The Kingdom of our Lord: BeingEstablished


Acts 1:6-8
6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" 7 And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."


One way to read this passage:

The disciples, still misunderstanding Jesus's mission, ask him if the time has come for His earthly kingdom to be established. Jesus first puts them off of this notion of an earthly kingdom, by deferring that project to a later time known only to his Father. Jesus then gives them a substitute for an earthly kingdom, the power of the Holy Spirit.

A better way to read this passage:

The disciples, finally understanding Jesus's message, ask him if the time has come for His earthly kingdom to be established. Jesus gives a twofold answer to their question by saying that, on the one hand, that the time at which the final establishment of his kingdom on earth will take place is known only to the Father; but that, on the other hand, that very kingdom will be established in and through the disciples by the power of the Holy Spirit.

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