Forty days with the risen Jesus, and the disciples ask the question most of us would ask: “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” Jesus doesn’t give them a date. “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.” He gives them a promise instead: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses.” That isn’t a pep talk, and it isn’t an order. It’s Jesus telling them what his Spirit is going to make of them. And the phrase “to the end of the earth” comes straight out of Isaiah 49:6, where God promises his Servant will be a light for the nations. We still want the calendar. Jesus still hands us the promise. Today we start the book of Acts, and this verse is the frame for all of it.
