Jesus was the Passover Lamb. His death on the Cross ended the system of ritual sacrifice in the Temple, ended the Covenant of Moses. His Ascension into Heaven allowed Him to return in Spirit to the earth and live among all His followers. Up to that moment, they were spiritually alive, but not yet able to process truth through their spirits into their hearts. The lack of intellectual training was hardly an issue, but knowing what to do with the teachings of Jesus was beyond them. They were operating under a renewed, but still human, grasp of the Law for guidance in obedience. This was about to change.
Under the Pharisees' version of the Law of Moses, it was all about nit-picking with precise and concrete rational analysis. Jesus showed that was all wrong, not the way God worked, not the way the Law worked. If we haggle over the precise meaning of Luke's choice of words, we easily miss the drama of what he tells. Jesus taught them some forty days after His resurrection to insure they understood what the Old Testament said about Him and His teaching. That puts His Ascension about the forty-third day. A week later was Pentecost, the Greek word for the Hebrew First Fruits celebration. Those gathered that day in the Upper Room were the first fruits of this new covenant, not of laws, but of the Spirit.
There was the roaring sound of wind, and "wind" is the same word for "spirit" -- the Lord dramatically returned in a form of great power, but not visible to human eyes. Only the effects are seen and felt. In Luke's day, the only source of light on earth was fire. What they saw appeared as tongue-shaped flames, or brightly luminescent manifestations about half the size of a man's hand. This glowing presence divided itself among the members of this gathering. This was the presence of illumination entering their very beings. Each of them suddenly began to speak in other languages, apparently human languages. We dare not miss how this was the reversal of the curse at the Tower of Babel. Under this power alone would man be permitted to unify under a single authority, that of God alone.
Take note of how the Spirit of Christ is manifested. There is unseen power and illumination, all of which grants a singular unity not otherwise available upon this earth. It all served one purpose: To bring about the revelation of God through those who received this unspeakable gift. This sound and sight drew a crowd right away, as the disciples spilled out into the streets to address them. What was all this roaring and shining lights business? They came and heard the message declaring the things God had done on the earth to reveal Himself. They were bringing to life again all the things Jesus did during His days of ministry.
How did all these losers and bumpkins speak so as to be understood by the mixed multitude from out of town? Were they drunk? On the day of First Fruits, Jews would fast until mid-morning. It was just now about the time they could start eating and drinking, so drunkenness was simply out of the question. Peter, who had so recently been ashamed and broken, now in the Spirit, stood up with the confidence he never had before, and spoke assertively with an assurance God alone could give. No, this was the fulfillment of Joel's prophecy (2:28-32). This was the one last chance for people of Israel to call on the name of the Lord, to reclaim the redemption they should have found by walking in the Law and perceiving the higher truth to which it pointed. As they drove the Law farther and farther away from them, it was necessary to restore its real meaning in Christ. Once again, the Father seeks to raise a nation of priests to the world, by calling the Nation to His Son. Peter makes it clear all this finds fulfillment in the man they had just recently executed. God had raised Him from the dead, a Son whose power over death was in His very nature.
David prophesied of it, too (Psalms 16:8-11). Does anyone think David meant it literally when he said God would not allow him to stay dead? Well, David's bones rested still in his grave in Jerusalem, a short walk from where Peter stood that very moment. No, David spoke parabolic terms regarding one of his descendants. It was the same sort of symbolic language which predicted the Messiah would take David's throne. Think for a moment how very far these men had come to realize now there would be no earthly kingdom of Christ, but a spiritual Kingdom on the earth! So this Jesus, of the royal household, came out of the grave, and He now sits in Heaven. He sits there awaiting the Father's promise to crush all His enemies. As it was Israel who crucified His Son, who now qualifies as His enemies?
It was not simply the words of Peter, but the power of the Spirit working in Him and through those words, which brought conviction to those listening. Had this been the old crew following Jesus in months past, their Galilean accent would have been hard to follow by men born and raised in far countries. Those Jews could handle Greek as a common tongue, and were supposed to be familiar with some Aramaic, but Peter's message was clear to their ears. What could they do to redeem themselves before God? Peter's words are so easily missed. First, it was the demand of the Law all along to repent, to turn away from sin. In this case, to disavow the crucifixion and embrace Jesus as Whom He claimed to be, the Messiah. In a sign of the new loyalty to the Messiah, they should participate in the old Mosaic ritual of cleansing in water, but now in the name of Jesus the Messiah, cleansing away the old life and living in the new life of the Kingdom of Heaven. In the eyes of the Jewish leaders, this was a form of treason, had they considered what this all meant. It meant repudiating their Jewish identity in favor of a higher claim on their loyalty. Those who were able to do such a thing would find this same power and enlightenment would be theirs. Notice Peter says no man can choose this for himself, but it is the Lord who chooses and calls, and national identity among men means nothing.
This preaching went on for some time that morning, as Peter and the others warned them the Jewish leaders were perverse, and following them led to God's wrath. Eventually some 3000 people passed through the ritual cleansing and joined this new community of Christ. This was not some mere ritual, for they spent days and weeks trying to absorb this new teaching of ancient truth. They dug into the Old Testament with the clarity of understanding Jesus had given. Their was a powerful sense of unity with no earthly explanation, sharing as close kin when there were so very many reasons in the flesh to be strangers to each other. But this divine peace with each other was merely a direct result of their new peace with God. They also shared a sense of awe and unworthiness, as they witnessed the signs of God's power at work. Like any close kin in a single household, they shared their possessions.
This new loyalty to Christ did not mean leaving behind the old Temple, but gave them its real meaning for the first time. All the places and habits of life gained a new meaning in light of this new Life in Christ. Rather than being clannish, though, it made them even more loving to those outside their new community of faith. This was a powerful contagion of healing, love and grace, lifting more daily out of death to New Life. All Israel was ever meant to be was reborn.
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By Ed Hurst
09 May 2008
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