The first thing we see in Acts 1:8 is that Jesus’ message was a comfort to the disciples. You see, they have spent their time in ministry working alongside the person who brought about the ministry in the first place. While their job was not easy by any means, they did have the assurance that everything they were preaching was absolute truth because they were seeing it firsthand.
Now they were to continue that ministry but without being able to physically prove His existence. So Jesus tells them that they are not alone in this. He explains that the power that it will take to speak about Him will come from the Holy Spirit. While the disciples may not have fully understood what that meant at the time, it surely helped to know that they were not going to have to do this by themselves. This same power is in us today. We can have the confidence to carry out Christ’s message because of the power given to us by the Holy Spirit.
The second thing to pull from this text comes from the word witness. Jesus says, “and you will be My witness.” What does it mean to be a witness?
Many times we get caught up in the idea of “witnessing” as door-to-door evangelism or something similar, but it is truly much more than that.
Part of Luke’s overall purpose in Acts is to show us that we are accountable for the gospel message in our everyday lives. Imagine it as if Jesus said, “You will represent me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” That may give us a better understanding here. It is about more than just “witnessing” as we define the term today. It is about being the people who represent Christ. We must show exhibit Christ in our everyday actions.