ACTS 1:1-11
For three years, they watched the greatest story of all time unfold before their very eyes. More than just passive observers, they were actually characters in the story. It was amazing, truly the adventure of a lifetime.
They watched this enigmatic man teach and live. He was confusing and challenging and always loving, even when He scolded them sometimes or sent them out to do hard things. He was the smartest and most amazing Man they had ever known. They didn’t even know a life like His was possible until they saw it for themselves.
But then the unimaginable happened. He died. They saw Him betrayed and tried on trumped-up charges. They saw the flogging (or at least heard the awful details about it). Then they saw Him dead.
What do you suppose they thought?
We would understand if they thought that was the end. We would understand if they wondered what they were supposed to do next. We would understand if they decided to just go home, just go back to fishing. They must have been absolutely devastated.
But then the greatest ending to the greatest story ever told took place, the resurrection. What was Jesus going to do next? How do you follow a resurrection? What’s the sequel to that?
There was only one thing they could think of that would top the resurrection, so they asked Him, “Are You going to finally kick the Romans out, seize the throne and make Israel once more the envy of all the other nations?”
Jesus had spent the last three years trying to impress on them the idea that the kingdom of God was not a political thing. But they still didn’t understand. So He said, “It would be best if you hung around Jerusalem for a few days after I’m gone. The Holy Spirit will come and explain this stuff to you. Maybe He’ll have better luck than I’ve had.”
Jesus didn’t say that last part — I kind of added it in.
They wanted to know what was coming next, so Jesus got really explicit with them. He said, “No one knows for sure when God is going to bring all this to a grand finale. So in the meantime, you just go around and be witnesses, just tell people what you saw and experienced.”
In other words, Jesus said, “Tag! You’re it! You’re the sequel. Now go.”
Prayer
Lord, I give thanks to You for the new life You have given me in Jesus. When I reflect on His life as portrayed in the Gospels, I see an entirely new quality of life, a new way of being, of thinking and of acting. And though He was fully God—still the second Person of the Divine Trinity—He was the most fully human being the world has ever seen. I ask that, as I learn more about Him through the renewal of my mind with the Word, I would also know Him more in an experiential way so that I will become more like Him. And now that I am in Christ, You have given me the holy commissioning to spread the gospel of the Kingdom in my time and through my arena of influence. May I be faithful to this heavenly calling so that I would go into the world where You have sovereignly placed me and be His witness in word and in deed.
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