When
we last left our couple from Emmaus, they were hotfooting it back to Jerusalem
because they’d seen Jesus. Well, they’d
taken an extended hike with Jesus, had the most amazing Bible Study ever in the
history of Bible studies, then cued in “They told what had happened on the
road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.”
What better
way for Jesus to enter the scene than with a JUMP SCARE. Jesus appears with “Peace be with you.” They thought they were seeing a ghost, so
Jesus’ greeting has a great double meaning.
One, Peace and two, Calm Down, its only me. There are parallels to the story of Doubting
Thomas here, but with a different focus.
Not that Jesus appeared, but what was he?
Why would
they think he’s a ghost? There is Old
Testament precedent for a ghost story. When
the witch of Endor conjured up the ghost of Samuel for King Saul. (1 Samuel
28). And it’s not the first time the
disciples mistook Jesus for a ghost. That
was when, through a dark and stormy night, Jesus walked on water toward the
disciples trapped in their little boat.
What I
really like is how Jesus apparently proves he is not a ghost. Not by showing himself, not by letting the
disciples lay hands on the wounds, no, he eats an early version of the filet o
fish sandwich. It is kind of a Bible Ghostbusters
Supernatural Scooby Doo thing. I wonder
if this connector passage is here deliberately, divine inspiration for Luke,
because of what is coming next.
This comes
next:
“These are my words that I spoke to
you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of
Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then
he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46 and
he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to
suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day 47 and
that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all
nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are
witnesses of these things. 49 And see, I am
sending upon you what my Father promised, so stay here in the city until you
have been clothed with power from on high.”
Jesus opens
their minds to the Ultimate Bible Study, gives them the Great Commission, Lukan
style, with orders to sit tight till the Holy Ghost comes upon them, the
passage then concludes with the Ascension of our Lord Jesus.
And this is the close of the first
book of Luke. He does write a sequel,
and the book of the Acts of the Apostles will bring us back through this
material once again.
So, Jesus
opens the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms to their minds, including what
we know as the Holy Spirit. It is
promised by the Father, but what is the Holy Spirit? Pentecost is coming, this is crucial. God the All-Powerful. God the Human being. Those fit my frame of reference. But God the indwelling? Sharing a metaphoric apartment in my mind or
soul or something? This is the power of
God that will fill the disciples at the Grand Opening of the Church. Jesus opened the Bible to them. What does that bible, our Old Testament,
actually say about this Spirit of the Lord connecting with humans?
How about the
man who received God’s law for the people, how about Moses himself? Moses spent how long on the mountain with the
Lord? Brought down the Book of Exodus,
not simply the Ten commandments, and brought the Spirit enough to share. We read in Numbers 11, starting at verse 24,
when things were getting bogged down in the details of leadership, “So Moses
went out and told the people the words of the Lord; and he gathered seventy
elders of the people…then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and
too some of the spirit that was on Moses and put it on the seventy elders, and
when the spirit rested on them, they prophesied.” So the Spirit of the Lord can be spread
around. But what kind of power are we
talking about?
It includes
superstrength? And a temper to
match? We have Samsom. Bible’s strongest man and the single greatest
biblical argument for anyone out there who does NOT want to get a haircut. In Judges 15, we read that Samson is tied up
by his own people and left for the Philistines to come and kill him. Then, in verse 14, “the Philistines came
shouting to meet him and the spirit of the Lord rushed on him, and the ropes
that were on his arms became like flax that had caught fire, and his bonds
melted off his hands. Then he found the
jawbone of a donkey…and he killed a thousand men.” In a world where the disciples are in
lockdown with fear of the Romans, this Spirit of the Lord carries some promise.
Then there
is the power of the actual message of repentance and forgiveness. Who is the greatest prophet in their Bible?
