words after instructing the disciples for forty days, opening their understanding of the Scriptures that He must suffer and rise the third day, commissioning them to preach repentance and remission of sins among all nations beginning at Jerusalem as His witnesses, and promising to send the Father's gift upon them. He was still acting as their educator, opening the Scriptures concerning Himself and binding their hearts with holy, new, sacred hope and joy, assuring them He would not leave them unsupported but would be their Advocate at the Father's right hand, a promise they did not at first fully understand. He hastened toward heaven after magnifying the law to perfect His work, that by sending the Spirit He would assure believers He had not forgotten them while He is in the presence of God where there is fulness of joy.

The command to tarry in Jerusalem was given just before He led them out to Bethany, lifted up His hands and blessed them, and while blessing them was parted from them and carried up into heaven. Afterward they worshiped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Their waiting was active faith rather than idleness, meeting together to present requests to the Father in the name of Jesus, pleading His death, resurrection, place at the right hand of God, and intercession, and His assurance that the Father will give whatever is asked in His name so that joy may be full.

The tarrying in Jerusalem then commanded was temporary, given when He twice revealed Himself to them in the evening in the upper chamber where some had their home, during Passover week when they remained in Jerusalem because absence would have been interpreted as disaffection and heresy. It lasted through Passover week, and as soon as Passover was finished they left Jerusalem for Galilee as they had been directed, where He had promised to meet them and where they would see Him. The risen Jesus thus told them to remain in Jerusalem for a time before going to Galilee after appearing to them there.

The passage belongs with the promise that the same Jesus who ascended to heaven will return in like manner, so the disciples returned to Jerusalem with joy because they expected to see their Saviour again and His departure was not the end of His presence or their hope.

The promise of the Father is the Holy Spirit to be given in its fulness as a new endowment of power from on high after Christ's visible presence was withdrawn, sealing the disciples for their work of carrying truth to all nations and peoples. That power is the Holy Ghost and the inspiration under which the apostles afterward acted, enabling them to bear bold witness to Christ in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth, answering false reports about the resurrection from their own experience of speaking with the risen Christ and seeing His ascension, and preaching with divine assurance that moved hearers' hearts. Its actual possession depended on surrender through faith and prayer, and its descent would assure believers Christ had not forgotten them and equip them with power and gifts for their mission.

Power from on high is the inspiration, holy unction, heavenly illumination, and sealing that fitted the disciples for soul-saving, giving sure knowledge of connection with heaven, new courage and joy, and ability to comprehend the depth and breadth and fulness of God's love. It is the holy unction claimed by those who feel spiritual need, engage in deep heart-searching, and cry to the Lord for fitness to meet people and speak words that lead sinners to Christ, not asked for self alone but under the weight of souls and the realization the gospel must be carried to the world in demonstration of the Spirit. It was essential to success when they assembled together fully identified as disciples, putting away differences and waiting in expectation with continued one-accord prayer with special fervency, of good courage though as sheep in the midst of wolves because Christ had risen and revealed Himself to them. It was greater than the partial revelations of the Spirit's influence in the patriarchal age.

Christ as the great Teacher dwelt more largely on this endowment of the Holy Spirit than on any other subject out of His infinite variety, predicting great things for the church because of it, yet it is now the subject least dwelt upon and the promise least fulfilled, with only an occasional discourse given and then left for after-consideration. Ministers need this endowment instead of exalting self, presenting truth one-sidedly, carrying the work after their own ideas, feeding perishing people with unneeded science rather than the bread of heaven, and failing to let the love of God glow in the heart to dwell readily upon Christ and Him crucified.

The account of resurrection and triumphant ascension with its promise of blessing and power from above assures believers that He is the living Saviour and their Advocate in heaven, and those who believe and are wholly consecrated may receive His promised blessings.

Witness Commissioned and Delayed

The disciples were to remain in Jerusalem until endued with power from on high before beginning their work as witnesses and teachers. That promised power from the Father was to fit them to carry out their commission, and only after receiving it were they to go out to preach. Their witness was to begin first in Jerusalem and then be carried to all nations.

