May 1, 2023 – Acts 1
After Jesus’ resurrection, we learn that he hangs around for a while. Luke writes in Acts 1:3, “During the forty days after he suffered and died, he appeared to the apostles from time to time …“ During this time, the apostles were waiting for Jesus to do something great and earth-shattering (like rising from the dead wasn’t good enough!). They ask about Jesus freeing Israel and restoring their kingdom (verse 6).
It's shocking to me that the disciples still don’t get it! Jesus told them what would happen, he showed them a different way – one that flips cultural power structures on their ends – and they still want a political revolution. Then, Jesus leaves. He’s taken up to heaven. Poof! Gone! What?!
Jesus’ followers have seen and experienced first-hand the miraculous nature of the Kingdom of God and that Jesus actually rose from the dead. But now what? It still wasn’t what they were expecting. As we journey through Acts, we’ll learn the next steps the disciples took as they established the first churches and spread the Word together.
Questions for reflection:
- Put yourself in the shoes of someone sitting in that upper room. Jesus has defeated death, he’s been hanging around, and now he’s suddenly gone again. What do you do? Do you feel equipped to go and tell about him? What we read in Scripture is exactly what we can go and tell others about! More than that, what’s your experience of Him? Our stories are far more powerful than someone else’s stories.
- What’s your story? How has God encountered you in life? How have you encountered God?