(Old Testament). Honestly, probably
Elijah, but the first prophet with his own book is Isaiah. But the Spirit of the Lord is there too. In Chapter 61, beginning in verse 1, “the
spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has
sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the broken hearted, to
proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; To proclaim the
year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance to our Lord; To comfort all
who mourn; to provide for those who mourn in Zion--to give them a Garland
instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise
instead of a false spirit.” Isaiah has
some serious prophetic chops when it comes to Jesus, including Christmas, the
passage of Jesus the Suffering Servant. Lends weight to the power of the Spirit of the
Lord.
In Lord of
the Rings, Aragorn was Isildor’s heir, proof of his authority. In the gospel, Jesus is David’s heir, proof
of HIS authority, heir to the Warrior King to whom the promise was given that David
would have an heir to sit on the king’s throne in Israel forever. Which Jesus does. And where do things begin for David? 1 Samuel 16:13, “Then Samuel took the horn of
oil, and anointed David in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the
Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward…” Want to know more? David’s story continues to the end of First
Samuel, all the way through Second Samuel, into the first chapters of First
Kings.
But then
there is my favorite, two guys by the names of Bezalel and Oholiab. They are charged with the building of the
tabernacle, God’s home, the portable precursor to the temple built by
Solomon. The Lord said, in Exodus 31, “I
have called by name Bezalel…and I filled him with divine spirit, with ability,
intelligence, and knowledge in every kind of craft, to devise artistic designs,
to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones we're setting, and in
carving wood, and every kind of craft. Moreover, I have appointed with him
Oholiab… and I have given skill to all the skillful, so that they may make all
that I have commanded you...”
The reason
they are my favorites is that the Spirit of the Lord filled them to build the
house of the Lord. The house of the Lord
is not simply the tabernacle, and later the temple. It is Jesus himself. He’s the one who claimed that the temple
would be destroyed and rebuilt in three days (the temple of his body).
I like
these guys, showing the Spirit of the Lord in concrete action. The other ones, Moses, Samson, Isaiah, and
David, they are examples of great and powerful men whose capacity was amplified
in the power of the Spirit of the Lord.
But these two, Bezalel and Oholiab, they were filled with the Spirit of
the Lord to put everything together. To
make it beautiful by divine standards, a cut above simple human capacities. In Exodus, they are craftsmen to build the
tabernacle, but today, that Spirit invests each one of us with the power of the
Lord that we all bring our best to build God’s House.
Jesus said,
“Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise
from the dead on the third day that repentance and forgiveness of sins is
to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” The Spirit of the Lord, who we see in Moses,
Samson, Isaiah, David, Bezalel, Oholiab, and in so many others across the Bible.
But let me
add one more piece, looking back to Our Story.
The disciples would have seen, as we can see, how the Spirit of the Lord
came upon those heroes of the Bible they knew.
But, they, and we, have also lived the power of seeing the Spirit of the
Lord come down. At his baptism, the
Spirit of the Lord came down upon Jesus.
And I think that went pretty well.
The Spirit
that came upon the heroes of the Old Testament is the Spirit of the Lord that
came upon Jesus is the Spirit of the Lord that comes upon us, the people of the
church.
The work started in Jerusalem,
today we recognize that this work has reached Merchantville. As we approach the moment when we celebrate
the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, we are celebrating more than just
the foundation of the church. We are
celebrating Jesus with us. The Spirit is
the connection, not something brand new from the grocery shelves of
Heaven. We begin to see the power of the
Spirit as presented across the Old Testament.
And the examples we use are those where the Spirit is named. How many other people show God’s love and
power without having the Spirit attached to their names.
We have the Spirit of the Lord upon
our Lord Jesus himself, Jesus was baptized for us. Not just a water baptism, something far
more. The power of God’s Spirit upon
Him. And now, we are preparing for that
same Spirit to come upon us. God’s
power, Jesus’ power, the full expression of salvation, love, grace,
forgiveness, joy, and wonder from across the Bible. To us, in the full weight and measure as we
seek to bring the heart of God to all generations of people in the heart of
Merchantville.
Amen.
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