ACTS 1.6-8: So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (7) He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. (8) But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (ESV)
For many years I had been puzzled about what Jesus meant when He said, “when the Holy Spirit has come ‘upon’ you.” I knew that it was a figurative expression about receiving the power of the Holy Spirit, but I didn’t understand it.
In Walter Bauer’s “Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, as revised and updated by F. Wilbur Gingrich and Frederick W. Danker”, there is a treatment of this word “upon” regarding its figurative use as it relates to the idea of “power”.
Bauer’s lexicon sets forth that when this Greek word “upon” is used grammatically as it is used in verse 8, and used figuratively with reference to “power”, it means to have “power, rule, control over someone or something.”. Another way of expressing this idea is found in Bruce M. Metzger’s book, “Lexical Aids For Students of New Testament Greek”. Metzger puts this word, and the usage that I believe applies to verse 8, in a category called “Superintendence”.
Furthermore, I believe that the New Testament expressions of “clothed with power from on high”, “filled with the Spirit”, “when the Holy Spirit has come upon you”, “baptized with the Holy Spirit”, all refer to the same idea of the Holy Spirit having rule and control over our lives. I believe the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives with this power is typically shown forth through us in accordance with the spiritual gift or gifts we receive when we put our faith in Jesus. It is shown as we exercise our gift or gifts.
I encourage you to devote your life to Jesus in every aspect of your mind, will, emotions, aspirations, loyalty, dependence, obedience. And to fix your eyes on Jesus alone. And to let Him have power and authority over your life by the Holy Spirit, as He superintends your life.