The Promise

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The promise is mentioned by Luke in three consecutive chapters (Luke 24, Acts 1, Acts 2). Jesus and, later, Peter talk about this promise and Luke writes what they said. These consecutive references are consistent in meaning and involve God’s finally fulfilling an Old Testament prophecy. The message is monumental.

I Am Sending the Promise

The day he leaves the tomb, Jesus tells his disciples, “I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49, ESV). These instructions are to “the eleven and those who were with them gathered together” (v. 33 [cf. “the eleven and to all the rest” in v. 9]). This means the disciples, in general, are expecting to receive “the promise.” This is the only occurrence of the phrase, “the promise,” in Luke’s gospel.

Wait for the Promise

In the next chapter we have from Luke, he says Jesus “ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, ‘you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now’” (Acts 1:4-5). In context, Jesus is giving commands “to the apostles” (v. 2). But, because Luke has already claimed that more than just the apostles are expecting to receive “the promise” (Luke 24:33, 49), it is impossible to exclude non-apostles from Acts 1:4-5. Besides, within the same context, Luke says the apostles are “together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers…the company of persons was in all about 120” (v. 14f.). Presence of apostles does not imply absence of disciples. Matthias “was numbered with the eleven” (v. 26), yet there are over a hundred people actually together (v. 15). All of them are “to wait for the promise of the Father,” and that promise is to soon “be baptized with the Holy Spirit” (v. 5). This is what John had always preached that Jesus would eventually do. Now Jesus says it is about to happen.

The Promise of the Holy Spirit

The next chapter chronicles some of Peter’s sermon: “This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing” (Acts 2:32-33). The Spirit is “the promise.” The effect of receiving the outpouring is to be baptized in the Spirit. They are two ways of describing receipt of “the promise.” As Peter claims, this outpouring of God’s Spirit is fulfilling what Joel prophesied: “I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh” (Joel 2:28ff. cf. Acts 2:16ff.). “All flesh” includes young, old, men, women—even lowly “servants.” When God begins pouring his Spirit on “all flesh,” no categories of people are excluded. All are included because everyone “born again” must be “born of water and the Spirit,” or he cannot be in “the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). You could be baptized in water by John and be waiting on the kingdom, but you could never be actually in the kingdom without the other half of the equation, which is “the promise of the Holy Spirit.” Both parts of the new birth—“water and the Spirit”—are together for the first time in Acts 2, which is why it marks the beginning of the kingdom as having arrived.

John preached, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Luke 3:16). Water wasn’t going away, but the Holy Spirit was coming, and both would be essential. If any still doubt that John’s words apply to a broad audience, just read the passage. He was speaking to “the people” (v. 15) and “answered them all” (v. 16). These “all” are the “you” who will be baptized “with the Holy Spirit and fire.” No apostles mentioned. Of course, absence of their mention is no proof of their absence. But, “all” certainly includes people who were not apostles. Centuries ago God promised, “I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,” and he is finally doing it.

The Promise Is for You

With hearers asking what to do, Peter gives the answer that still stands: “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself” (Acts 2:38-39). It’s no accident that, immediately on mention of the Holy Spirit (“the gift”), Peter begins to talk about “the promise.” This promise was made in Joel 2: “I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.” The day he rose, Jesus tells disciples (including non-apostles), “I am sending the promise of my Father upon you” (Luke 24:49). Before he ascends, Jesus tells apostles (not excluding disciples), “wait for the promise of the Father” (Acts 1:4). “The promise” is identified by Peter as the Holy Spirit, now being “poured out” (Acts 2:33). Finally, if anyone questions whether such an incredible promise can still apply to us today, Paul says that God saves us “by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior” (Titus 3:5-6). Since the events of Acts 2, it has always been true that “the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”