Skip to main content

340. Pentecost The Promise Fulfilled

This Was Worth Waiting For!  

Key Verse:  "Therefore, let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."  Acts 2:36  

When Jesus was crucified, Pilate had a sign placed above the cross, written in Latin, Greek and Aramaic, proclaiming His crime: "King of the Jews!" (John 19:19-22) Now, at Pentecost, Babble was undone and each heard in his own language, "God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." (Acts 2:36B) In other words, Pilate had been correct. Now, the whole world knew it.  

What a sermon Peter preached! He does not hold back from the truth of who Jesus was and is. He also states boldly who is responsible for what was done to Him. He lays out the sin of the Jewish people in terms that cannot be denied.  Yet, Peter's sermon is not simply a gloom and doom, wringing of the hands type sermon without hope. No, he also proclaims the assurance to the people that, because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, now the time we have been waiting for, the time predicted by Joel has come! A new way is dawning.

What the locusts of sin and man devoured through greed, power and selfishness is being restored through the Holy Spirit of God. "In the latter days," says God, "I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy." (Acts 2:17-18 & Joel 2:28-29)

That is what is being fulfilled at that very moment. Imagine living in a moment when you are certain that an ancient prophesy is being fulfilled! Is it one of those moments that make you wish that you could stop time and drink it all in? Would it be one of those moments that you wish you could engrave upon your memory and never forget? Yet, those moments had been happening since Jesus was born. Everything He did fulfilled prophesy, but no one saw those moments for what they were.

Peter continues from Joel: "I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord." (Acts 2:19-21 & Joel 2:30-31) The sun turned dark at the crucifixion, but even the disciples didn't make the connection that prophecy was being fulfilled.  

Then, Peter holds out the hope of a loving god. Even though you missed it then and may not understand it completely now, "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Acts 2:22) What a loving God. He does not condemn us because we didn't get it before. He does not require years of study with salvation as the diploma for our efforts. All that He requires is that we call to Him and believe in Him and repent from going the wrong way and He has promised to save us because He has already redeemed us. It's our turn to reach out to Him.  


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

211. The Sons of Thunder's Request

Matthew 20:20-28 , Mark 10:35-45 , Key verse: "Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all." Mark 10:43B-44 In our readings for yesterday, in which Jesus outlined what was about to happen to Him, for His disciples, the passage in Luke ends: "The disciples did not understand any of this. It's meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what He was talking about." ( Luke 18:34 ) Now, we see just how truly clueless they were. Jesus had laid out a plan before them of pain and suffering and death and now James and John are focused on a promotion. The disconnect is so obvious. It's really not important to know whether James and john came up with this request on their own or if their mother put them up to it. The request was made and James and John thought that they could handle the responsibility that would come with it. What is that saying, "Fools rush in where angels fe...

These Boots are Made for Walking

Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-15 These Boots are Made for Walking. Of course, I picked that title because it has a reference to popular culture, and it connects with our text today about “feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.” I was tempted to play the video of that song, but it’s really not amenable to worship. If you remember that old song, it was quite confrontational. The singer had a righteous complaint against a boyfriend or spouse who was cheating on her. She’s not going to put up with that, and the song goes on to say, “One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you!” And that “take a stand” bravado made her a hero! It was a #1 hit in 1966. I mention it because it has one interesting parallel and one major contrast with the message of grace and forgiveness. That parallel is this. God has a righteous complaint against the entire human race for cheating Him out of the loving relationship He desires with us. As the God who created us, he h...

186. Ten Healed, Or One?

Luke 17:11-19 Key Verse: Then He said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well." Luke 17:19 At last, Jesus has left the crowd behind and again is continuing His journey toward Jerusalem. His path takes Him and His disciples along the border of Judea and Samaria, between the pure Jews, and the hated half breeds of the day. On His way, Jesus encounters an interesting group of people. We only learn the nationality of one of them and, though we don't know the nationality of the others, because Jesus sends them to the priests in Jerusalem we can probably assume that at least some of them are Jews. Isn't it interesting that through leprosy, a disease that causes much suffering, the dividing wall of hatred has come down for the sake of companionship? We encountered one leper earlier on our Journey. Lepers were the dreaded untouchables of the day. Their disease cut them off from all they loved. It was a very lonely life. No wonder these people had ...