Read Acts 2:14-47
ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“Then, after doing all those things, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on servants—men and women alike.” (Joel 2:28-29, NLT)
When we think of God’s people, we tend to think one of two things. We might think of the Israelites who were God’s “chosen people”, or we might think of specific characters in the Bible. Either way, we tend to idealize the people we are thinking about. For instance, we may think that God’s people are super faithful, holy, perform miracles and live wholly devout and righteous lives. Unfortunately, this idealism enables us to distance ourselves from being God’s people, because we feel that we fall short of those ideals. As such, I have decided to write a devotion series on specific characters in the Bible in order to show you how much these Biblical people are truly like us, and how much we are truly called to be God’s people.
Part 230: 3,000. We now move from the Gospel accounts of Jesus and his disciples, to Luke’s account on the life of the church following Jesus’ ascension. This account is actually volume 2 in a 2 volume work that Luke wrote. The first is, of course, the Gospel According to Luke. The second is entitled, The Acts of the Apostles. This second volume follows the apostles, the early church, and the missionary trips of the Apostle Paul. It starts in Jerusalem and ends outside the walls of Rome.
As we move through Acts, we will be looking at some of the characters that the Apostles interact with and we will see that the Holy Spirit did remarkable things for the promotion and spreading of God’s Kingdom through the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. Miraculously, this budding movement would go from illegal “cult”, banned and hunted by Roman authorities, to the official religion of the Roman Empire. All of this, happened without Christians lifting a sword against Rome.
In today’s reading, we enter into Luke’s account just after the Holy Spirit came to to them on the day of Pentecost in the upper room. Right after that, the disciples were ecstatic and filled with the power of God through the Holy Spirit. They were compelled to bring their enthusiasm and their Christian witness out into the streets. There was just one problem to that: Pentecost was a big ordeal in Judaism and many people from all over the world would be there.
Why? Because it was one of three pilgrimage holidays in Ancient Judaism and, thus, disapora (Jews living outside of Israel) Jews would travel to Jerusalem to observe Pentecost, a holiday marked the date that God gave Moses the Torah, or Jewish Laws. It is a date that is marked 50 days after Passover, when God freed the Israelites from enslavement in Egypt. With that fact established, how would these diaspora Jews, who spoke the languages of the countries from which they came from, ever be able to understand what Peter and the disciples were saying?
To the amazement of the disciples, the people were miraculously understanding what the disciples were saying in their own languages at the very same time that they were speaking. How incredible is that?!?! Some of the people mocked the disciples, claiming that they were drunk; however, Peter reminded them that it was merely 9 a.m. and that they were most certainly not drunk, but filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.
Peter then proceded to preach his first recorded sermon. In that he proceeded to tell them the Gospel message, first as it appeared in the Old Testament. He tied in the the Messianic prophecy of Joel and then he turned to King David, whom he also referred to as a prophet! He convincingly conveyed how King David saw the day in which God would raise up one of David’s own and place him on the throne. He saw that the death of this Messiah would not end in the tomb, but in this Messianic King being exalted at God’s right-hand, the place of honor.
Finally, he convicted them with the truth about “Jesus the Nazarene”. He was God’s chosen Messiah; however, even though the Jewish political and religious leaders had Jesus put to death, with the help of “lawless Gentiles” (aka the Romans), Jesus was raised from the dead, ascended into heaven, and sent the Holy Spirit to the disciples so that they might bring the Good News about Jesus Christ to all the people of Israel!
Upon ending his sermon, the people were so moved that they ended up getting baptized. ALL 3,000 OF THEM! That is right, Peter convicted the hearts of 3,000 people and they turned their lives over to Jesus Christ! Can you imagine that scene and how amazing it must have been. Can you imagine how moving, how transformative and, honestly, how frightening this all must have been?
Here’s the challenge for each of us. We are called to carry on the work of the disciples. We, too, are also filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. That is a gift that the Bible tells us is bestowed on all believers. We have been given gifts of the Spirit as a result of that and should be using those gifts to bring more people into an intimate and transformative relationship with Christ. In what ways can you up your game in evangelism? How has God gifted you? In what ways, utilizing those gifts, do you see yourself passionately sharing your faith with others and guiding them into a relationship with Jesus Christ? I pray you will reflect on these questions and accept the challenge for the glory of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
THOUGHT OF THE DAY
“The LORD said to my Lord, ‘Sit in the place of honor at my right hand until I humble your enemies, making them a footstool under your feet.’” – King David in Psalms 110:1PRAYER
Lord, continue to guide me toward being an even more faithful and effective witness to your good news! Amen.