使徒言行録1:3-5 Acts 1:3-5, “The Gift of the Holy Spirit”

Jesus died on the cross to atone for our sins and was resurrected on the third day in a body of eternal life. He then appeared to the disciples who believed in him for 40 days to show them that he had indeed risen. How glad the disciples, who were sad because Jesus died, were to know that he was alive, and that he was living in a body of eternal life!

Knowing that his time to ascend to the place of God the Father in heaven was near, Jesus told his disciples: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit” (vv. 4-5; NIV 2011). What does “wait for the gift my Father promised” mean? This refers to the precious gift that God the Father in heaven had promised to give to the disciples. And it was not a visible gift, but an invisible one. It was invisible, but it was a gift far greater than anything visible.

It was the gift of the Holy Spirit, as it says: “in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit” What happens when you receive the Holy Spirit as a gift? You will know God the Father and Jesus better, and you will be able to live powerfully following Jesus. Like Jesus who died on the cross and rose again, you will be able to overcome the hardships you face and live your life gaining new power. And you will be able to receive Jesus’ grace and live witnessing his grace to those around you. Not only that, but at the end of it all, you will be able to enter heaven where Jesus is for sure. What a wonderful gift!

Jesus commanded his disciples to “wait” for the day when they would receive this wonderful gift. And they prayed and waited for that day. And just as God the Father had promised, on the day of Pentecost they were given the wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit, so that they could testify of Jesus and live a new life. We, too, should pray and wait for the gift of the Holy Spirit, which is more wonderful than any gift.