Tag: tongues

Discovering how we are formed

Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents

Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 3 – Dancing in the Kingdom– Chapter 15 – Reforming our Souls

Discovering how we are formed – for each other

[Bible references: Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, 13:1-3; Ephesians 3:6-8; Ephesians 4, 1 Peter 4:7-10]

Once we have centered ourselves on Christ and have learned to submit to God and to one another, we are in a good place to evaluate the unique ways in which God has formed us.[1] One of the more holistic tools developed by Saddleback Church provides an evaluation of several aspects of how we are formed: the spiritual gifts, the desires, the abilities, the personality, and the experience God gives us.

The reality is that much is life is filled with, “I just gotta do what I gotta do.” Parenting is like that, housekeeping is like that, etc. Diapers need to be changed, the house needs to be cleaned, the bills must be paid, grocery shopping needs to be done, etc. Much of life is filled with responsibilities that need to be done regardless of what capacity we think we may have. There may be no luxury of just doing “what I think I am best at.”

But where it is possible, when we gather in a sharing community, there is the opportunity to allocate different tasks to those people who are best equipped for it. God has intended that we be in such communities, so described in scripture as “the body of Christ,” where different people serve in different functions. At such times, there are opportunities for us to discover in what unique ways God has designed us so that we may serve each other in the best way possible.

Scripture reveals that all who are in Christ are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and that the Spirit has given us various gifts that we can use to help build up other members of the body of Christ. A few Bible passages give us an idea of the kinds of gifts of some of these gifts, but the lists are not exhaustive: exhortation, giving. leadership, mercy, prophecy, service, teaching, administration, apostle, discernment, faith, healing, helps, knowledge, miracles, prophecy, teaching, tongues, tongues, interpretation, wisdom, evangelism, pastor, teaching, celibacy, hospitality, missionary, voluntary poverty.

One way to discover what gifts we may have, is by serving in our community. As we serve in various ways, we may discover that God has particularly blessed our service in various ways. Sometimes others may point out those abilities or gifts to us. Another way to discover our gifts is to read about those gifts and certain gifts may become apparent to us that way. Another way is to take a questionnaire and the results of that questionnaire may reveal certain gifts to us. It may be helpful to take such a questionnaire with someone else because they may have different insights into the questions.

As we mature and encounter different life experiences, we may discover that different gifts emerge or that God has provided differently for us in our different circumstances. God knows us and our circumstances and may provide differently as we change, and our circumstances change.

[1] Links to various assessment tools: Spiritual gifts: Carver, Jeff. “Spiritual Gifts Test – Adult Version”Spiritual Gifts Test spiritualgiftstest.com/spiritual-gifts-test-adult-version ; Granger Community Church. “Spiritual Gifts Test” Granger Community Church spiritualgiftstest.com/spiritual-gifts-test-landing; Ministry Tools Resource Center. “Take Online Spiritual Gifts Test Inventory Assessment” Ministry Tools Resource Center mintools.com/spiritual-gifts-test.htm; Rock Church, “Gifts Test” Rock Church giftstest.com. Personality test sites: Hayes, Robert. “The Best Free Enneagram Tests You Can Take Online” Tech Junkie www.techjunkie.com/best-free-enneagram-tests; Truity Psychometrics. “The Enneagram Personality Test” Truity Psychometrics www.truity.com/test/enneagram-personality-test; Barkers, Ewald. “Eclectic Energies Enneagram Tests (Free)” Eclectic Energies www.eclecticenergies.com/enneagram/test; Shape test: Hill, Kevin M. “S.H.A.P.E. Test” Free Shape Test www.freeshapetest.com; Saddleback Church “You Were SHAPED for Serving God” Saddleback Church www.ministryideas.com/doc/shape_discovery_tool.pdf

Mystery of faith

Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents

Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 2 – The Kingdom Revealed – Chapter 13 – Distinctives within the body of Christ

Mystery of faith

[Bible references: Exodus 31:1-11; Isaiah 1:18; Romans 1; 3:24; 4:16; 5:2-21; 6:15; 11:5-6; 2 Corinthians 6:1; Galatians 5; Ephesians 1; 2 Hebrews 12:1-39]

Faith and grace

If we try to systemize grace and faith, we find some saying that God will only give some people a special grace that allows them (and only them) to have faith to receive God’s forgiveness and some will say everyone is given that grace. Fortunately, receiving God’s grace is not dependent on our understanding. We only need to acknowledge it is only by God’s grace that we can be forgiven, and it is by God’s grace that we can be saved through faith.

