Just as a reminder that the "Fan the Flame" series is simply a conversation on spiritual growth. These are concepts and ideas that I am mulling over myself as I seek to grow in my own faith as a follower of Christ.
In order to figure out where an author is headed with a particular concept, often, the best way to get to the concept is to show a juxtaposition. That's simply a fancy word for "showing a contrast" - a before and after. Normally the focus is on the end result of the difference shown, but it could be about the process leading to the ending change, OR it could be about both - the process and the end change.
This past summer, I was doing a study through the book of John, and after I was done, I hopped into studying Acts. So, that took me from the birth of Jesus through his death and resurrection and then into the development of early church. One of the aspects that really hit me though was the significant change that occurred with the disciples between their ministry with Christ while he was alive and their ministry after he went back to heaven.
If you look at the disciples prior to the Resurrection, there are many things that they just don't seem to be understanding from Jesus. And to offer them grace, Jesus often spoke in parables, so you truly had to listen to what Jesus was teaching.
Keep in mind that Jesus' teachings according to the Jewish leaders were against what the Pharisees and Saducees believed. So, Jesus being a Jew himself, was perceived by the religious establishment within the Jewish community as a threat against their traditions and ways of life. Now, the reality is that Jesus was the Messiah that had been prophesied over and over again in the Talmud. The Jews should have been looking for the Messiah all along, but they perceived Jesus as a threat to their control and power, and that became the biggest issue. There were a few who took the time to actually listen to Jesus' teachings, and it appears that some did convert to Christianity after the crucifixion (Gamaliel amongst others).
Why did the Jews not see Jesus as the Messiah? They were looking for a political ruler - someone who would change the current political conditions and climate for the subjugation that the Jews experienced with the Romans. Jesus, being born in Bethlehem, in and of itself, did not fit their predisposed concept of who the Messiah would be. John 1:46 "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" is a reflection of the Jewish perspective on Jesus' home area. To think that the Messiah would come from such a place would be unfathomable to the religious leaders.
In addition to the Jewish perspective, the Romans were in control of the region at this time. But, there was an uneasy dance that occurred between the Jews and the Romans. Israel was a struggle for the Romans. If you go back to the crucifixion of Jesus in John, you'll see that Pontius Pilate was in a troubling spot with the Jews and their desire to have Jesus crucified. He wanted to wash his hands of Jesus, and them. He offered an appeasement to the Jewish religious leaders in the form of giving them a choice to pardon someone during the Passover. Instead of opting to pardon Jesus, they blatantly pardoned Barabbas, who was known to be a criminal and most likely a murderer. In essence, they were thumbing their nose at Pontius Pilates' generous offer.
The reality is that Pontius Pilate was not doing well in his handling of the region, and he was already under immense pressure by the Romans for the political tensions that existed in Israel. He was hoping to alleviate the political activism being demonstrated by the Jewish leaders, even though he could find nothing wrong with Jesus himself. Ultimately, in turning Jesus over to the Sanhedrin, Pontius Pilate became a co-conspirator for the rest of history.
All of this background simply shows what the climate was that the disciples were navigating themselves by following Jesus. The reality is that they really struggled before the crucifixion and come off at points as being incompetent -even to the point where they were sitting at the Last Supper with Christ right before the crucifixion was going to occur, and Jesus gets asked which of them would be the greatest. This discussion occurs as Jesus finishes establishing communion of all things. You would have thought they would have been thinking forward to what Jesus said was going to occur to him (or them), but they were more interested in who would be elevated and thinking of themselves in a hierarchical system.
Peter, one of the twelve disciples, is known to be overly passionate, but he is not known to be overly thoughtful. Continuing on with the Last Supper scene, Jesus announces that he will be betrayed by one of them sitting at their table, and Peter spouts off saying that he would never betray Jesus. He actually says that he would be willing to go to prison for Christ and even die for him. Jesus immediately tells Peter that he will deny him three times before the rooster crows within a day's time. Clearly, Peter is taken aback by Jesus statements.
As we read about the Pharisees capturing and taking Jesus to see Pontius Pilate (in which the Jews broke many many of their own laws in doing this), the disciples scatter to the wind. They fear for their lives and only a few of them are within a short distance of Jesus as he walks through the events of his kangaroo court. Peter is one who feels the need to stay close during this process, but just as Jesus had foretold, he is questioned multiple times about being a disciple of Christ. To protect himself and save his neck, he claims that he isn't one of the twelve. The third time this occurs, Peter hears the rooster crow.
Imagine the despondency that Peter would have internalized. I'm sure that Peter meant what he said originally to Christ, but he also could never have imagined the circumstances that would surround Jesus and the heavy political agenda that was to be enacted. In plain terms, Peter folded when the heat got turned up, and for all his bravado in the moment at the Last Supper, Peter stood by just like the rest and did nothing to help Jesus in his last moments.
To fast forward a bit, after the Resurrection and Jesus teaching of the 500, we find Peter in the midst of discussions with Jesus. Interestingly, Jesus has 3 separate discussions with Peter. How healing do you think it would have been for Peter to speak with Jesus after he had betrayed him? Watching Christ suffer on the cross, knowing that you did the exact opposite you said you were going to do would be difficult to shake! But Jesus restores Peter in the days that follow, and ultimately, Peter becomes known as the man and rock that Jesus would build his church upon.
After Jesus goes back to heaven, you immediately find Peter preaching with confidence, boldness, and resoluteness. Take a look at Acts 2: 14-41. This is an amazing sermon that Peter delivers! He appears to be a completely different guy.
Where could this have come from?
Take note the section immediately before Peter's sermon: Acts 2: 1-13. The title for this section in most NIV Bibles is "The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost." Prior to this exact moment in time, the disciples had acted out their faith in their own flesh. The Holy Spirit had not yet come, but here in Acts, it says in verse 4, "All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit...." And then ten verses later, we find Peter preaching an incredibly powerful sermon where he speaks boldly - recites Jewish history and is able to point people to their need for repentance - accepting the forgiveness that Jesus only offers.
And how did the people respond?
It says in verse 41 that 3,000 people accepted Christ and were baptized that very day. Also, keep in mind that culturally, only the men would have been counted in this number. So, this does not include women or children. That number very easily could have been 10,000 people accepting Christ.
So what exactly does all this mean?
There is no question that something happened to these disciples. Peter is one example, and we could look at others who pledged their life to serving Christ into the far reaches of the world. But, every one of them had their moments being "dull" (a term Christ used to describe the disciples at one point) before his Resurrection, but the very same disciples were found performing miracles and bringing thousands of people to salvation in Christ after his resurrection. Did they go through a two year intensive training course? Did they finally have an "aha" moment where it all clicked for them from all of Jesus' teachings? Did they just muster up all their courage to do great things for Christ?
Acts 2 is our key here. The Holy Spirit came and filled each of them. For the believer in Christ, the Holy Spirit is our comforter and our guide, but we too often choose to walk in our own flesh and try to do works in our own strength. It would do each of us good to remind ourselves of the difference that occurred with the disciples, themselves. The Holy Spirit filled them, and there was a power and significant change in each of their ministries.
There's all sort of theological debates out there about the Holy Spirit, but that's not the intention of this article today. I would simply suggest that there was a difference with the disciples before and after the Resurrection of Christ, and that came because the Holy Spirit filled each Believer. And just like those twelve disciples, that Holy Spirit lives in us today too once we have accepted Christ as our Savior.
The question today is, "What can the Holy Spirit do with you or me?"
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