Connections



Acts 2:16-24
16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:
17“‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams;
18even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
19And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;
20the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.
21And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ 22“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— 23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.

In the New Testament narrative, Peter’s story is so very compelling. We meet the young fisherman as Jesus invites him to become a follower, a Disciple. Peter accepts that invitation and his life is forever changed. During his three years with Jesus we find Peter to be the impetuous one. He’s the guy who wants to join Jesus walking on the water during a storm. He’s the guy who volunteers to build a couple of shelters on the mount of Transfiguration. And he’s the guy who cuts off the ear of a soldier during Jesus’ arrest. Now he’s the guy who delivers a sermon that changes lives. Imagine that moment when all that you had learned during your childhood about the Old Testament suddenly slams into focus because of what you had learned from Jesus. Of course that moment of instant clarity would inspire this epic sermon. Peter is apparently speaking to a largely Jewish crowd and he deftly brings the Old Testament prophecy, King David, and the redeeming work of Jesus together in a brilliant exposition of the faith.

For the Jewish audience to whom he speaks, Peter uses the words of the prophet Joel to explain what is happening to all of them. These people would have accepted the words of Joel without question and knew that these were holy Words. For Peter to connect the arrival of the Holy Spirit with these prophetic words was magnificent and inspired. He then ties the reign of King David with the Kingdom of God that has arrived in the Person of Jesus Christ. Even the crucifixion is tied to God’s purpose and plan. He leans in on the fact that the grave still held the body of their great King David, but Jesus was already free from the bondage of His borrowed tomb. He had been resurrected just as King David had prophesied! The perfection of this message cannot be overstated.

One of the misnomers about Christians is that we believe once we turn our lives over to God we will be care-free and happy forever. Of course, that is ridiculous and anyone who has been a Christian for more than 10 minutes knows this just isn’t true. In our reading for today, we find Peter and John helping the new church understand their place in the world. It’s not an easy place as the Lord of Glory Himself experienced while on the earth. But all of it – ALL OF IT – was God’s plan. And that plan was carried out by all the people of the earth; government and religious leaders, Jews and Gentiles. None are innocent. But in the face of the facts the early Church Fathers still prayed vehemently “to continue to speak Your Word with all boldness”. It’s a hard prayer to pray because we want life to be easy.

Throughout the book of Acts, we witness miracle after miracle. This sermon is certainly one of them. I hope that Peter holds a seminar when we get to heaven because I would love to hear him talk about this moment. This had to be the greatest “ah ha” moments of all time.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Excusez-moi

Image
2 Kings 23:31-37 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-fiv
Read more

יהוה שָׁמַר--Yahweh Shamar (God Watches)

Image
Psalm 121 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. There are numerous passages I cling to when stress takes over my life. I would be hard pressed to declare a favorite, but this psalm would come close. So this morning I listened to Psalm 121 about 20 times as I meditated through the verses. First, I want to point out that the word or idea of shamar appears in every verse expect 6. The NIV uses the word "watch" while the ESV uses "keep". The
Read more

Narrow Door

Image
Luke 13:22-30 22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them , 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at tabl
Read more