After we “make a decision” to receive grace through faith, some will have the attitude that, “I’m saved, there is nothing more to do.” This attitude is sometime characterized as getting “fire insurance” or a “get out of hell free” card or as “easy believism.” This puts emphasis on “making a decision to accept Christ as our Savior” as if that was the main point.

While acknowledging Jesus as our Savior is a good thing, we should not put to the side that our decision should also acknowledge that Jesus is also our Lord and therefore our decision includes following Him as a disciple.

Faith and reason

Scripture is full of exhortations for us to use our reasoning. In Isaiah 1:18, Yahweh invites us to reason together with Him. In Romans 1, Paul tells us that we can even discern the truth of God’s invisible qualities, that they are clearly seen in the world around us. The scriptures are full of examples of God pleading with us, appealing with us to do the right things.

Scripture also encourages us to walk and live by faith, to trust God by faith, to obey God by faith, that we need to come to him by faith, that our righteousness comes by faith – and that faith is having confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

To hold these in tension, we cannot go to either extreme of abandoning our intellect or abandoning faith, rather we must go trust God to act in the future based on what we have seen him do in the past or present.

Faith and Creeds

It would seem nice if we could make a simple statement like, “The Bible says it and I believe it,” and not be misunderstood. But it’s not so simple. That’s because the Bible is not a straightforward text of moralizing or instructions. It’s a collection of stories, poetry, bits of wisdom, letters written from one person to another or to a group, prophecy, etc.  So biblical interpretation is not a task to be done lightly. Instead, it requires that we look at every verse in the context of the passage that it’s in, who wrote it and to whom and in the context of the entirety of scripture.[1] 

To address that problem, many congregations have found it expedient to clarify what they believe by using certain creeds or statements of faith. But then we run into the problem of the creeds or statement are not saying enough about the entirety of the faith of the congregation. So other congregations avoid creedal statements altogether and simply say that the Bible as a whole describes their faith.[2]

Faith and expressions of the Gospel

Living out the Gospel can encompass all parts of our lives, but for various reasons, different parts of the church at different times have chosen to focus on different aspects of the Gospel, often creating an imbalance in how the Gospel is lived out. Overfocusing on the intellectual aspects of faith led to a movement to focus instead on internalizing one’s faith and personal walk with God. Overfocusing on one’s personal walk with God led to a movement to put more of a focus on the public aspect of faith and the need for social justice. A desire to “return” to the faith of the New Testament church led to a desire to live out the “whole Gospel,” emphasizing the power of the Spirit as expressed by miracles, healings and speaking in tongues. Of course, the “whole gospel” actually encompasses all aspects and loving God with all our hearts, minds, soul and spirit.

Faith and Art

[Bible references: Exodus 28:3; 31:1-11; 35:10-33; 1 Kings 7:13-14; Proverbs 8:30; 22:29; Isaiah 54:16; Zechariah 1:20]

Expressing our faith through art had been common since God instructed people gifted in arts and crafts to build the Tabernacle. During New Testament times, poverty and persecution limited the amount of artwork, and that artwork was largely symbolic. But after the legalization of Christianity, expressions of the faith blossomed in both art and architecture. The eastern church started to express its faith through special artwork called icons which were highly revered. However, when a volcano erupted in AD 726, superstitions within the empire created a movement to rejected artwork[3] which did not finally end until AD 834[4]. To this day, different segments of the church either accept or reject the use of artwork.

