Living a Post Resurrection and Post Pentecost Christian Life ~ blog

Jesus is heading to Jerusalem and He has told his disciples that in Jerusalem He was going to be handed over to the chief priests and scribes who were going to condemn Him to death and hand him over to the Romans. He said these Gentiles were going to mock Him, spit on Him, whip him with a scourge and kill Him.

It was like they did not even hear him, and Luke tells us;

“But the disciples understood none of these things, and the meaning of this statement was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend the things that were said.”

As I wrote yesterday, they were still thinking Jesus was going to overthrow the Roman oppression of Israel and set Himself up as the King because He was the long-awaited Messiah.  In fact, these things happened during this very week we are living in today, because His arrest was on Thursday and Crucifixion on Friday.  Wednesday may very well have been the day these things happened, and these words were spoken.

James and John want to be co-vice presidents and they even had their mother approach Jesus and she mentioned to Jesus this was her wish as well. Then they arrived in Jerusalem and as Jesus rode in on a young donkey the crowds were cheering and shouting;

“Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord;
Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

Excitement was growing and everyone’s expectations were extremely high.  This was it they thought. But they did not realize that in a day they would watch His agonizingly painful death by suffocation on the cross.  And they scattered. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus asked Pilot for the body, took His body down from the cross, wrapped it in a linen cloth and encased it with about 100 pounds of aromatic spices.  Then they laid his body inside Joseph’s tomb and rolled a large stone in front of the entrance.

Everything the disciples dreamed of had been shattered and now they were afraid of being captured and killed as well.  When the next week began a new world was opened. A world where death had been defeated, sins paid for, and our Lord alive and back in full command.  Of course, it took the disciples a while to really get what was going on.  They were still afraid and in hiding waiting for the promised Holy Spirit. But they had no clue…only fear of the worst things happening to them.

It was not until Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came upon them, filled them, sealed them, and empowered them that their real new lives really began.  No more hiding but a boldness.  No more shrinking down to become as little as they could in hopes nobody would notice that they were former followers of Jesus.  They all had seen the resurrected Jesus but then they watched as He ascended into the clouds and they were sheep without a shepherd…or so they thought.

It was the coming of the Spirit that was the game-changer. They had already believed in Jesus.  They were already justified and His disciples, but they were no longer with Jesus. Then, at the appointed time, the Spirit came and filled all of them. Jesus was still not with them but now His Spirit was inside of every one of them. This was better. No matter where they went and whether they were together or alone Jesus was now constantly with them…He Spirit was inside their bodies and He was giving them power.

There was a very remarkable and stunning the difference between the pre-crucifixion disciples, and the post-resurrection and post-Pentecost disciples.  And the difference was the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.  He changed the tough and salty fisherman Peter, who wimped out at the accusations of a little girl suddenly turned preacher bold enough to preach to the crowd in the street. It was the Spirit making these changes. Suddenly, they all had strength and courage and they lived radically changed lives. They bonded together as a powerful community where everyone was getting the help they needed. In a very short amount of time, this happened and we read in Acts 2:

“They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need.  Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.”

Two things happened to create these drastic changes in the followers of Jesus. First, they had to live through their worst nightmare.  They watch the tragic and brutal crucifixion and burial of their Lord. Second, they were filled with the Holy Spirit and He began transforming them into an army of Christ followers who went on to change the world.

I imagine that all of us can relate to some of that.  We have had our worst nightmare come true. Our secret sexual sins that we amassed and threw into the basement of our lives became exposed.  Others learned the truth about us and suddenly our lives were blown up. Our marriage deeply wounded leaving us wondering if the wound would be fatal or not.  Our children scared by the truth and or perhaps by divorce. This hidden life of shame and fear brought into the light and we wanted to die. We were post-crucifixion disciples living in fear.

However, the Holy Spirit has already come into our bodies and sealed us as God’s guarantee that our inheritance in heaven is still secure.  He will never leave us or forsake us.  Our body is His temple and He dwells within us constantly. And oh, by the way He wants to pick up the pieces of our shattered life. He wants to fill us daily and awaits our invitation.  He desires to take the members of our bodies and use them to be instruments of righteousness instead of instruments of wickedness.

As we practice daily yielding control of our minds and bodies to Him, listening to Him and following His directions and as we are going through our day, we are told, that as we are walking in the Spirit, we will not be fulfilling the desires of the flesh.

Eventually the Spirit will begin to transform us. We will begin to see His fruit developing in our character and find ourselves being strengthened daily and it becomes so much easier to just walk away from sexual sin.

If you need help doing the Christian life on a daily basis…and we all need the help of a community to be able to do this… contact me about joining our Online Support Teams who are beginning to go

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