The Devotional

Tom Petty told us that waiting is the hardest part, and I think I may agree with him.  Dentist offices, grocery lines, even watching the microwave–waiting can be the hardest part.  Are you in a season of waiting?  Are you waiting for the Lord to do something for you, or something in you? 

The first task of Jesus’s followers after He ascended was to wait.  After His resurrection, the team was excited about what it meant now that Jesus had defeated death. Even though they hadn’t worked their way through all of the theological, doctrinal, and philosophical ramifications, they wanted action!  They asked, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”  (Acts 1:6)

I can’t blame them for the question.  The apostles had been on a roller coaster ride with the Lord for the past three years.  

• They were riding high when He chose them to follow Him; He did wondrous things, healed impossibly damaged bodies, restored impossibly damaged people, preached world-rocking sermons, and even commanded the weather!  
• They were stunned when he sent them out in pairs to do wondrous things in His name!  
• They were angered and scared as the rulers of their communities disowned, attacked, and arrested their friends for declaring that Jesus was the Christ.  
• They were heartbroken, disillusioned and scattered when He bled out, hanging from the nails in His flesh, unrecognizable as a human.  
• They were back, better than ever when He walked again, talked again, ate and laughed with them- He’s alive!  Surely, He will “restore the kingdom” this time! Instead, Jesus gently corrects and reminds them of their role in His story.     

 “It is not for you to know…” (Acts 1:7)  Jesus said this to those who loved Him then, as He says it to us who love Him now. This may sound harsh, but this is Christ’s gift to His followers: a freedom to focus.  He provides order for their ardor, telling them they have work to do, “you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me…” (Acts 1:8) Then he flew up beyond the clouds– talk about making an exit!  The followers were so stunned that they needed a couple of angels to come and tell them to move along; there was nothing more to see here–for now.  The apostles had work to do, and it started with waiting.  

They waited at least a week and maybe as many as 10 days before the Holy Spirit powerfully fell on Pentecost, but they waited together, about 120 of them, waiting.  They prayed while they waited.  They cast lots (for the last time) to choose a new apostle to replace the fallen Judas, and they waited.  Then, the waiting was over. (Acts 2:2)

As Jesus corrected their eagerness to know when things will happen, He also tucked in some encouragement about knowing Who is watching the clock: “the Father has put (the times and seasons) in His own authority.” (Acts 1:7) With these words, Jesus is telling them (and us) to trust in God and wait on Him.  He will do a mighty work in His time.  (Eccl. 3:11)

Pentecost (which means “fiftieth”) is a Jewish celebration held 50 days after Passover. This places the holiday at the end of spring or beginning of summer, after the first grain harvests. Jewish people, dispersed over the Middle East, Northern Africa, and Asia Minor, gathered in Jerusalem to offer their “first fruits” to God. However, during the Pentecost after Jesus’ ascension, the script flipped—it was the Holy Spirit who offered first fruits of a new covenant to these faithful travelers.

A faithful Jewish man (Acts 2:5) living in Egypt or Persia would come to Jerusalem to sacrifice to an ancestral God he might assume didn’t care much about his new homeland or language. When they gathered, these “devout men” spoke Hebrew or Greek, even though these weren’t their home languages.

The apostles of Jesus—mostly blue-collar Jewish men from Galilee—had accents marking them as clearly as Brooklyn or Texas marks someone today. They had been waiting with Jesus’ followers, just as their Lord—who had recently flown into the clouds!—told them. When the Spirit came, He came with wind, tongues of fire, and language! He enabled them to speak foreign tongues to share the good news of Jesus. Maybe with a Galilean accent—but clearly!

Think of this: the “first fruit” of the Holy Spirit’s arrival was language. The same God who, 3000 years earlier at Babel, confused language to thwart proud men’s plans to build without Him, now provided language to build His Kingdom in humble hearts—men willing to wait on Him.

It’s beautiful how God meets us where we are, using what we know. He used stars to guide star-gazers to Jesus (Matt 2). He spoke of living water to a woman at a well (John 4). He used fishing imagery to call Galilean fishermen! (Matt. 4:19; Mark 1:17) So when the “Parthians and Medes and Elamites…”(Acts 2:9) heard their own languages from Galilean fishermen—how could they not listen?

It was such a wild scene that some assumed the apostles were drunk. Peter defended them: “It’s only 9am!  They can’t be drunk yet!” (Acts 2:15) Honestly, drunkenness is a silly charge. Since when does it help someone speak more eloquently?! Ridiculous. These men were filled with the Holy Spirit, who longed to reach every heart listening.