Faith and perceptions of God in the Old and New Testament

At first glance, it could seem like God in the Old Testament is different than God in the New Testament. In the Old Testament the stress seems to be on the holiness of God and his distance from us while in the New Testament the stress seems to be on the love of God and his closeness to us. God in the Old Testament seems to act violently while in the New Testament He seems to act humbly and peaceably. This apparent dichotomy has created much consternation, causing some people to reject or ignore the Old Testament and only focus on the New Testament. But God is the same today, yesterday, and tomorrow. God never changes. More careful reading will show that the Old and New Testaments are not so different, and the characteristics we see of God in one testament can be found in the other testament.

[1] The discipline of “hermeneutics” or “bible interpretation” gives guidance on how to properly interpret the scriptures.

[2] These congregations are called noncreedal congregations.

[3] iconoclasm

[4] Art in Context, “Early Christian Art – Christian Artwork and Biblical Paintings” Artincontext artincontext.org/christian-art/ ; Joy of Museums “Christian Art and Biblical Paintings” Joy of Museums joyofmuseums.com/most-popular/popular-christian-art/

Mystery of the sacraments

Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents

Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 2 – The Kingdom Revealed – Chapter 13 – Distinctives within the body of Christ

Mystery of the sacraments

[Bible references: Matthew 26:17-35; Exodus 30:17-20; Mark 1:1-11; Acts 2:38, 41-42; Romans 6:1-23; 1 Corinthians 11:17-34]

Defining Sacraments

Sacraments, the rituals of belonging

“The language surrounding ‘sacraments’ did not develop in the church for some time. We hear of a ritual of baptism in the Christian community of the Acts of the Apostles, and of the ‘breaking of bread’ (Acts 2:38, 41- 42). These celebrations were called by their name, there was no generic term that grouped these experiences together. It was not until the third century that the word mysteries (Greek: ‘mysterion’), a word that the pagans used to describe rites of initiation, also began to be used to describe Christian rites. The Eastern Orthodox church still uses the term ‘mysterion’ to describe these practices.

However, in the Latin wing of the church, in order to avoid any confusion with pagan thinking the church began to use the Latin word, ‘sacramentum’ for ‘mysterion’ to describe baptism. Sacramentum was also used to describe a sacred oath of allegiance that a Roman soldier would make to the emperor. It was suggested that just as the soldier’s oath was a sign of the beginning of a new life, so too was initiation into the Christian community through baptism and eucharist.[1]

“St Augustine of Hippo in the 5th century developed the notion that a sacramentum is a sign that sanctifies – makes holy – because it is efficacious – produces the intended effect. For instance, Christ and the Holy Spirit make effective, through grace, the cleansing that water signifies in baptism. It was Augustine who called a sacrament ‘a visible sign of invisible grace.’ He also, in his letters referred to a sacramentum as a sacrum signum ‘sign of a sacred thing’ It is worth mentioning that Augustine did not consider only rituals but also acts or deeds or things that point to Christian mysteries to be sacraments – and listed over 300 such signs.[2] The Church gradually reduced this by differentiating between rituals and signs and symbols that assist people in prayer and devotion such as holy water, palms, ashes etc. These latter are sometimes called “sacramentals.”[3]

Some congregations hold that sacraments administered by the church convey, by means of the Holy Spirit, grace to the recipients while some hold that the sacraments are only outward signs of an inward grace. Other differences are whether the sacraments are an objective reality that are effective in and of themselves or whether the effectiveness of the sacraments depends on the faith response of the recipients. Either way, the purpose of the sacraments is to make people holy, to build up the body of Christ, to teach, and to give worship to God.

