Luke 24:49

Having explained the disciples’ responsibility, Jesus next announced what He would do. The promise of the Father refers to the Holy Spirit that God promised in the Old Testament to pour out on His people (Isaiah 32:15; Isaiah 44:3; Ezekiel 39:29; Joel 2:28-29; cf. John 14:16-17). These Old Testament prophecies are of an outpouring of the Spirit in the kingdom, as the contexts indicate, but a similar outpouring of the same Spirit came on Pentecost (Acts 1:4-5; Acts 2:16). It was perhaps this promise of the Spirit’s outpouring that led the disciples to view it as inaugurating the kingdom (Acts 1:6). Jesus corrected their misunderstanding (Acts 1:7).

Finally Jesus instructed the disciples to remain in Jerusalem until the Spirit clothed them (Acts 1:8). This was a common figure of the Spirit’s enabling presence and power in the Old Testament (e.g., Numbers 11:25; Numbers 11:29; Judges 3:10; Judges 14:19; 1 Samuel 11:6; et al.). This "power from the Most High" has been evident through this Gospel (e.g., Luke 1:35; et al), and it is very evident in Acts as well.

". . . Jesus’ words in Luke 24:46-49 not only provide a bridge to the early part of Acts but fit with a series of statements describing the missions of key characters, from the summary of John the Baptist’s mission early in Luke to the summary of Paul’s mission late in Acts." [Note: Tannehill, The Narrative . . ., 1:298.]

". . . Luke not only presented Jesus as the fulfillment of the Isaianic Servant, but also worded his version of the commission to depict the disciples as those who were to take up the Servant’s mission after Jesus’ departure." [Note: Thomas S. Moore, "The Lucan Great Commission and the Isaianic Servant," Bibliotheca Sacra 154:613 (January-March 1997):47.]