What does it mean to tarry?
Luke's Gospel ends with the risen Jesus giving His disciples a strange kind of assignment: before they go anywhere, they must stay somewhere. The word "tarry" simply means to wait and not move — but the questions it raises are why waiting was needed at all, what they were waiting for, and whether anyone is meant to do the same today.
A specific place, a fixed length
The command was not a general spiritual practice. It named one city and covered one short stretch of days.
A J PollockA very slight look at the text will convince the reader that Luke 24:49 records a special instruction to the disciples to wait for the descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. They were to wait at Jerusalem and nowhere else. Their "tarrying" lasted ten days and no longer. It lasted till the descent of the Holy Spirit was fulfilled to them, and only till then.
Waiting as obedience
Tarrying was not passivity. The disciples had been told to go and preach to all nations, and the only reason they stayed was that their Master said so.
J T MawsonDay after day for ten days they waited and prayed. What obedient men they were! They knew that they were not sufficient for these things; they knew that their sufficiency was of God and they were not disappointed, for when they opened their mouths, "they so spoke that many believed."
They already had peace — what they lacked was power
Earlier in the same chapter the risen Lord had spoken peace to them and proved His resurrection. So the waiting was not to settle their standing with God; it was to equip them for a worldwide errand.
W T TurpinRepentance and remission of sins was to be proclaimed worldwide, but in order to carry this out power was necessary; and so He says to them: "Tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are clothed with power from on high." As if He had said, I have laid the ground of your peace, but now you need power. You have the peace, I pronounced peace and showed you the foundation of it; but you must have power in order to deliver this wonderful testimony, to preach it in My name among all nations.
Power from on high, not from below
The source is named in the promise itself, and it rules out every human substitute.
James BoydChristianity subsists in the power of God. The greatest man on earth can communicate nothing. No man however great ever brought to Christ any natural quality that could be used in the service of Christ. "Tarry in the city of Jerusalem, until you are clothed with power from on high." Power from on high is the only power that can accomplish anything for God. Man glories in man, in his genius, learning, intellect, eloquence; but none of these things are of value in Christ's service.
Writers also note what they were not yet given during those days. Their minds had already been opened to understand the Scriptures; the Spirit's power was a separate thing, still to come.
William KellyThus the Holy Spirit was not given yet as an indwelling person, but rather a repeating of the Father's promise. Remaining in Jerusalem they would be clothed with power — an essential thing for Christianity, and quite distinct from the spiritual understanding already given.
Is there anything left to tarry for?
Once what they waited for arrived, the reason for waiting ended. Commentators press the question directly.
Samuel RidoutAre we warranted then by this scripture in expecting a definite and well-known enduement in answer to distinct waiting and prayer for it? The answer seems most clear and simple. What were they waiting for? not power primarily, but the descent of the Holy Spirit, and with Him came power and all else… What then are we to tarry for and pray for? not surely for that Spirit whom we already have. Prayer and waiting always have their place, but not in connection with the gift of the Spirit.
The counterfeit of tarrying
There is a way of "waiting" that is really delay. Waiting to obey until power is felt reverses God's order.
J. N. DarbyThe order of God for Christians is not obedience upon blessing, but blessing on obedience; not to wait for blessing in order to obey, but to act on the command, and the blessing follows. And this is faith. There would be no faith if the blessing came first… It was denying the Spirit to say, We must wait for the Spirit to obey what the Spirit has taught.
Summary
- Command. To tarry is to stay put under orders — one city, ten days, until the promise arrived and not a day beyond.
- Peace first. They were not waiting to be forgiven; peace had already been spoken to them. They waited for power to preach it.
- Power from on high. Genius, learning and eloquence contribute nothing; only power from above accomplishes anything for God.
- Promise kept. The waiting ended because the Spirit came. To tarry for Him now is to treat a fulfilled promise as unfulfilled.
- Obedience next. Blessing follows obedience, never the reverse — so the waiting that once was faith would today be an excuse.