What they were empowered to bear was the preaching of repentance and remission of sins in His name among all nations. It was to be carried even to those who had rejected Christ and had a part in bringing about His death, beginning at Jerusalem as the hardest field. Their testimony drew on what they had themselves seen of His trial, rejection, crucifixion, resurrection, post-resurrection fellowship, and ascension, equipping them to answer false reports about the resurrection.

Once equipped they were to be witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Only then were they to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, searching for the lost sheep and declaring a sin-pardoning Saviour. They acted under the authority of the crucified and risen Christ who has all power in heaven and earth and is with them to the end, with assurance that many would respond. That power was the Holy Ghost and the inspiration under which the apostles afterward acted, giving sure knowledge of connection with heaven, new courage and joy, heavenly illumination, and ability to comprehend the depth and breadth and fullness of God's love.

Teachers are charged to make what Christ commanded their special work from which nothing is to divert them, dwelling on His words rather than human suppositions and explanations that confuse minds. His delegated messengers fulfill the promise when they faithfully obey His laws of cause and effect, prepare the soil of the heart, sow the living Word, and do exactly what He told them in preaching repentance and remission of sins among the nations beginning at Jerusalem. The verse gives a pattern for all widening work: the heart must first be filled with the Spirit, then labor begins at home with the family blessed by that influence and the transforming power shown in a well-disciplined home. From there it widens to neighborhood and adjoining towns, and finally to the uttermost parts of the earth.

The commission in Luke 24:46-49 calls the church to understand the great work to be done and to advance it by consecrating talents of means and influence to the Master's service and placing the truth before those who do not know it. Obeying it means arising and shining and entering into Christ's joy by doing all possible to save souls perishing in sin, who in turn will convert others. Christ goes with those who carry it out, and if every member becomes surcharged with the power of the Holy Spirit they will have an efficiency that Satan and his angels cannot resist.

Fulfillment at Pentecost

In obedience the disciples returned to Jerusalem and spent ten days praying for the fulfillment of the promise to be endued with power from on high before preaching the gospel to the world. Those ten days were days of deep heart-searching in which they put away all differences, bitterness and sin, confessed, humbled themselves, drew close together in Christian fellowship, realized the privilege of having associated so closely with Christ, and sorrowed over having grieved Him by failing to understand His lessons. They waited in one faith and spirit in expectation with continued one-accord prayer and supplication with special fervency, though it was a time of great danger as sheep in the midst of wolves, and they were of good courage because Christ had risen and revealed Himself to them. They agreed without speculations and without curious theory about how the promised blessing would come, and the same course of all the more earnest continued prayer belongs to those proclaiming the Lord's coming and preparing a people to stand in the great day of God.

While they prayed on earth, Christ in heaven added His intercession, claiming the gift of the Spirit in its fulness in order to pour it upon His people, a gift greater than the marked but partial revelations of the Spirit's influence given during the patriarchal age. At the end of the ten days the Lord fulfilled His promise by a wonderful outpouring of His Spirit. The Holy Spirit came as a rushing mighty wind and filled the house where they were assembled together in one place in one accord in full identification as disciples. They were filled and spoke in other tongues, Peter was reanointed with holy unction from on high, they boldly testified to the risen Saviour in the demonstration of the Spirit and the power of God, and about three thousand souls were added that same day.

The Spirit's coming enlightened their minds so they could understand and carry on the work Jesus had left them after opening their understanding of the prophecies and commissioning them to preach. They had still hoped Jesus would then restore Israel's kingdom, but the timing belonged to the Father, not to them. The fulfillment at Pentecost did not limit the promise to that occasion, for the Spirit's work was to continue in the church as long as people are invited to accept pardoning love.

No single physiological effect is established as proof of receiving power from on high. Speaking as the Spirit gives utterance is suggested, and the Spirit's influence may bring special signs, especially when opposition is strong, when unusual things may occur. Their form cannot be specified or confidently equated with the disciples' experiences after the ascension.

