Now the Lord said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever."
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
This coming Sunday is Pentecost. Essentially Christians can celebrate the day as the day that Christians began witnessing the risen Christ as the Lord and Saviour of the world. From this point on, with the Holy Spirit on them, Christians began this new mission to the ends of the earth.
They said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven."
We were, are, and will always be the Easter people or people of the resurrection. What does it mean to be the people of Christ living after passion, death, resurrection and ascension, calling ourselves as part of new people? Certainly we live with faith, hope and love. We do the best to share with the world who we are. After all, we are here to share what we have with the world vigorously and vibrantly, being the source of life to all.
Wednesday Meditation (1 Peter 3:13-16)
Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. .
Wednesday Meditation (1 Peter 2:7-10)
To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe, "The stone that the builders rejected has become the very head of the corner," and "A stone that makes them stumble, and a rock that makes them fall." They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. .
Wednesday Meditation (Acts 2:42)
(The disciples) devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. .
Jesus left the room for good. Jesus is no longer with the disciples each day. After the ascension, Jesus stopped reappearing. Matthew’s Gospel ends nicely with the great commission to go and preach the good news of Jesus to the end of the world. John’s Gospel, too, has a nice tidy ending as Jesus tells Peter to tend the sheep. In Luke, Jesus ascended, leaving the disciples alone.
Wednesday Meditation (Luke 24:15,16)
While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. .
A very confusing thing–this. Why were their eyes kept from recognizing the risen Jesus? Was God not wanting the disciples to see the risen Jesus? If the disciples could not recognize the risen Jesus, after so many centuries, who can?
Wednesday Meditation (John 20:19)
“When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you." .
It appears that Jesus’ disciples and followers were very much afraid of Jews after Jesus’ death. As was the case when Peter was challenged, as Galileans, they stood out in Jerusalem. There they were, then, in the house, afraid that they might face violent reactions from others.
Wednesday Meditation (Mark 14:22-25)
“While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, ‘Take; this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. He said to them, ‘This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly I tell you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.’ .
“Broke” it. Jesus broke a loaf of bread after blessing it. On the surface, breaking bread is an expected action at any table in Jesus’ time. With this very common and everyday gesture, Jesus shows what God’s love is all about. Perhaps Jesus chose this very familiar table custom to indicate the universally present love of God as life’s source.
This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Licensed by Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0