Ye Shall Be Witnesses

The Body

Jesus names both the power source and the expanding scope of this mission together, receive power, then witnesses, moving outward in concentric circles, Jerusalem, Judaea, Samaria, uttermost part of the earth. Mission here begins close, in the immediate community, before expanding outward, not skipping the near context in favor of only the distant one.

This is worth noticing as a needed corrective against imagining mission only in terms of distant, dramatic sending, while neglecting the nearer, more ordinary witness available in your own immediate Jerusalem, the community and context you are already actually part of, before any wider sending becomes relevant or necessary.

Notice receive power comes before witnesses. This is not a mission carried out in unaided human effort or personality alone, but specifically empowered, the Holy Ghost’s own coming upon you named as the actual source making genuine witness possible, not merely your own natural capability or eloquence.

Consider today your own Jerusalem, the nearest, most immediate context where witness is currently possible, and take one concrete step there, trusting the same power this verse describes, not your own unaided effort, to make that witness genuinely effective, before any wider, more distant sending becomes your own next step.