Since the 16th century, the Orthodox and Roman Catholics recognize seven sacraments (The Orthodox church stipulates that there are even more but does not formally name them). Protestants only recognize baptism and the Lord’s Supper as sacraments. Some Anabaptist and Brethren groups consider foot-washing to be a sacrament. “Some Protestant groups, notably the Quakers and the Salvation Army, do not use sacraments.”[4]

Baptism and the mikva’ot

The word ‘baptism’ is a transliteration of a Greek word that meant to immerse. The Old Testament introduces us to the idea that we need to be cleansed before entering the presence of God (Exodus 30:17-20). By Jesus’ time, the city of Jerusalem had many buildings with a ritual bath (mikveh) in them where people could ritually cleanse themselves by dipping themselves in the mikveh. The mikveh can signify: a collection of water, something waited for, abiding, gathering together.[5]

In the New Testament, we are introduced to John the Baptist preaching about the coming of the Lord – and it was a time when many people were expecting the coming of the Messiah. John was baptizing people as they confessed their sins and as these people were being baptized, they would have understood that they were being cleansed and being gathered together for the coming Messiah.

When Jesus was ready to begin his time of ministry, he told John to baptize him. This obviously confused John who knew that Jesus did not need to be cleansed from sin, but Jesus had come to identify himself with us in baptism.

We see the practice of adults confessing their sins and then being baptized continue throughout the New Testament. After the New Testament we now enter an era of confessing adults bringing up their children. In the Jewish tradition, baby boys would be circumcised when they were 8 days old as a way of bringing them into the Jewish community. It is not long after the New Testament times that we see parts of the church using infant baptism as a way of bringing their children into the Christian community. The infants are obviously not confessing believers but believing parents can raise them up with the hope that they will later confirm their baptism. This issue of child baptism would later become an issue that the church would divide over.

Communion and the Passover Feast

The Communion celebration, sometimes called the Eucharist (from the Greek word for grateful or thanksgiving) is tied back to the Jewish Passover Feast. The Passover Feast was a commemoration of God’s work that convinced the Egyptian Pharaoh to let the Israelite slaves to leave. God’s work was to send an angel to kill all the firstborn children of the Egyptians but to “pass over” those Israelite homes that had the blood of a perfect lamb sprinkled on the doorposts of their homes. Every year after that, the Israelites were to commemorate that event with a Passover Feast that would include eating, among other items, bread with no yeast to remember the time they had to leave in haste from Egypt. The Passover meal would be one of many celebrations in the Old Testament that pointed to their fulfillment in the New Testament times.

At the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry, he gathered with his disciples to celebrate the Passover Feast; it would be his “last supper” with them before his crucifixion. He shared with them the bread and wine, but now adding their intended significance: the bread would represent his body that would be sacrificed for the world and the wine would represent his blood shed for the world.

There are differences about whether, during the Communion service, that the bread and wine actually become transformed into Jesus body and blood, or whether his body and blood are present with the bread and wine or whether the bread and wine only metaphorically represent Jesus’ body and blood.

What are the sacraments and how do we practice them?

Sacrament is Latin translation (sacramentum) of the Greek “Mysterion,” which means mystery.  The sacraments are used to refer to different rituals/activities conducted by the church.

There is agreement about the sacraments being a sign of grace imparted to those receiving sacraments, but there is disagreement (naturally, since we’re talking about mysteries) about how that grace works. Some consider the sacraments to be an objective reality that are effective for imparting grace in and of themselves,[6] others think that the effectiveness of the sacraments to impart grace depends on the faith response of the recipients, while others think that the sacraments are more simply a sign of grace.

Since the 16th century, the Orthodox and Roman Catholic recognize seven sacraments (The Orthodox church stipulates that there are even more but does not formally name them). Protestants only recognize baptism and the Lord’s Supper as sacraments. Some Anabaptist and Brethren groups consider foot-washing to be a sacrament. “Some Protestant groups, notably the Quakers and the Salvation Army, do not use sacraments.” [7]

  • Baptism – The first step in a lifelong journey of commitment and discipleship. Immersion identifies us with the death and resurrection of Christ.
  • Eucharist (or Communion) – In a re-enactment of the Last Supper, we share elements that remind us of Jesus’ sacrifice for us. 
  • Reconciliation (or Penance) – Has three elements: conversion, confession, and celebration.
  • Confirmation – An initiation into the church. It is most often associated with the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
  • Marriage – A public sign that one gives oneself totally to this other person. It is also a public statement about God: the loving union of husband and wife speaks of family values and also God’s values.
  • Holy Orders – The priest being ordained vows to lead other Catholics by bringing them the sacraments (especially the Eucharist), by proclaiming the Gospel, and by providing other means to holiness.
  • Anointing of the Sick (Last Rites) – A ritual of healing appropriate not only for physical but also for mental and spiritual sickness.

