Heralds of the Risen Christ
‘But you will receiver power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth’ Acts 1:8
A witness was usually someone who testified in a court to what they had seen or heard.
In the verse before our text above, the disciples have asked “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:7). So the theme of the conversation is the kingdom. In this context then, Jesus calls His disciples to be His witnesses.
In the world of the first century the news of the enthronement of a new king was taken throughout the kingdom by heralds. This had a stabilising effect because the people feared anarchy.
The disciples were to be witnesses that God had enthroned His king. They were the heralds. Daniel 7:9-14 was fulfilled. Jesus was now Lord (Philippians 2:10), not in the future but now.
There will come a time when the whole world sees Jesus as we now know Him and when it submits to His righteous rule and judgement. But we live in between these two great times – His enthronement as King (2,000 years back) and His return when as King Jesus, He is openly displayed to all.
The apostles were called to go out as heralds, not announcing a future King but a newly presented Messiah King. How far were they to go? To the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8) because this is how far God’s kingdom reaches.
We are heralds of the risen Christ. We are called to go into our world presenting the message of the gospel, the message that God has sent His Son to be the Saviour of the world.
Not everyone wants to hear this message. The word translated witness is almost the same as our word ‘martyr.’ Heralds of the King realised they could be martyrs too.
We might pay a price for our witness but the news of God’s King has to be shared. It begins right here right now, with you.
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