One of the most important ways that the Bible can come alive to us is to be able to link events in the New Testament to events in the Old Testament. As we are able to do so (and a good cross-reference Bible helps) we are able to gain a fuller understanding of how Jesus Christ has fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies and how God infused Old Testament events and practices with the new meaning of the New Covenant. We see this when certain events take place in the New Testament during an Old Testament celebration or festival.
For example, the Crucifixion, which was an act of deliverance, took place during the Passover, which was a festival to remember another act of deliverance. This current passage of scripture, from which our main text for this morning comes from, is another example of this.
The Day of Pentecost takes place during the Festival of the Harvest, one of three major festivals the Israelites celebrated. It was a time of praise and thanksgiving to God for a good harvest.
In his comments on this verse, I Howard Marshall has stated, ‘in Judaism the festival was also associated with the renewal of covenant made with Noah and then with Moses.’ ‘In second century Judaism,’ he goes on to say, ‘Pentecost was regarded as the day when the law was given at Sinai.’ In other words, this festival marks the re-commitment vows between God and His people as well as celebrates the day when God gave the first covenant to Moses on Mt Sinai.
Now, God is going to use this Festival, which would draw people back to Jerusalem from all over the known world, to send His Holy Spirit in an unmistakable and dramatic way, to begin the mission and ministry of what we now call the Church and, in a larger sense, the Christian faith.
This morning I want us to think about the phrase ‘seven weeks after the Resurrection.’ Do you remember seven weeks ago? Seven weeks ago today was Sunday, July 17th. Do you remember what you were doing?
Henry Farr was here and shared with us. I was wrapping up vacation, and was with my mom at her church (and here she is today with us!)
7 weeks from today is October 23rd. What will have taken place in your life by then?
Well, from looking at my calendar, Y soccer season will be over. Jonathon will have celebrated his 10th birthday the day before. Apple Festival will have taken place. Our state General Assembly in Indianapolis will have occurred.
At least, if all continues as is, those events will take place. But, we don’t know if life will continue as is, do we? We are aware of this reality as we continue to process the overwhelming images of New Orleans and the surrounding area. 7 weeks ago no one dreamed that they would be displaced and living a nightmare existence.
7 weeks earlier, there were those who wondered what was going to happen next after Jesus’ death and burial. I just wonder if Passover meant anything to them that Saturday evening.
Their certain belief that Jesus was the Messiah, who had come to deliver them, just as God had done in Egypt, had been dealt a sharp, sharp blow the day before. Where was God? What, if anything, was He doing?
Then Easter Sunday, Resurrection Day came! ‘Jesus was alive!’ ‘Jesus was back!’
And so for the next six or so weeks Jesus appeared and re-appeared to the remaining disciples as we read in Acts 1:3 ‘During the forty days after his crucifixion, he appeared to the apostles from time to time and proved to them in many ways that he was actually alive. On these occasions he talked to them about the Kingdom of God.’
Jesus also goes on to say in verses 4 and 5 of Acts 1, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you what he promised. Remember, I have told you about this before. John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
10 days later, that takes place and the church and the Christian faith begins to spread, a movement, despite all sorts of obstacles over the centuries, that continues to this day because of the power that was released by God in that upper room. Seven weeks later, a profound change that dramatically alters the lives of those who experienced it, God moves and the rest, as we say, ‘is history.’
This fall, we are going to walk through the book of Acts and see how Jesus’ order, as recorded in Acts 1:8, ‘But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power and will tell people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth’ is put into action.
We are going to walk through Judea, the local area and see God at work. Then we will move to Samaria, the regional area and see how God worked through all sorts of cultural hang-ups to advance His kingdom. Finally we will conclude our journey in Rome, the center of the world in that day and age, but is representative of ‘the ends of the earth,’ the far places that God calls some to physically go to but all of us to acknowledge in our prayers and giving.
But, that is the future and we are living in the present. How are you today? How is your soul? How is your relationship with Christ?
I can only imagine in small fashion, what was going through the minds of Peter and Company when they were able to reflect on those seven eventful weeks in their lives. What change! What a difference!
It was ‘seven weeks after the resurrection’ that a mission of eternal significance would take shape. And it was a mission made possible by the Resurrection because without the reality of the Resurrection, there would be no Pentecost, no church, no Christian faith, and no hope of salvation.
I invite you this morning to let again the love and grace of God through Jesus Christ into your hearts, minds, and souls. I invite you to let the Holy Spirit, who came in great and significant power to awaken our souls to the salvation made possible by Christ, into your lives this morning.
Let the Spirit cleanse you. Let the Spirit calm you. Let the Spirit care for you. Let the Spirit lift you up and empower you to live for God in new ways.
Be open to God’s Holy Spirit and let Him transform you to accomplish the great and wonderful purpose for which you were created. Amen.
