You will be my witnesses
Empowered to go
Jesus' last words before ascending gave his followers both a task and the power to do it: you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. The mission was impossible in their own strength, so he first promised the power, and then the witness.
Notice the order, and the relief in it. Jesus did not say try hard to be my witnesses, but you will receive power, and then you will be witnesses. The active life of mission is not a matter of mustering our own courage and eloquence, but of receiving the Spirit's power and being carried by it. The same Spirit who works the inner life empowers the outward witness; we go not in our own strength but in his.
And a witness, simply, is one who tells what they have seen and experienced. We are not called to be experts or arguers, but witnesses — to testify to what we ourselves have come to know of Christ. The inner life of knowing Christ is precisely what equips us for the outward witness; we can only witness to what we have experienced. The geographic scope widens outward — Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the ends of the earth — but it begins right where we are. Empowered by the Spirit, to what have you seen of Christ can you bear witness, right where you are?
“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.”
— Jesus, before his ascension — Acts 1:8 (WEB)
Bear witness to what you have seen of Christ, empowered by the Spirit — not as an expert or debater, but as one carried by his power right where you are.
“We are therefore ambassadors on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us.”
The call to be Christ's witnesses intimidates us; we feel unqualified, lacking courage, eloquence, or answers, and so we stay silent. The interior work is to receive Jesus' order — power first, then witness — recognizing that the mission runs on the Spirit's power, not our strength, and that a witness simply tells what they have seen, so the inner life of knowing Christ is exactly what equips us to testify.
This week, bear witness where you are: relying on the Spirit's power rather than your own eloquence, simply tell someone what you have come to know and experience of Christ, beginning in your own Jerusalem.
Fear shrinks the call down to a stage you are not qualified for, demanding eloquence and answers until silence feels like humility. But you were never asked to be an expert, only a witness — and the Spirit hands you the power before he asks for the word, so that telling what you have seen of Christ, right where you stand, carries further than any argument you could muster.
The thought of being Christ's witnesses can intimidate us — we feel unqualified, fearing we lack the courage, the eloquence, or the answers. Jesus' last words address exactly this fear, and the order matters: you will receive power, and then you will be my witnesses. The mission was never meant to run on our own strength; it runs on the Spirit's power, given before the witness is asked.
This lifts an enormous weight. We are not called to be experts or skilled debaters, but witnesses — those who simply tell what they have seen and experienced of Christ. And the inner life is precisely what equips us, for we can witness only to what we have come to know ourselves. We go as ambassadors, carried by the Spirit's power, not our own. The scope reaches to the ends of the earth, but it begins right where we are. Empowered by the Spirit, to what you have seen of Christ can you bear witness, today, right where you stand?
- Does the call to witness intimidate me because I feel unqualified?
- Am I relying on my own strength, or the Spirit's power?
- To what I have seen of Christ can I bear witness right where I am?
Lord, the call to be your witness intimidates me; I feel unqualified and stay silent. But you give power by your Spirit, and then the witness. Carry me by your power, and let me simply tell what I have seen of you, an ambassador right where I am. Amen.