Promise Available Today

The promise of the Spirit and power from above given to the first disciples belongs to believers today as truly as then, to men and women who need it and trust the word. It is to be claimed by faith and received now, not reserved for some future time nor given only in scant measure, for God's power awaits His people's demand and reception. Its possession gives strength and effectiveness for spiritual work, enabling preaching to convict hearers and lead souls to God, while relying on own efforts and expecting little help from heaven leaves believers spiritually weak and unable to share truth effectively. The call to seek that power is a call to earnest supplication for the Father's promised gift.

That gift is given in answer to fervent, persevering prayer that reaches out to claim God's promises. The promise did not make prayer unnecessary for those first instructed to wait in Jerusalem until receiving power from above, but led them to pray together with greater earnestness as they waited for its fulfillment because empowerment was essential for success in preaching. It requires all the more earnest, continued prayer with one accord, in one faith and spirit without speculations or curious theory about how the blessing would come. The same course belongs to those proclaiming the coming of the Lord in the clouds of heaven and preparing a people to stand in the great day of God, who must also continue in prayer.

The outpouring at Pentecost was the former rain, and the latter rain in the last days will be more abundant. It is linked with this endowment of promised power from on high given to equip followers for work and to fit the church to do more efficient work for God. But it will never refresh, strengthen and invigorate indolent souls who fail to use abilities and strength already given, and it requires energy and zeal as well as devotion and personal piety woven into all works. Every member is to improve talents and bear burdens of praying, watching, and winning sinners instead of leaving the work to a few willing ones while the careless shirk responsibility.

The promise applies to children and youth, who will be filled with the Spirit and proclaim the truth to the world with simplicity and power. It equips workers, moved by the Spirit, to leave ordinary employment and proclaim the final message of mercy and truth, including in fields where it has not yet been preached. In the last days it will be given to many ordinary men and women who, because souls are perishing and hundreds of workers are needed, will leave regular employment and enter barren fields that have never heard the final message of mercy. Empowered from heaven they will work wisely and economically, studying how to bring souls to knowledge of the truth by opening the Scriptures in house-to-house labor for love of Christ, and God is ready to so endow His people that they can go out as missionaries to harvest fields ready for harvest.

Ministers may still be qualified by this available promise in the dispensation of the Spirit to awaken people and set them to work for themselves and others. Every soul needs to receive the heavenly endowment and appreciate its value rather than wasting golden opportunities quibbling over little things, which grieves heavenly messengers impatient at the delay. Those who receive it go forth clad with the armor of righteousness to do battle for God, respecting the leadings of the Lord and filled with gratitude for His mercy. Being endued with power from on high is receiving the blessing in the current of the outpouring of the Spirit of God in a season of refreshing enjoyed in the fellowship of the church. Those who turn warfare against the church and denounce it as Babylon and call God's people out of it as the loud cry do not have this power, and they need to stop opposing and come into the current and receive it. As the seventy elders were prepared for their work and publicly confirmed in divine appointment when God's Spirit rested upon them in prophetic gift, so the disciples received power from God for their work.

Power for Gospel Work

No one is to preach or take up the work of a gospel minister without the influence of the Spirit, but is to wait in faith and prayer until fitted, converted, meek and thorough, with conduct showing no appearance of evil. Those not equipped to give the help people need, unfitted for visiting, praying in homes, opening the Bible and shepherding souls, are not to undertake that work until given power from on high and fitness for practical shepherd work. When the Spirit comes upon God's people the truth goes forth with great power and becomes powerful to sanctify those who receive it.

This waiting is laid upon ministers at Battle Creek to stay there until newly converted and endowed with power for their respective fields, trusting God to fulfill His promises. Colorado may serve as a kind of Jerusalem, a place of preparation where those together may profitably receive power from on high. All called to ministry are to look to God rather than depend on another person to prepare their teaching, searching Scripture, praying and waiting on Him for wisdom, power and Spirit from on high.

