Bead Eighteen Filled with God’s Spirit
B18 - E1 Wind and Fire
The realisation began to sink in that Jesus had actually left them, that they wouldn’t see him again. Feeling a sense of loss and bewilderment, they stood there looking at each other and wondering what to do next when two men in white robes appeared and asked them why they were looking up at the sky. When they explained what had happened, the men told them that Jesus had gone to heaven and would only return in the distant future. With these few words, they disappeared.
The eleven remaining apostles began to understand that God had sent these messengers to reassure them and prompt them to return to Jerusalem to wait to be shown when and how to act. Peter rose to the task of leadership straight away and rallied them all, reminding them of the responsibility they had been deemed worthy of so, with that thought in their minds, they set off back to the city, full of joy and excitement.
Their first port of call was the temple where they gave thanks to God for the honour they had been given, then they returned to the upper room to share the joyful news with Mary and their companions, men and women, friends and supporters. During the days that followed, the upper room was a place of expectant prayer and faith and the followers of Jesus now felt able to visit the temple freely.
At some point, Peter raised a difficult matter with everyone. By this time, there were about a hundred and twenty disciples gathered together in the room. He reminded them that because Judas was no longer with them, they needed to find someone to replace him as a member of the Twelve. “It should be one of us,’’ he said, ‘’who has followed Jesus from the very beginning when John was baptising in the Jordan.”
Two men, named Joseph and Matthias, were proposed and everyone joined together to pray for guidance. Peter prayed aloud, saying “Lord, you know our hearts; please help us to know which of these two of your followers we should choose.” They decided to draw lots and the choice fell on Matthias who was to be a lifelong and faithful witness to his Master.
Meanwhile, Jerusalem was filling up with a huge number of Jewish pilgrims, coming from many different countries to celebrate one of the most important festivals of their faith. This was known as the feast of Pentecost and was held on the fiftieth day after Passover. On the morning of the feast day, all the disciples were gathered together in the upper room.
Suddenly, the house was enveloped in the sound of a powerful wind. At the same time, tongues of what seemed like fire appeared in the room and came to rest on the heads of each one of them. They were filled with God's spirit and, to their amazement, found themselves speaking in foreign languages. The whole commotion was so loud that it drew crowds from all over the city who came to find out what was happening.
They went out to speak to the people and the crowds were amazed to find that everyone could understand what was being said, even though they had come from countries as far and wide as Turkey, Egypt, Libya and from Rome, Crete and other parts of the world. “How is it that these men can speak our languages,’’ some of them said to each other?
The disciples began to tell the people about Jesus and his message and everyone was full of wonder, apart from a few who began to pour scorn on it all. “Ignore them,’’ they said sneeringly, ‘’they’ve had too much to drink,” but Peter stood up fearlessly in front of them and, alongside the apostles, raised his voice to address the huge crowd.
“Listen, everyone, we are not drunk as some of you are saying; it’s only nine o’clock in the morning! Our prophets wrote about a time when God’s spirit would be poured down on all people, when our sons and daughters would prophesy, our children see visions and our old people, dream dreams. This is the time they foresaw.
“We are here to tell you about Jesus of Nazareth! The power of God’s love was with him in everything he did and said, in his preaching, his teaching and in the miracles he performed but you had him handed him over to the Romans to be crucified. We have been chosen to witness to you that God has brought him back to life. He is the Messiah we have been waiting for. Even our own King David prophesied that the Messiah would come back from death to life.”
Peter spoke to them for a long time and they began to see the truth in what he said. They felt cut to the heart and asked him what they ought to do. He told them they needed to repent, to ask for forgiveness and be baptised in the name of Jesus. On that very first day, thousands of people listened to his powerful words and came to believe in Jesus and become his followers. His work was now being carried on by his disciples who were to spend the rest of their lives sharing the love of God throughout the world, through the message of Jesus.
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