Sunday, May 19, 2024

19 May 2024 - don't fight this fire


On the evening of that first day of the week,
when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,
for fear of the Jews

Before the coming of the Holy Spirit the disciples were still controlled by their fears. They were still locked away from the world. The message of the resurrection remained sealed, because they feared the consequences of proclaiming it.. They did not yet have the Spirit within them leading them to testify. They did not yet have the clarity of purpose that would later come when the Spirit of Truth was guiding them into all truth. 

Jesus came and stood in their midst
and said to them, "Peace be with you."
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

Jesus bid them peace to calm their fears and to begin to build joy within them. But they were not yet ready to go out to the world, nor did he wish them to go prior to the coming of the Holy Spirit. They were still in a transitional state, instructed to remain in the city until they received power from on high. 

As the Father has sent me, so I send you."
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
"Receive the Holy Spirit.

Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit on them, giving them new and spiritual life in a way similar to how God breathed life into Adam in the beginning. But this new creation was not fully manifest until the driving wind of Pentecost swept through their hearts and until tongues of fire descended on them. It was this event that changed them from fearful and uncertain men to people who were so filled with the testimony of the Spirit that they too could not help but testify.

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak in different tongues,
as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.

The Holy Spirit manifests differently in each individual, but he works in each producing a manifestation from some benefit. The diversity of gifts ensures that we can together form the many parts of the body of Christ. Unlike like worldly differences which tend to cause division the diversity of gifts in the Spirit actually serve to make us more effectively united in one body. The Spirit unites us in the testimony of Jesus, even as the variety he produces in us makes that testimony available to the greatest possible diversity of people. 

He will glorify me,
because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.
Everything that the Father has is mine;
for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine
and declare it to you.

There are a diversity of manifestations of Spirit, but in all of us he desires to overcome our fear, to convict us of the truth, and to motivate our testimony to Jesus by writing in so deeply within our hearts that we can't help but proclaim it. The Spirit himself is the power at work within us that enables us to live the life of the resurrection even here and now. He is the one who makes us to be truly sons and daughters of the Father, taking from what belongs by nature to Jesus and giving it to us as a gift.

We should in fact desire spiritual gifts, because this is what Paul said we should do (see First Corinthians 14:1). But more than the specific manifestations, we need to ensure that we open ourselves to the operation of his power within us. In short, we need not be like the disciples who remain locked away and afraid, because the Holy Spirit himself desires to empower us just as he did the disciples at the first Pentecost. They didn't spend any time comparing and contrasting the gifts they received to make sure they had all completed the full checklist or to ensure that no one had more or less than another. These were not their concerns. They were too entirely consumed with the need to proclaim the testimony of Jesus and reveal the truth of the resurrection to the world. The same desire is meant to be in us as well, consuming us as it did them, because "our God is a consuming fire" (see Hebrews 12:29).

When you send forth your spirit, they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.




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