Raw Reflections from the Journey

Monday, November 7, 2011

Acts 2 in three parts

I chapter 2 in three parts.

First, the disciples at Pentecost still awaiting fulfillment of Jesus’ promise to fill them with His Holy Spirit, his very presence which he promised them would be with them till the end of the world! Earlier, he’d said something like this, “It’s good if I go, for if I go then I will send the comforter the counselor, the One who will remind you of everything I have taught you, the One who will empower you to do what I did and even greater things than these.” (that’s a composite paraphrase of the things that come to mind that Jesus said one time or another about the promise of the Holy Spirit; I may look them all up later and study each verse separately).

Pretty amazing promise, and if I was a disciple, I’d be pretty excited about it, especially after watching the things he did; heal lepers, blind, deaf, paralytic, cast out demons, raise the dead (Lazurus, et al), and even raise from the dead himself. Calm the seas, empower Peter to walk on water, heal the sliced off ear of the high priest (thanks for the opportunity to demonstrate more of my divine power, Peter), etc., etc. the end of the gospel of John says that if the sky was a parchment and the oceans wells of ink it wouldn’t be enough and there wouldn’t be enough room on earth to hold the volumes of books that would be written…so there’s even more than we know!

And suddenly the place where they were together was filled w/out warning w/ gale force wind…and like wildfire the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks….and no doubt, they knew that Jesus had kept his promise to fill them w/ the Holy Spirit. In fact, before the crowd could make any accusations to the contrary stick, Peter speaks authoritatively, quoting from Joel about God pouring out His Spirit in the last days and the different manifestations that would verify that it was from him; young men and women prophesying, etc.

Second: Peter doesn’t stop w/ explanation of what has happened. He preaches to enlighten the crowd about Jesus; who he was and is, and what they’d done to him. Under conviction, many asked what they should do, and Peter responds succinctly w/ the infamous words, “Repent and turn to God. Be Baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit!” And many do, about 3000 of them. Pretty cool altar call!

Finally, body life is described as a generous community of fellowship. Not only did their practices of gathering together frequently, sharing meals and giving to one another according to need meet needs and edify the believers, but also provided a compelling example to the masses, “who liked what they saw and were compelled to join , ‘the way’ Sounds easy. Sounds fun. Sound like something I’d like to be a part of.

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