In one of the richest passages ever composed, John calls Jesus The Logos or The Word.  John also states that as The Logos, Jesus is the center of all reality;(John 1:1) In one sense, Jesus, while He is Himself fully God in essence, He is also the “language” that God speaks.  When Jesus left earth, He sent his own Holy Spirit to Jerusalem to fill the apostles and 120 other followers; the first consequence of this filling was that they spoke to one another in other tongues,(Acts 2:4) and it was wondrous. The hearers were “amazed and perplexed.” Their hearts stirred, drawn into the mystery of God’s power, asking: “Whatever could this mean?”(Acts 2:12)

Happily, by the grace of God, Peter was there to tell them.

When Peter saw that the marvelous, multi-lingual party of the Holy Spirit was drawing a crowd because of the noise, he stood with “the eleven” (Acts 2:14) and opened his mouth.  The power of God came out of it.

Peter was talking to Jews, so it makes sense that he would start quoting Jewish Scripture.  He was going to answer the question, “Whatever could this mean?”  He started by quoting Joel, who prophesied about the last days.  It’s like Peter is reminding the Jews gathered of their own beliefs about the future; “God promised to pour out His Spirit in those coming days. This is just a glimpse, friends.  More marvelous days are coming —and some of it is scary— but ‘Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved!’”(Acts 2:17-21, Joel 2:28-32)  Peter is giving them a heads-up of the future that is still coming.  

Peter quotes the prophecies of David, which give some vital info about “The Lord”(Acts 25, Psalm 16:7-11) whose name will save people– Peter connects this directly to Jesus, who was crucified and rose again and just left.  This is Peter telling those guys, “Oh, you just missed it! You should have been here like, two months ago… this stuff that David prophesied just happened!”

  It seems like this would have been quite a shock to the devout Jews of the day.  Have you ever had that experience where you were watching an important game, or a great movie, and you go to the bathroom at the wrong time!?  You walk back into the room, and everyone is yelling and cheering, and the only response you can come up with is “What did I miss?!”  These guys felt that intensely, because it was more than a game or a movie, it was the arrival of the Savior, the fulfillment of prophecies these fellas had been studying since they were kids!  Luke writes, “when they heard this, they were cut to the heart,”  and they asked “what shall we do!”  I can almost feel the despair in their hearts: “oh no! We missed it!  What NOW?!” 

Have you ever felt that urgency?  Have you felt like you missed the opportunity to see Jesus?  American author Ray Bradbury wrote a short story called “The Man” that was published in a book called The Illustrated Man that presents this scenario.  The main character is an astronaut named (somewhat transparently) Captain Hart.  Hart just keeps jumping from planet to planet, desperately chasing and missing the Jesus figure while his crew stays behind with one group of contented disciples to find that The Man is still with them.  I’m not sure what inspired Bradbury to write this story (he did not claim to be a Christian), but the reaction of the devout men to Peter’s sermon in Acts 2 reminds me of Captain Hart.

These men see the evidence of God’s presence in the apostles and the 120, and they think they missed Jesus.  However, Peter tells them that Christ’s Spirit is present!  All they must do is “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”(Acts 2:38)  That was indeed great news for these men, and they responded, about 3,000 souls!

We don’t live in an age where Jesus’s callused still feet walk the earth or his human hands still break bread or cook fish, but He is still here.  The Holy Spirit of Christ is still moving, healing, changing lives.  And Jesus is coming back for His Church!  

We haven’t missed a thing. The best is yet to come– just ask Joel!  

I can hear Roger Daltrey’s voice belting the lyrics in front of his band, The Who.  

“Things they do look awful c-c-cold (talkin’ ’bout my generation)/ I hope I die before I get old (talkin’ ’bout my generation)”(From “My Generation” recorded by The Who, written by Peter Townsend, 1965) Honestly,  the song is really from my father’s generation (he graduated high school in 1969), but I relate to the sentiment.  It hits me in the teeth almost daily that my generation, with its wi-fi-enabled assault on goodness, truth, and beauty must be the worst generation ever, and sadly, the next generation doesn’t look like it’s going to right the ship anytime soon.  

It is so easy to think “It would have been so much better to live in ‘the good old days,’ when the confusions that confound our age were not even imaginable!”  I could say, “Surely, this current generation is exceptional in terms of how crooked and sinful it is!”  Obviously, I can only truly experience the era in which I have been born, but I would encourage us to be cautious about thinking unrealistically about the eras that have come before– indeed, yearning for “the good old days” is a dangerous and misleading intellectual habit sometimes called “the golden age fallacy” or “looking at the past with rose-colored glasses.”  

 No one would deny the ungodly developments in the worldviews and cultures we inhabit, but it would be a bit silly to say that nothing is better now.  In truth, no generation is perfect, and each era has its victories and its evils, virtues and vices.  Unfortunately, our view of history tends to be unreliable and often quite misleading; we can romanticize the past and excessively demonize our present.  