What are the different views on communion?

There are different views on what happens to the communion elements: bread and wine become literal flesh and blood, bread and wine become spiritual flesh and blood, or the elements are simply to remind us Jesus’ sacrifice for us.[8]

There are also different views on who can take communion: whether any Christians present may participate, or only members of local congregation or denomination may participate.[9]

Do we represent Jesus’ body with leavened or unleavened bread. Do we represent Jesus’ blood with wine or grape juice? Are both elements shared or is just the bread shared? Are only designated representatives of the church allowed to administer the elements?

What are different views on baptism?

There are different views on who may be baptized:  Adults only (Believer baptism, only people old enough to confess their faith may be baptized) Infants (infants of believers are baptized as acknowledgement of the infant as a new member in the church community and in hope that they will make a commitment in the future).

There are different views of what happens during baptism: baptism overcomes original sin, frees the baptized from powers of darkness, Baptism in the Holy Spirit – When someone is saved, the Holy Spirit overcomes the person and causes that person to speak “in tongues.”

There are different views of how many times the recipient is immersed: Once (there are differences in whether the words to use are “in the name of Jesus” or “in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit), Three times (once for each of the Godhead: Father, Son, Holy Spirit).

There are different views on how the baptism is performed: Immersion (recipient is completely immersed in water), Pouring (water is poured on the head of the recipient), Sprinkling (water is sprinkled on the head of the recipient).

[1] Szczesny, Mike. “[Greek] μυστήριον (mystērion), [Latin] sacramentum” Resounding the faith resoundingthefaith.com/2016/10/27/greek-%CE%BC%CF%85%CF%83%CF%84%CE%AE%CF%81%CE%B9%CE%BF%CE%BD-mysterion-latin-sacramentum/

[2] Tennent, Timothy. “The Body and The Sacraments as a Means of Grace” Seedbed seedbed.com/the-body-and-the-sacraments-as-a-means-of-grace/

[3] Catholic Answers“Sacramentals” Catholic Answers www.catholic.com/encyclopedia/sacramentals

[4] Theopedia “Sacraments” Theopedia www.theopedia.com/sacraments

[5] One for Israel. “The Jewish Roots of Baptism” One for Israel www.oneforisrael.org/bible-based-teaching-from-israel/was-baptism-originally-jewish/

[6] Theopedia “Sacramentalism”  Theopedia theopedia.com/sacramentalism; Phillips, Matthew. “Augustine, Luther, and the Sacraments” Gospel Notes steadfastlutherans.org/2013/06/augustine-luther-and-the-sacraments

[7] Theopedia “Sacraments” Theopedia www.theopedia.com/sacraments

[8] Zondervan Academic Blog “Transubstantiation, Consubstantiation, or Something Else? Roman Catholic vs. Protestant View of the Lord’s Supper” Zondervan Academic 20 Oct 2017 zondervanacademic.com/blog/transubstantiation-consubstantiation-catholic-protestant

[9] Truediscipleship “Communion – Is it Open or Closed? True Discipleship truediscipleship.com/communion-is-it-open-or-closed

The Spirit and the story

Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents

Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 2 – The Kingdom Revealed – Chapter 12 – Launching the church

The Spirit and the Story

[Bible references: Exodus 18:13-26; Joel 2:28-32; Psalm 16; Luke 16:19-31; John 16:13; Acts 2:1-4; 6:1-7]

During Jesus’ three years of ministry, His teaching about the Kingdom of God coming to earth was accompanied by signs: miracles of healing, cleansing, and raising the dead, and by forgiveness of sins. The miracles affirmed the message. With the introduction of the church as the vehicle by which the gospel would be spread, more signs and miracles were called for.

