READINESS FOR PENTECOST
ACTS 1:12-26
Three things we can do to be ready for Pentecost
Vs. 12-14
First two were taking place as the disciples left the Mount of Olives and made their way to the Upper Room, a room above a street in Jerusalem that now had become very special to them because of the experience of the Last Supper and the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus.
Luke carefully tells us that it was a Sabbath days journey from Mount Olivet to the Upper Room. Based on Exodus 16 & Numbers 34, a Hebrew’s movement on the Sabbath were limited. He was allowed to go no further than 2,000 cubits or 6 furlongs, which would equal about 3/4 of a mile.
Luke’s reference to this tells us what the distance of the Upper Room was from Mount Olivet...that it was probably the Sabbath...and that these were faithful Jews who kept the regulations of their religion.
As the disciples walked this distance, we may strongly suppose that they questioned, "What does all this mean? What are we to do now? The Master has promised us the Kingdom, even though it will be different than what we expected...And He has assured us that He will come again.
What can we do to be prepared for His return? It is the Sabbath...and we surely can’t be seen in the Temple because we’d definitely be arrested...Let’s pass the word and gather all the Lord’s followers...tell them what the Master has told us...and wait for His return together.
And that’s exactly what they did. Luke, being the thorough reporter that he was, tells us who was among those who gathered for prayer. The eleven disciples, now minus Judas...
The women referred to must have been those who went to the tomb on that resurrection morning - according to Luke’s gospel..."Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them (24:10)
Also included in the Upper Room were Jesus’ mother and His brothers. That would have included James, who would later assume a very important role in the church later on.
In verse 15 we are told that there were 120 in all, probably including people like Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea.
That sets the stage for two things that must have been central in their preparation. The two are part of one experience. First, we know they prayed...but also I think they had a very profound time of reconciling relationships.
There had been competition among the disciples and there must have been some remains of the criticism they had of each other. Peter had denied the Lord...Thomas had doubted...and James and John had argued over who was the greatest and what position they would have in Jesus’ kingdom.
Also, there were bad feelings between Jesus’ family and the disciples. His mother and brothers had tried to turn Jesus, and had come to take Him home to Nazareth on at least one occasion.
From the cross, Jesus had assigned John the responsibility of His mother, and we can be sure John was sorting out what that would mean in light of the challenge Jesus had given them on Olivet before departing.
Then, added to that were the people that Jesus had healed from sins that no good Jew could tolerate. Had the disciples ever worked through their real feelings about a person like Mary Magdalene?
With Jesus’ absence, they were confronted with the fact that their relationship had always been cushioned with His gracious acceptance. Did they feel like He did?
And what about the Pharisee Nicodemus? Was he really one of them? He was a member of the Sanhedrin and yet had not been able to stop the horrible thing the Jewish leaders had done to Jesus. Sure, he had shown his loyalty by asking for the body of Jesus and helping with the burial...But could he be trusted?
And what about rich Joseph of Arimathea? He provided the tomb in the garden outside the city wall...but with all that Jesus had said about the rich, and the responsibility to the poor...was his presence one of genuine concern? Should he really be accepted among them?
It was a strange mix of humanity gathered there in the Upper Room. Each had his or her reason for being there - the knowledge of what Jesus had meant to each of them. But what were they to each other except people with a common loyalty to Jesus? And He was gone!!
They now had to sit and wait...look each other in the eye...open their hearts to one another...share their loneliness, their grief over Jesus’ absence...and their wonderment about the future.
Here were rich and poor...people of high social status and people reclaimed from the dregs...people whose lives would never have touched each other apart from Jesus.
And the family and disciples had little on which to build a relationship. Had there been hostility among Jesus’ brothers resulting from the feelings that Jesus had spent His time with a motley band of fishermen, a tax collector, and a zealot...with no time for His own family?
Put yourself into this drama of human relationship. It resembled what you would find in a group of people gathered for a funeral who had no basis for relating other than through the deceased. You’ve been to strained gatherings like that, haven’t you?
But a common grief can open strangers to one another. It can build relationships. And it can put conflicts that exist between friends into perspective. Mutual need can break through the hurting memories of what we have said or done to each other.
And yet it is a shared hope that really unites people. Jesus said that He would be back. All was not lost! That tiny thread of anticipation in each of the people was woven into a strong bond of oneness.
