Acts 1:6 – Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive 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.”

9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

12 Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city. 13 When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. (NIV).

Who remembers Harold Camping? He was a radio host who gained notoriety back in 2011 for his incorrect prediction that the rapture would happen on May 21 of that year.  (Spoiler alert – it didn’t!). It seems that whatever a date is predicted, end times teaching always attracts attention! In light of this fact of life, this is a particularly interesting passage.  Perhaps the apostles were not asking about the end of time, but they were asking about future events.  Jesus makes it clear in verse seven that future dates are not for anyone to know.  What I find interesting is the very next verse.  Jesus immediately tells his followers to be filled with the Holy Spirit and then to get to work!  It’s as if Jesus is saying, “Hey, that forget that future stuff, go be a witness right now!” 

Basing a ministry on seeking the dates for something in the future is clearly not being a witness! People will often ask me what I think of certain preachers who focus on ‘the end.’  I honestly can’t give an answer because I don’t listen to any such preachers!  It’s not what Jesus was about and should not be what we are about. 

What are we to be about, then?  Just as Jesus charged his first followers, we are charged to seek the Holy Spirit.  Why? So that we, like them, will get to work!  Being a witness of what we have experienced of Jesus is our work. 

Our spiritual eyes may be fixed upon heaven, but we should not stand around and debate and focus on Jesus’ return, or any future events.  Instead, let us focus on being filled with the Holy Spirit this day, and on being a witness in our communities (Jerusalem), in our nation, (Judea), and throughout the ends of the earth! 

Posted by Ramón Torres