Monday, May 11, 2009 by Thomas Ling
Meditation from Acts 1:1-11
What did Jesus do in between his ascension and resurrection? V3 - He gave convincing proofs that he was alive. Why do they need proof when they can see him? After Jesus was crucified, the disciples were not ready, even reluctant to believe that He was alive again. They thought that was the end. They have retreated to the life before they became Christ's followers. They needed some convincing. Perhaps Jesus needed to show them he was not a ghost or spirit, that he indeed had been raised from the dead - a fact crucial to the Christian faith, for Paul says that if this were not so we are to be pitied of all men. (In fact one of the facts that proves that they have met the risen Lord is the 180 degrees change before and after they saw the risen Christ; from disheartened cowards to fearless martyrs.) We must be ready to give convincing proofs of Jesus' resurrection too to all who question our faith. As Peter puts it in 1 Peter 3:15: 'But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.....' Are we ready? Always ready?
Verse 3 tells us that Jesus also continued to speak about the kingdom of God after he rose from the dead. From Jesus' teaching throughout the New Testament we see that Jesus' preoccupation and central teaching is the kingdom of God. Think of all his parables and his teaching on prayer - ‘thy kingdom come’. The good news we tell must include the bigger picture of God's kingdom, which we are to seek first above all else - 'seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness' - not our self righteousness, but the righteousness that comes from faith in Christ, whereby Christ’s righteousness becomes ours as we put our trust in him who has come to fulfill the prophets and the laws as testified by the transfiguration event where Moses - symbolizing the law, and Elijah- representing all the prophets, stood by his sides on Mount Olive.
Jesus commanded his disciples to wait for the gift which the Father promised - the Holy Spirit. The giving of the Spirit is given as a gift, therefore we cannot demand it; but it is a promise, therefore we can claim it by faith. Verse 6 reveals that the priority of the disciples is not the same as God's, all the kingdom talks only seemed to strengthen their desire for the restoration of the earthly kingdom - Israel. Their understanding of the Messiah and the kingdom of God is still narrow and confounded. Is our priority the same as God’s? What should it be?
Jesus' answer shows us that God the Father has full authority over the direction of history. What we must be concern now is to be his witnesses, starting from where we are, to the ends of the earth. And our witnessing will have power because Jesus also promised his disciples that they will receive power when they are baptized with the Holy Spirit. But they were to wait until then.
Elsewhere it is written: 'Not by might, not by power but by your Spirit, says the Lord' The power for holy living and effective service comes from the Holy Spirit. Thus it follows that it is crucial for believers to live by the Spirit. To be filled with the Spirit is a command. Thus we must make it our priority also to find out what it means to live by the Spirit and how can we be filled with the Spirit. Alas, so often we read God’s word with the lenses of our prejudices and our human traditions when we come to things we don’t quite understand! We don't need to be afraid of talking about the Holy Spirit and His gifts just because some Christians had abused and taught wrong teachings about it. We all need to be Christ’s followers who are both Bible believing and Spirit-filled!
While entrance into the kingdom of God is by the grace of God through faith in Christ alone as we are born again by the Spirit, to live the kingdom life we need no less than the power of God's Spirit too, until Christ comes again as promised here in V11.
("We" includes me)