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The Ascension of Jesus.
The last commission of Jesus:
v. 1. The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,
v. 2. until the day in which He was taken up, after that He through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom He had chosen;
v. 3. to whom also He showed Himself alive after His Passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God;
v. 4. And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith He, ye have heard of Me.
v. 5. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
"The former treatise," the first discourse, Luke had made, namely, in his gospel, to which he here evidently refers. The present history is a sequel to the gospel narrative; as the first writing had given an account of the ministry of Jesus, so the present book is to give an account of the labors of His ministers. This book, like the gospel, is addressed and dedicated to Theophilus, who may well have been a citizen of Rome holding a high official position, probably of equestrian rank, and a resident of the imperial city. In the gospel Luke had spoken of all; he had given a complete account of the labors of Jesus. The phrase "began to do and teach" is an idiomatic expression, as much as "both did and taught" in English. But there is here also a hint of the fact that Jesus began the work of the Gospel and committed its continuance to His disciples. The teaching of Jesus continued, in a way, even after His resurrection, although He then no longer spoke before the general public, but only to the believers. In those days, up to the day of His ascension,—and especially on this day,—He commissioned the apostles, He laid a certain obligation upon them. This commission, according to the intimate union obtaining in the Godhead, He did not give in an independent way, but through the same divine Spirit whom they received in extraordinary measure shortly after His ascension. All the communications of Jesus to His disciples are transmitted through the agency of the Spirit, whom He breathed upon them on Easter evening, Joh_20:22. Note the distinction: Jesus had chosen the disciples out of the unbelieving world, and He had chosen the apostles from the ranks of the believers. To the latter the special apostolic commission was entrusted. Jesus Himself, at this time, was taken up, He was lifted up on high, He experienced His ascension as an act of the Father. But in the interval between His resurrection and ascension, Jesus had taken a number of opportunities to show Himself as their living Savior to His disciples. They had seen Him suffer; they had received the evidence of His death. Therefore He gave them, not only one, but many indubitable proofs of His resurrection from the dead. During a period of forty days He was seen by them on various occasions. And every new appearance was another link in the chain of convincing, certain evidence that He was living. He appeared to Mary Magdalene, Joh_20:14-18; to the women returning from the grave, Mat_28:9-10; to the Emmaus disciples, Luk_24:15; to Simon Peter, Luk_24:34; to ten of the apostles, other disciples also being present, Luk_24:3-6; Joh_20:19; to the eleven disciples a week later, Joh_20:26; to seven of the apostles in Galilee, Joh_21:4; to James and 500 brethren at one time, 1Co_15:6-7; to the assembly of the disciples on Ascension Day, Luk_24:50. Note: There is no discrepancy between Luk_24:43-51 and the present passage, for in the former account Luke has contracted the interviews of the two appearances, while in this narrative he observes the distinction. At every appearance of the risen Christ His conversation and charge to His disciples concerned matters of the kingdom of God, He committed to them the charge of the truths and commands. In word and in deed the apostles and all disciples of the Lord are to proclaim that Kingdom. The one great message of the Church for all times shall be the acceptance of Jesus the Redeemer by faith, by which act the believer becomes a member of the kingdom of God.
Having thus summarized the events of the forty days intervening between the resurrection and the ascension, Luke now proceeds to give the gist of the conversation which took place on the last day of the visible Christ on earth. On this day Christ had assembled His disciples for the last time, not only the apostles, but all the believers, a crowded gathering, according to the Greek word. It was at this time that Jesus charged the assembled congregation of believers, in an emphatic command, not to journey away from Jerusalem. They were to stay there and wait for the promise of the Father, the promise of the Holy Spirit which He had made to them on the evening before His death, Joh_14:26; Joh_15:26-27; Joh_16:12-13. This promise they had heard, and this He calls to their remembrance. And He reminds them of another fact. John's baptism had been with water only, it had pointed forward to another, greater baptism of which John spoke, of a baptism with the Holy Spirit and with fire, Luk_3:16. The extraordinary communication of the gifts of the Holy Spirit was to take place, as Jesus promises, not many days hence, after not many days. The prophecy of Joe_3:18 was about to be fulfilled Notice that Jesus both kindles in the hearts of the disciples a joyful longing and desire for the wonderful gift which is now so near, and exercises the faith of the apostles in His Word.