Jesus tells His disciples hours before His arrest, torture, and crucifixion: Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. These words sound counter-productive. Of course the disciples’ hearts will be troubled. They will be afraid, too. We only hear of John standing next to Mary at our Lord’s crucifixion. Judas will betray Jesus. Peter will deny He knows Jesus and flee. The rest will be scattered. So much for Christ’s counsel.
Christ’s counsel, though, means so much. He is also preparing them for His ascension and the descent of the Holy Spirit. Although Jesus will not be standing next to them doing all the talking, He promises He will be with them. The Spirit’s descent fills them with peace and confidence to open their lips and let their mouths declare His praise. Jesus will still be there, no doubt about it. His presence, His peace, will still the disciples’ trembling hearts and failing courage.
Trembling hearts and failing courage are appropriate descriptions for us some two-thousand years in the shadow of Pentecost. When we consider the Acts of the Apostles, we think how new it must have been for them to go into the world and preach the resurrection. It was so new that they had no time to consider the consequences of their actions. The apostles were brought before the council of the Jews in Acts chapter four to be told not to preach Jesus has risen from the dead. They were told not to heal the sick. Even the people praised God for what was happening so that the council could not punish the apostles. The first thing they did after they were released was to pray for boldness.
When was the last time you prayed for boldness to tell the Good News about Jesus? I wonder if you and I pray to keep our mouths shut about our Lord more often than pray for boldness to speak about our Lord. The last thing we want is a fight about religion. You can lose friends. You can lose any influence you have among others. You could be called a religious fanatic. In some countries you could be punished or even martyred. Even I catch myself thinking that I’m a pastor and that everybody knows where I stand with my Lord, especially if they know I’m a Missouri Synod Lutheran pastor.
Not everyone knows where you and I stand with the Lord. Some are confused. Others are indifferent. So nothing has changed since the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles that day in Jerusalem. And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.” Saint Peter was neither confused nor drunk. His words that follow today’s second reading are a bold proclamation of command and promise. He takes his hearers to the prophet Joel to show them the day of the Lord has come. He says this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.
Peter moves on to King David’s words from the Psalms foreshadowing the coming of Messiah. He then summarizes David’s words: This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses…. Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. Saint Luke tells us when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” The Law has done its work. The Law preaches repentance, and the hearers of Peter’s sermon are troubled and afraid. They are ready to receive the Good News that Peter proclaims: Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.
No longer are their hearts troubled. No longer are they afraid. Three-thousand people that day were added to the Lamb’s book of life. The promise is for them, not against them. The promise is for you, and not against you. When you doubt, and you will doubt, that everything written about Jesus Christ is for you, the Holy Spirit will use the Word of truth to show you that, yes, you are a child of the promise.
He will come to you in the Word and take you to Bethlehem to see this thing that has happened in a manger. He will take you to the Jordan to see Jesus being baptized by John the Baptist to fulfill all righteousness. He will take you through the signs and wonders and preaching and teaching of Christ so you are able to hear the promise again and again. He will ultimately take you to Calvary, where Jesus hangs on a cross like a common criminal, suffering and dying for your sins. All the mocking, all the spitting, all the whips and scourges, even the crown of thorns He wears, are for you.
The Spirit won’t leave you hanging at the cross. He’ll take you to the tomb and show you the place where Jesus once lay. Jesus lives. You, too, will live with Him and in Him. Then He’ll take you to Bethany where you’ll see Jesus ascend into heaven and promise the coming of the Holy Spirit. When the Spirit arrives, you’ll be there, too, to hear Peter’s debut sermon. Your heart will be cut, and then salved in the preaching of the forgiveness of sins.
The Christians of old devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. They did not forsake gathering together for mutual encouragement in Christ Jesus. Though hearts were troubled and fear crept in, the Holy Spirit comforted them in the apostolic teaching, the Lord’s Supper, and their common prayers. The Word of the Lord grew, using sinful men to proclaim this Word to the ends of the earth. Sinful men and women supported this preaching, not only speaking the Word to their families and friends, but also offering financial support as they were able to help.
It never ceases to amaze me that Jesus set up His Church by using sinners to spread His Word. We know well that sinners sin, and the Church often doesn’t look like followers of Jesus Christ. In spite of ourselves and our sinful inclination, the Word of the Lord still grows when and where He wills. In spite of persecution, mockery, and all the tactics of the devil, the Word of the Lord grows. Pentecost is alive today because Jesus Christ is alive in His Church today washing away sins, strengthening forgiven sinners in His Body and Blood, and encouraging timid and troubled hearts.
As the ancients prayed, so we still pray today: Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful people and kindle in them the fire of Your love!
Media Vita In Morte Sumus 