When I read narratives in the Bible, I always do my very best to put myself there. What is happening isn’t so obvious (black and white). These are real people! How were they feeling? What can I learn from them?
I am a follower of Jesus. I saw him do the unspeakable. Time and again, people were healed just by touching his garment. Others were raised from the dead. I saw Jesus time and again surrounded by those who wanted to apprehend him, only to see him walk right through them, as though he were invisible. This is flabbergasting!! Then the unthinkable. He is arrested and nailed to the cross!! He dies! I am stunned and crestfallen (dejected). There were crazy things that day.
From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).
When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.”
Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”
And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.
At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.
When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!” Matthew 27:45-54
Darkness at this time of the day — the sun should have been at its highest.
Then after witnessing his death, he reappears among us, three days later. Dead people were walking amongst us in the streets. What is going on? I am crushed and confused. There is still hope.
On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. Acts 1:4-9
At the very moment that he disappeared from our sight, he told us to wait. Something extraordinary was coming. We were filled with excitement. A week passed. Jerusalem was settling back into the same ole’ same ole’. And nothing had happened. We were discouraged. I was discouraged. Empty words? And then, on the 50th day after Passover, after interminable, seemingly hopeless waiting, this happened.
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?” Acts 2:1-12
The world changed forever!
I am writing this today to remind myself of the truth of the following words:
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the LORD.“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9
I am impatient. When my world appears to be falling apart, Satan whispers to me that God has forgotten me. He hasn’t. His timing is perfect. I simply need to wait. And reflect on his promises.
If we are faithless, he remains faithful…. 2 Timothy 2:13
ALWAYS
by Bruce Hanson
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