On Pentecost, Jews from all over the Roman Empire gathered in Jerusalem. Many were in the upper room with the apostles, when the Holy Spirit visibly empowered the apostles with tongues of fire, a violent wind, and the reversal of the tower of Babel as people of many different language groups were able to hear the apostles speak in their native tongues. These signs caused much excitement and wonder as the people responded to the work of God. As was true during the time of Jesus’ ministry, there were some who were ready to hear the gospel and others who were not. Those who were ready to hear the apostles’ message were able to understand the apostles’ message while those who were not ready did not understand the signs and resorted to mocking the apostles as if they were drunkards. This was no different than the time of Jesus’ ministry, the signs of the kingdom caused some to respond with increased faith while others responded with unbelief and hardened hearts.

As Jesus had promised, the Holy Spirit gave the apostles the words to explain what was happening. Peter quoted from the book of Joel about how the Spirit would be poured out causing all kinds of people to prophecy: sons and daughters, old men, and young men. Then Peter also quoted from David’s Psalms as he wove together the story of how all these things fit into the story of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Those who were ready to hear the gospel asked what their response should be. Peter told them to repent, be baptized and then they too could receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Since many of these people were from the Jewish diaspora, they, now filled with the Holy Spirit, would have been able to return to their homes to continue to spread the gospel, although it seems that some people from the diaspora stayed in Jerusalem.

We have sparse details of the life of the church, but there are a few things we know which are described quite succinctly in Acts 2:42-47:

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

With the rapid increase in disciples came some logistical problems as well. The miracles of the Spirit did not end the day-to-day problems of communicating between different cultural groups within the church. In the normal practice of sharing goods within the church and within that the need to take care of widows and orphans, there came a point where the Greek-speaking widows from outside Israel were not getting the same care as the Hebrew speaking widows. Because the apostles wanted to focus on teaching and prayer, they gathered the church to address the issue. The church resolved the issue by selecting seven men to oversee the distribution of goods. However, this would not be the last time that language and culture barriers would affect life of the church.

Observe

Read Exodus 18:13-26; Acts 6:1-7. What do these passages say about effective leadership?

The Spirit and the power

Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents

Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 2 – The Kingdom Revealed – Chapter 12 – Launching the church

The Spirit and the power

[Bible references: Genesis 25-19-21; 1 Samuel 1;1-20; 2 Samuel 7; Proverbs 2:1-5; Matthew 7:7-8; Mark 11:12-26; Luke 11:113; 12-26; John 20:21-23; 3:14-16; Acts 1:1-14; 2:1-41; 1 Peter 5:6-7]

There are remarkable parallels between Genesis 2:7 and John 20:22. We see from Chapter 2 that in Genesis 2, God breathed life into Adam who was then commissioned to take care of the sacred space that God had created. That sacred space was initially identified as the Garden of Eden, but we know from Genesis 1 that God had dedicated the entire universe as his temple. We also know that since God’s image-bearers were given the commission to “be fruitful and fill the earth” that the sacred space allotted to the care of the image-bearers was intended to be the entire earth.

After the resurrection, when Jesus met with the apostles in a locked room, He breathed on (or into) them.[1] This is the same word used in the Septuagint version of the Old Testament describing God breathing life into Adam and thereby giving him life. Immediately after this gesture, Jesus instructed the apostles to “Receive the Holy Spirit” who were then commissioned to continue the task that Jesus had begun.[2]

