1:4 And, being {c} assembled together with [them], commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, [saith he], ye have heard of me.
(c) They were dispersed here and there, but he gathers them together so that all of them might together be witnesses of his resurrection.
1:4 Commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem. Because, right in the citadel of his enemies, where he had been slain, the Risen Lord was to be first proclaimed, his Gospel preached, the Holy Spirit shed forth, and his kingdom established. Because, too, the prophet Isaiah had declared that Jerusalem should be the place where the Gospel should be first preached (Isa 2:3,5).
But wait for the promise of the Father. See Joe 2:28 Zec 2:10 Joh 14:16 15:26 Mt 3:11. They must wait for the Spirit, that they might speak, on the great day of the inauguration of the kingdom, as the Holy Spirit gave them utterance (Ac 2:4). The conditions of citizenship in the kingdom must be spoken by the Spirit.
1:4 Wait for the promise of the Father, which ye have heard from me - When he was with them a little before, as it is recorded, Luke 24:49.
1:1-5 Our Lord told the disciples the work they were to do. The apostles met together at Jerusalem; Christ having ordered them not to depart thence, but to wait for the pouring out of the Holy Spirit. This would be a baptism by the Holy Ghost, giving them power to work miracles, and enlightening and sanctifying their souls. This confirms the Divine promise, and encourages us to depend upon it, that we have heard it from Christ; for in Him all the promises of God are yea and amen.