Perhaps this is why it is strangely comforting to read that Peter, just days after Christ ascended into heaven, called his own generation “skolias” which gets translated to us as “perverse” or “crooked.” (Acts 2:40)  Peter thought his own generation was pretty twisted, just like we do!  This may seem like cold comfort, but Peter’s generation was the one who literally killed Christ, and eventually most of Christ’s disciples! Much of the evil that we are still fighting in the world was present at that time, it just wore sandals instead of sneakers.  

When Peter says “Be saved from this perverse generation,” he was calling his listeners to “turn around from the direction your generation is headed!” That very day, some 3,000 souls responded gladly to Peter’s call to repent! (Acts 2:41)  It was a timely call, and one we need just as much in modern times.    

Interestingly, we read that as these followers grew and gathered together, phobos came upon them– Awe! Fear! A reverence for the numinous, caused by the “wonders and signs that were done through the apostles.” (Acts 2:43)  Whatever these miracles were, they served to make people take notice. The Holy Spirit’s presence in this body of believers was moving in mighty ways, and it changed their perspective and caused a radical adjustment of their priorities. As a result, Christ made a mark on Peter’s generation, and as modern believers, we are still inheritors of the work He did through Peter’s generation. 

The miraculous environment of the time made it impossible for the Christians in Jerusalem to ignore the eternal nature of what Christ was doing in people’s lives.  It made the daily striving for earthly possessions and worldly comforts seem a little silly.  They decided to invest in the eternal; they prioritized breaking bread together, providing for one another, and praising the God who had saved them. (Acts 2:42)    

Despite how this is often used, this passage is not a call to sell everything you own and move to a commune– after all, they still met in homes! (Acts 2:46)  No, this is an example of Christians maintaining a perspective that says,  “When I think about God’s glory and what Jesus did, holding on to stuff that won’t last feels pointless. If I can trade temporary things for something eternal, I’m all in.”  Because these Christians were living this way, the result was daily additions to the family of Christ.  

This is an example we can still follow: in gathering together, providing for one another, and living in a Holy reverence of Christ, we can be part of the work God wants to do in our own generation. 

Who is this story about?  Who are we supposed to relate to, connect with in this story of two of God’s apostles and the man healed through their ministry?  Some days, I feel like Peter, walking in the power of God next to my fellow Christians, saying cool things like “Silver and gold have I none, but what I have, I give to you…”(Acts 3:6)  I feel blessed to be God’s hands and feet, working as an ambassador for the Eternal Kingdom of the Eternal King!   

Other days, I feel like the man forced to beg by the circumstances of his physical existence.  I’m not able to care for even my most basic needs, and it’s not even my fault.  The world I was born into is unfair, and it feels like the deck was stacked against me from the beginning (Acts 3:2) –  without help, I won’t make it another day!  

Both of these are probably valid connections to this story, but the story isn’t really about Peter, or John, and it’s not even about the lame man being healed– it’s about Our Lord.  Neither Peter or John had the power of themselves to heal even the smallest ailment or discomfort of another person.  These men, fishermen, men of quick tempers and unreliable hearts had shown themselves to be men just like us, in need of rescue.  Now that Jesus had rescued them from the deadly waves of sin, death, and despair, they were in a position to help others.  Peter acknowledges this freely, even in this passage when he says, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.”(Acts 3:6)  There is no confusion in Peter about whose story this is; he is but a character in the grand narrative of Christ’s love story with us human people.  

As confirmation of this perspective, Peter goes on in the following verses (which we will look into more deeply tomorrow) to place this event at the Beautiful Gate well within the context of the story of Jesus, and makes it clear that neither he nor John provided the power to make the lame man walk. (Acts 3:12)

So what should this story teach us?  Much!  We are characters in the same story that was unfolding here in the 3rd chapter of Acts!  The central character of this story is the same – Jesus!  He is still working in the lives of grumpy fishermen, and lame beggars, and middle-aged English teachers, and like the stories recorded in the Bible, we need rescue and are invited to participate in His rescue of others.

As a final note today, it is worth noting that when the lame man walked, he didn’t merely walk—he leapt and praised God, and entered into the temple with Peter and John.  We don’t know what this man said or sang in his praises, but he was recognized as the lame beggar, now made whole (Acts 3:10).  This could only have been accomplished through an extended period of suffering by this man.  Christ’s message was proclaimed on that day because a man whose life to that point had been defined by brokenness… an encounter with the power of Jesus Christ of Nazareth established his role in the story that God was telling and is telling still.  I would venture to guess that like Peter and John, the man felt blessed to be a part of Christ’s love story for the world.

So we can relate to the lame man, or Peter, or John, or perhaps even to the people in the temple, but in the end, it matters little which character we relate to, because we all know who the real story is about– Jesus Christ is the rescuer, and He is still working.