“The very same Greek verb (here only in N.T.) is used by the LXX. in Genesis 2:7 (Wis 15:11) of breathing life into Adam. This Gospel of the new Creation looks back at its close, as at its beginning (John 1:1), to the first Creation. We are probably to regard the breath here not merely as the emblem of the Spirit (John 3:8), but as the means by which the Spirit was imparted to them. ‘Receive ye,’ combined with the action of breathing, implies this. This is all the more clear in the Greek, because pneuma means both ‘breath’ and ‘spirit,’ a point which cannot be preserved in English; but at least ‘Spirit’ is better than ‘Ghost’ We have here, therefore, an anticipation and earnest of Pentecost; just as Christ’s bodily return from the grave and temporary manifestation to them was an anticipation of His spiritual return and abiding Presence with them ‘even unto the end of the world.’” [3]

Previously, in John’s gospel, we saw that “the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” Now that Jesus was crucified and was soon ascend to heaven, the apostles were given the task of sharing the gospel so that people may believe unto eternal life. It is at this moment, in the locked room, that the apostles were given the commission to share the news of forgiveness.

Ten days after Jesus ascended, fifty days after Passover, the disciples were gathered in Jerusalem, waiting for “what the Father had promised.” It was the time of Shavuot, which was known in Greek as the Pentecost. Shavuot is one of three pilgrimage festivals where Jews are supposed to travel to Jerusalem so Jews from all over the Roman Empire were in Jerusalem.

It was at this gathering that Spirit came upon the disciples in great power, revealing the fulfillment of Shavuot. While the disciples were gathered in a room, the Holy Spirit manifested himself with a great wind and tongues of fire that touched the apostles. The apostles then proceeded to prophecy and the people who were there from around the world were able to hear them speaking in their own languages. On that day 3000 people accepted Jesus as their Lord.

The full meaning of Passover and Shavuot was now revealed.

  • Jesus was executed on Passover, a holiday commemorating the celebration of freedom from slavery in Egypt which was observed by the slaying of the Passover lamb whose blood protected all the Israelites from the angel of death who had killed all the firstborn children in Egypt.
  • The miraculous outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the apostles which enabled them to speak in many different languages occurred on Shavuot, which had many different meanings for the Jews. Shavuot was associate with:

  • the giving of the commandments 50 days after the liberation from Egypt. Now the commandments were written on hearts instead of stone.
    • the first harvest of crops in the year, with those first portions being given to God, the provider of harvest. There were now 3000 souls harvested for God.
    • marriage, where Passover was considered the betrothal and Shavuot the marriage where the bride and groom commit themselves to each other. The period in-between the betrothal and marriage can be considered as a time of testing and waiting as the bride and groom prepare for life together. With His sacrifice, Jesus, the Bridegroom committed himself to the Church, His Bride.

Waiting. The virtue we want to bypass. Yet even though God has set seasons and times before us and insists on letting his ordained processes complete, from the beginning, we have wanted things immediately and we have been paying the price ever since. But there was a process God wanted to complete. After His resurrection, Jesus waited for the apostles to gather before He came to them, Jesus waited for many days to go by while He interacted with various groups of his disciples, then after His ascension, Jesus waited for his disciples to stay in Jerusalem, while they waited for the “gift His Father promised … to be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” And so, the apostles waited and prayed.

[1] Biblehub ἐνεφύσησεν Bible Hub biblehub.com/greek/enephyse_sen_1720.htm

[2] Scrivener, Glen. “What does John 20:21-23 mean” Christ the Truth christthetruth.net/2013/03/26/what-does-john-2021-23-mean; Skinner, Matt. “Commentary on John 20:19-23” Working Preacher www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=887; Lewis, Karoline. “Commentary on John 20:19-23” Working Preacher www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=76; Flattery, George. “John 20:19-23 Receive the Holy Spirit” Global Christian globalchristiancenter.com/sermons/dr-g-flattery-sermons-on-gospel-of-john/26192-john-2019-23-receive-the-holy-spirit

[3] Biblehub “John 20:22”Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges biblehub.com/commentaries/john/20-22.htm

Reflect

There are times when we need to take action and times when we need to wait for maturity or for “the fullness of time.” How can we discern the difference?

Observe

Read Mark 11:12-26; Luke 11:1-13. What should we expect when we pray?