Learning, eloquence and natural or acquired abilities cannot by themselves touch hearts, soften hardness, overcome selfishness and worldliness, or win sinners, and human effort alone cannot succeed in the appointed work. Arguments alone even when logical fail, but truth becomes effective and sanctifying through hearts warmed and lips made eloquent by living knowledge of Christ as the Way, the Truth and the Life. The Spirit works with the speaker and impresses hearers so that Christ seems truly present, and divine power must work through human instruments who labor in partnership with God. Humility exalts Christ and recognizes dependence on God, whose grace alone reforms the heart and makes teaching fruitful.

Without the Spirit a minister unmoved by the truth and presenting it without earnestness harms others, lowers the standard, and does lifeless, worthless work, for religious membership, correct beliefs and outward duties without life in Christ are only form. The truth that saves must come from God with His Spirit attending its delivery to have power against opposition, and must come to every gospel worker and church member if the perishing are to be saved. God's servants need this power before they can strengthen the wavering, support the weak, build up the church and gather souls, and those not ready should first labor for themselves and pray until endowed.

The power is not asked for self alone but under the burden of the salvation of souls and the sense that the gospel must be carried to the world, claimed by those who feel spiritual need, search the heart deeply, and cry to the Lord for fitness to meet people and speak words that lead sinners to Christ. The heart must first be surrendered and transformed, and the command to tarry is a call to wait for God's power before ministry and to receive the Spirit's transforming power in one's own life before working for others. It is sought through fervent persistent prayer until endowed, so that God may work in and through the worker to speak His words earnestly and powerfully rather than with hesitation or doubt.

When the Spirit comes preaching convicts and converts, witness becomes effective with divine assurance moving hearts, and the gospel goes to the ends of the earth. Filled with that power the disciples boldly testified to the risen Saviour and many were added, thousands converted in a day, on one occasion three thousand, with heavenly intelligences cooperating and giving efficiency to missionary effort. Obedience in waiting and going is followed by the Lord working with them.

Consecrated laborers are to ask for and receive this power continually, every day, even hourly through renewal of grace and salvation, claiming the blessing by faith as both privilege and duty. The Spirit then controls the heart, gives knowledge of truth beyond nominal belief, clothes with holy zeal, and accompanies effort with power suited to the importance of the message, enabling cooperation with Christ in obedience to His directions and guidance. Ministers, teachers, physicians and directors need this daily baptism before going out to labor.

With this endowment workers receive strength from above to go forward in faith and hope in the path where God bids them walk, putting forth utmost energy as expositors of His word, ever learners alive to the sacredness and responsibility of the calling, bringing no maimed offering costing neither study nor prayer. They cooperate with heavenly intelligences, represent Christ's character, follow His example sustained for service, and go from place to place telling of the Saviour's love, serving and opening the Scriptures, trusting Him for grace and strength. When willing, the Lord supplies power to speak and bear His message even when the task seems impossible, and the endowment is to be valued above material wealth as workers go as missionaries to harvest fields.

In the last days Christ equips ministers to bear the burden of a world by the Spirit's quickening life and vitality in the heart, and with that endowment success in saving souls is certain as they stay so closely connected with the Saviour that they know they do His will. Depending on the Lord's power sustains through difficult duties and presents salvation so as to move others, with victories leading to greater reliance on God rather than self-exaltation.

God's work requires power from heaven and must not be done half-heartedly, nor undertaken amid widespread apostasy or spiritual battle without assurance of God's presence and divine help. Without power from above to work as Christ worked in dependence on the risen and ascended Christ, labor cannot be effective and complete. That power comes from God through the Holy Spirit to equip for presenting truth and witnessing, received while waiting together in prayer for the promised gift.

Endowed preachers are enabled to rise above bodily infirmities, present Jesus as the sinner's only hope so hearers know they have been with Jesus, compare spiritual things with spiritual, tear down Satan's strongholds, break hearts by the love of God in the sacrifice of His only begotten Son, and lead many to ask what they must do to be saved. The power gives spiritual understanding to discern the enemy's designs and to grasp as far as human minds can the great themes and far-reaching principles of Christianity. Those who seek God in faith go out to speak His word with that power to promote spirituality.

