Luke 24:46–49

Context

These verses form the final part of what the risen Jesus Christ said when he appeared to the eleven disciples and those gathered with them in Jerusalem. Just before this, Jesus says that everything written about him in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled, and he opens the disciples' minds to understand the Scriptures (Luke 24:44–46). The passage contains three elements. The first is the content of the Scriptures that the disciples came to understand: the suffering and resurrection of the Christ and the preaching of repentance and the forgiveness of sins. The second is the disciples' role as "witnesses." The third is the command to remain in Jerusalem and wait. The Gospel of Luke then closes with the ascension scene (Luke 24:50–51), and chapter 1 of Acts, by the same author, picks up this promise and command and continues the narrative.

Interpretation

• Reading as a Great Commission: The passage is often set alongside the Great Commission at the end of Matthew and called "Luke's Great Commission." On this reading, the message to be proclaimed is repentance and the forgiveness of sins, its scope is "all nations," and its starting point is Jerusalem. Linked with Acts 1:8, "in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth," it is also read as an outline of the entire book of Acts.
• Reading as a key to interpreting Scripture: On the basis of the words "Thus it is written," the passage is cited in support of a Christocentric hermeneutic holding that the whole Old Testament points to the suffering and resurrection of Christ. The text itself does not identify any specific Old Testament passage.
• Reading with a focus on "witnesses": The Greek word martys, translated "witness," denotes someone who testifies to what he or she has personally seen and heard; it later also came to mean "martyr." In the first instance it refers to the disciples who saw the risen Christ. Many churches hold that this mission of bearing witness continues for believers today.
• "The promise of my Father": Most interpreters understand this as the Holy Spirit and regard the promise as fulfilled in the events of Pentecost in Acts 2.

Debates and Issues

Denominations place different emphases on the phrase "until ye be endued with power from on high."

• The Pentecostal tradition has read this verse as grounds for seeking a distinct experience, received after conversion, known as the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
• The Reformed tradition generally regards Pentecost as a once-for-all event in redemptive history. Accordingly, it understands the disciples' waiting as limited to that particular moment and holds that believers today receive the Spirit when they believe.
• In the Wesleyan and Holiness traditions, there has been a strand of interpretation that connects the fullness of the Spirit with the experience of sanctification.

There are also differences among the manuscripts. In verse 47, the phrase "repentance for the forgiveness of sins" appears in other manuscripts as "repentance and remission of sins." For this reason, the wording is known to vary slightly among translations.

In the Korean Church

The passage is frequently used at missionary commissioning services and on mission Sundays as a text describing the starting point and scope of mission. It is also cited at gatherings that emphasize the fullness of the Spirit and in sermons for Pentecost. Churches that follow the liturgical calendar also read it as part of the lection for Ascension Day (Luke 24:44–53).

Related Passages

• Matthew 28:18–20
• Acts 1:4–8
• Acts 2:1–4
• John 15:26–27