Browse Bible Study Resources

Daily Devotions

Luke

Luke 
Day 
Day 361

Luke 24:44-53; Acts 1:1-8 "THE PROMISE OF POWER FROM ON HIGH"

Day 361 – Luke 24

Text: Luke 24:44-53; Acts 1:1-8

THE PROMISE OF POWER FROM ON HIGH

The Disciples had seen the Power that was in the Life of their Teacher. There was no mistaking the power that exuded from Him. Let us recall two important statements Luke made concerning the Power that was in the Life of Jesus.

“And the whole multitude sought to touch Him,
for POWER went out from Him
and healed them all.”
Luke 6:19

“And the POWER of the Lord
was present to heal…”
Luke 5:17

Power resided in the Person of the Lord Jesus. He could delegate that power to whoever He wished. The Disciples experienced that power when they were sent out to minister in His Name.

“Then He called His twelve disciples together
and gave them POWER and AUTHORITY
over all demons, and to cure diseases.”
Luke 9:1

This power that Jesus gave to His Disciples was given to them “temporarily”. The power did not reside in them. Their experience of power was different from that possessed by Jesus.

Jesus must have known that His Disciples were deeply concerned about the power that they would need to do the work that He had given to them. They had failed so miserably recently. They had let Him down when they fled in fear. They had struggled with their unbelief. How could they go out and be His witnesses! Surely their enemies would scorn their efforts! How could they serve God in the strength that they had?

To allay any fears in the heart Jesus gave them this important word.

“Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you;
but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued
with POWER from on high.”
Luke 24:49

He would give them POWER to do the work of witnessing. That promise must have thrilled the hearts of His Disciples. They had tasted of the power Jesus had once given them. Demons had to obey them when they exercised the power that was in the Name of Jesus (Luke 10:20). But wait, what did Jesus say about “tarrying”, that is “waiting”, until the Promise of the Father came upon them? Jesus was talking about the Power from the Spirit of God – something that He Himself testified of when He began His ministry (Luke 4:18).

AN IMPORTANT WAITING PERIOD

Luke in his sequel, The Acts of the Apostles, wrote about the fact that the Holy Spirit came upon the Disciples and empowered them for ministry. In the introduction to the Book of Acts, Luke wrote an important summary of the work that Jesus did with His Disciples after His resurrection.

“The former account I made, O Theophilus,
of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,
until the day in which He was taken up,
after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments
to the Apostles whom He had chosen,
to whom He had presented Himself alive after His suffering
by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days
and speaking of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.”
Acts 1:1-3

The Disciples were told to wait for the Holy Spirit to come upon them. He would come upon them in God’s timing. The waiting period however was not wasted. Jesus had a full programme for His Disciples. We read about what He did with them over a period of 40 days.

1. He gave the Disciples many infallible proofs that He had indeed risen from the dead. This was a reference to His many appearances to different sets of disciples.

2. He spent much time teaching His disciples “things pertaining to the Kingdom of God”.

The Disciples had to be readied as much as possible for the tremendous challenge of preaching, teaching and making of disciples. They would have to do a lot of hard work to know the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms really well! They had to learn how to “wait upon the Lord”.

“YOU SHALL RECEIVE POWER…” Acts 1:8

The promise of power must have been reiterated a number of times. What thoughts and dreams filled the hearts of the Disciples as they listened to the words of their beloved Teacher promising them Power from the Holy Spirit? Great power would be needed if they were to be able to fulfill the Great Commission!

Every single believer desires the empowering of the Spirit of God. Is that power available to us too? A resounding “Yes!” to this question. Let us take heart as we read about this power of God from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Paul offered a moving prayer that the Ephesian believers might know,

“What is the exceeding greatness of His power
toward us who believe, according to the working
of His mighty power which He worked in Christ
when He raised Him from the dead…”
Ephesians 1:19