Power from on high is needed to speak and deal with sacred, important themes and to serve as a living channel of light to the world. It is given to those who walk in the light already received, trust the heavenly Father, remain firmly connected with Jesus, and stand bravely for right and Bible principle refusing to be coerced into binding contracts for favor, with God as Helper enabling to guide and direct. Playing the coward through fear of man more than fear of God loses this power, and wisdom controlled by another spirit is to be regarded as foolishness.

Life Transformed by Power

The promised blessing is sanctification, power to live clean, wholesome, unsullied lives. Christ Himself received this power from on high and showed its effect in a victorious life that freed people from unrest, doubt, enmity, unbelief, greed, and ambition. It is not a work completed in an instant nor a state that once received can never be lost. Believers today may ask for the same power the disciples waited for in Jerusalem because they were not yet ready to begin their work, and they are to hold on by faith, for its coming brings praise to Jesus and makes people loving, gentle, and kind.

Through surrender to God human weakness and frailty are joined to His might so that the connected soul can overcome, and divine love also helps reach the hearts of others. God gives strength and power from on high to gain the victory, given to those who walk in the light already received and who stand bravely for the right. When Christ is enthroned in the heart and thoughts are fixed on Him, power is given to the soul to resist Satan's deceptive schemes.

The power is received as Christ dwells in the heart, clothing believers with strength, assurance, and words to share the truth. It comes to those who feel need of a firmer hold upon God and desire separation from natural and cultivated tendencies to evil, who ask the prayers of God's people for forgiveness of sins, who rise to testify that they want completeness in Christ and freedom from enslaving habits, since profession for many years avails nothing unless truth is lived daily. Before presenting truth in simplicity, truthfulness, and humility, believers must open the door of the heart to Jesus, individually lay bare the soul before God, and depart from all worldly pollution through lust. Those who seek it will have greater zeal, with earnestness and soul hunger not for their own righteousness but for Christ's righteousness, and feeling their need will resolve not to mar God's work with defects of character.

When believers are empowered from on high and truth prevails among them against the spirit of the world, persecution and reproach follow. God-given strength is given to hold fast to every precious grace and gift and to stand in spiritual conflict, calling believers into action to live as examples reflecting their Master's life and spirit, for Christ and Belial have no concord. Amid last-day opposition that seeks to undermine Scripture and spread darkness, followers need this Spirit-given power to withstand evil and bear faithful witness to God's Word.

Being endued with power means that power resting upon believers present together, bringing blessing and strength to all, given in answer to fervent prayer that reaches out to claim God's promises with humble confession of fault and acceptance of plain testimony. It rests at once upon intercessors strong in faith and upon the sick one for whom they unite, where faith is not hindered by fanatical and injurious influences. When received it works immediate, perfect, and lasting bodily healing, proved by rising at once, praising God with heavenly light on the face, and eating heartily without injury, as when it rested on Brother Hyde and those praying for his recovery.

The command to tarry is a call to wait for God's transforming power before beginning ministry, for those who would work for others must first surrender and receive the Spirit's converting power in their own lives by seeking the Lord earnestly and putting away sin. Ministers, teachers, physicians, and directors are to ask for and receive that power continually, and by it they are enabled to cooperate with Christ, obey His directions, and follow His guidance, with the Holy Spirit controlling their hearts and giving knowledge of truth beyond merely nominal belief. God wills His ministers and servants to be clothed with this power, to be sought with constant, humble, persevering faith and earnest application to ministry, and He is ready to endow His people so they can go out as missionaries.

The church must receive power from God to warn the world of coming doom and enlighten those perishing in ignorance. That power equips workers moved by the Spirit to leave ordinary employment and proclaim the final message of mercy and truth even in fields where it has not yet been preached. God gives power for the work He calls people to do when they are willing, enabling them to speak and bear His message even when the task seems impossible. When God is with a man that man receives power enabling him to guide and direct with God as Helper, given to those who stand bravely for the right and follow Bible principle refusing to be coerced into binding contracts for favor, while playing the coward shows fear of man more than fear of God and loses this power, and when a man is controlled by another spirit his wisdom is to be regarded as foolishness.