I believe differences were confessed...hurts were shared...and reconciliation was started. What was about to happen to them would be the only lasting basis of true relationship, but the greatness of Jesus’ promise before He left forced them to get ready by being open to one another. Vs. 14 (READ)
Prayer brings unity. We can’t seek the loving heart of the Lord for long without recognizing the needs of...and our relationships with the brothers and sisters with whom we pray.
Surely Jesus’ followers, huddled together in prayer, remembered that He had assured them that wherever two or more are gathered together in His name, He would be there among them. And because He would be there it would cause them to look at their relationship with each other.
What did they pray about? I think it was about what Jesus promised in those last hours before His ascension...that would have been the thing likely to have been on their minds...
That they should not depart from Jerusalem but wait for the promised baptism of the Holy Spirit and the power He was to give them. That is certainly an excellent reason for a prayer meeting in any age!
That brings us back to ourselves and the people whose lives we want to impact with the gospel. Our need for the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit makes prolonged prayer and getting right with ourselves and others more than just elements of good preparation... they are a necessity.
We can’t determine how or when the Lord will bless us with an endowment of power and daily replenishment. But the two things left for us to do are to pray for the Holy Spirit and to be sure there is nothing in our relationships blocking the full acceptance of the blessing.
In my years as a Christian I’ve repeatedly seen this happen to individuals, marriages, and groups...this blocking of the fullness that God has for us.
In the parables of the persistent friend asking for bread at midnight and a father’s response to a son’s request for food leads to the undeniable assurance that God is without reservation in His offer of the Holy Spirit. "How much more will your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him!" Luke 11:5-13
And yet, so many Christians live less than the abundant life personally...and struggle with a lack of power in their relationships and in their churches.
Some have never prayed to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Others have, and their prayers seem unanswered. WHY?
There is something unconfessed in them or between them and others. Or there is a block of unwillingness to let go of their own control. And there may need to be radical surgery of attitudes, unhealed memories, or unguided plans for the future which have never had the Lord’s blessing or direction.
One final aspect of our preparation for Pentecost is given in the account of the election of Judas’ replacement. Luke gives great detail as he relates this story.
By giving such an extensive review of Peter’s explanation of the need for the replacement, perhaps Luke was bringing Theophilus up to speed on Judas’ betrayal.
I think he also had something else in mind. Remember that Luke had been Paul’s loyal companion both in missionary journeys and in the apostle’s imprisonment. Paul had been both teacher and cherished friend.
Through Paul’s encounter with Christ on the Damascus road, he had become first a disciple and then an apostle recognized among the official twelve.
Knowing that, and also the strange lack of any further reference to the one elected in the Upper Room, many suggest that perhaps Luke is pointing out that the apostles were a little hasty in replacing Judas when the Lord already was planning ahead for a Pharisee named Saul of Tarsus to fill that position.
Also, we wonder if Luke was pointing out that casting lots, used throughout the O.T., was a poor substitute for the guidance of the Holy Spirit....who became the source of wisdom and discernment for such decisions after Pentecost.
But there’s something more in this section which draws this chapter to a close. The essential qualifications of candidates for both apostleship and the gift of Pentecost, was that they had to have been thoroughly familiar with Jesus’ ministry... READ Vs. 22
For us today, our preparation for Pentecost and being sent out to be witnesses, is Christ’s life...his message, death, and resurrection for us. We cannot slip by His life to get to Pentecost!
When we know that He died for us, that if we would have been the only one there in Jerusalem on that dreadful day that He would still have died just for me...you -
When we know that He is alive through the miracle of the resurrection and lives within us...When we know that the abundant life that He promised is our deepest longing...then we are ready to receive the unlimited power of His Holy Spirit.
What happened to Mathias? We’re not told. He’s never mentioned again. Did he defect or drop out? Probably not. I believe we would have been told if that had happened, as thorough as Luke was in his writings.
There is no need to be down on Matthias, even if you believe that his position was filled by Paul. Because he responded to a call. He was ready with his knowledge of Christ and and open mind and heart to receive His Spirit.
He was there at Pentecost - that’s all that matters. Whether his ministry received the recognition of history is not important.
The same is true for us.
Once we have experienced what Christ said and did for us in His death and resurrection...titles, or recognition, or the applause of people become unimportant. Knowing we are faithful is enough.
Three things we need to prepare for Pentecost...for the promise of power to be witnesses:
Prayer - honest, fervent, continuous communication with God
Reconciliation - be certain that there are no blockages...no broken relationships that need to be mended
Availability - being faithful without the need for recognition
