The risen Jesus spend some 40 days with the disciples teaching them about the kingdom of God, and Jesus claimed that he was restoring God’s kingdom over the world, beginning with Israel. Jesus called Israel to live under God’s reign by following him and he was enthroned as king when he gave up his life and then conquered death with his love. Jesus promises that the Spirit will soon come and immerse them in his personal presence and this fulfills one of the key hopes from the Old Testament prophets, that in the messianic kingdom, God’s presence, his Spirit would come and take up residence among his people in a new temple and transform their hearts. So Jesus says, when this happens, the spirit will power his disciples to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
From here, Jesus is taken up from their sight in a cloud, it’s an image drawn from the book of Daniel chapter seven, it shows how Jesus is now being enthroned as the son of man, who was vindicated after his suffering and now shares in God’s rule over the world and so, he promises that he will return one day. This is a story about Jesus leading his people by the Spirit, to go out into the world and invite all nations to live under his reign. Jesus’ followers are waiting in Jerusalem until the feast of Pentecost, when all of these Jewish pilgrims from all over the ancient world were in the city and the Holy Spirit comes on the disciples as a great wind and something like flames appear over each person’s head and together they start announcing and telling stories of God’s might deeds and they’re speaking in all of these languages that they didn’t know before, but all the people gathered there understand perfectly.
It’s crucial to see the Old Testament roots of all of these images, the wind and the fire is a direct allusion to the stories about God’s glorious fiery presence filling the tabernacle and the temple and it’s also connected to the prophetic promises, that God would come and live by his Spirit in the new temple of the messianic kingdom. God’s fiery presence comes to dwell, not in a building, but in his people. The new temple promised by the prophets is Jesus’ new covenant family, the people of Jesus. The prophets promised that when God came to dwell in his new temple, he would reunify all the tribes of Israel under the messianic king and that the good news of God’s reign would go out and be announced to the nations.
The international, multi-tribe makeup of all of the Israelites who were there at Pentecost, and many responded to Peter’s message, the disciples keep calling Israelites to acknowledge Jesus as their messiah, and thousand upon thousands respond, forming new communities of generosity and worship and celebration, but not everybody’s celebrating. Jesus’ new family quickly faced hostility from the Jerusalem leaders. God’s new temple, the community of Jesus’ followers, they’re gathering every day in the temple courts and from house to house. Peter and the other apostles were healing people in the temple courts, only to get arrested by the temple leaders, followed each time by a speech from Peter, claiming that Jesus is the true king of Israel and at the center of all this is a story about Jesus’ followers donation of property and possessions to a common fund to help the poor, this was a practice described in the laws of the Torah and was supposed to be happening through the Jerusalem temple and its leaders.
The new temple of Jesus’ community is fulfilling the purpose that God always intended for the Jerusalem temple, to be a place where heaven and earth meet, where people encounter God’s generosity and healing presence. This conflict between the two temples is the first wave of persecution. So Jesus’ followers, they continue to multiply, requiring more leaders, and one of these, Stephen, is a bold witness for Jesus in Jerusalem and he ends up getting arrested and he’s accused of speaking against and even threatening the temple. So Stephen gives a long speech showing how Israel’s leaders have always rejected the messengers God sent them, including Jesus, and now his disciples. So the Jerusalem leaders are enraged, they murder Stephen, and they launched a wave of persecution against Jesus’ followers that drives most of them from the city, but it has a paradoxical effect. This tragedy actually became the means by which Jesus’ people are now sent out into Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the world.
From here, Jesus is taken up from their sight in a cloud, it’s an image drawn from the book of Daniel chapter seven, it shows how Jesus is now being enthroned as the son of man, who was vindicated after his suffering and now shares in God’s rule over the world and so, he promises that he will return one day. This is a story about Jesus leading his people by the Spirit, to go out into the world and invite all nations to live under his reign. Jesus’ followers are waiting in Jerusalem until the feast of Pentecost, when all of these Jewish pilgrims from all over the ancient world were in the city and the Holy Spirit comes on the disciples as a great wind and something like flames appear over each person’s head and together they start announcing and telling stories of God’s might deeds and they’re speaking in all of these languages that they didn’t know before, but all the people gathered there understand perfectly.
It’s crucial to see the Old Testament roots of all of these images, the wind and the fire is a direct allusion to the stories about God’s glorious fiery presence filling the tabernacle and the temple and it’s also connected to the prophetic promises, that God would come and live by his Spirit in the new temple of the messianic kingdom. God’s fiery presence comes to dwell, not in a building, but in his people. The new temple promised by the prophets is Jesus’ new covenant family, the people of Jesus. The prophets promised that when God came to dwell in his new temple, he would reunify all the tribes of Israel under the messianic king and that the good news of God’s reign would go out and be announced to the nations.
The international, multi-tribe makeup of all of the Israelites who were there at Pentecost, and many responded to Peter’s message, the disciples keep calling Israelites to acknowledge Jesus as their messiah, and thousand upon thousands respond, forming new communities of generosity and worship and celebration, but not everybody’s celebrating. Jesus’ new family quickly faced hostility from the Jerusalem leaders. God’s new temple, the community of Jesus’ followers, they’re gathering every day in the temple courts and from house to house. Peter and the other apostles were healing people in the temple courts, only to get arrested by the temple leaders, followed each time by a speech from Peter, claiming that Jesus is the true king of Israel and at the center of all this is a story about Jesus’ followers donation of property and possessions to a common fund to help the poor, this was a practice described in the laws of the Torah and was supposed to be happening through the Jerusalem temple and its leaders.
The new temple of Jesus’ community is fulfilling the purpose that God always intended for the Jerusalem temple, to be a place where heaven and earth meet, where people encounter God’s generosity and healing presence. This conflict between the two temples is the first wave of persecution. So Jesus’ followers, they continue to multiply, requiring more leaders, and one of these, Stephen, is a bold witness for Jesus in Jerusalem and he ends up getting arrested and he’s accused of speaking against and even threatening the temple. So Stephen gives a long speech showing how Israel’s leaders have always rejected the messengers God sent them, including Jesus, and now his disciples. So the Jerusalem leaders are enraged, they murder Stephen, and they launched a wave of persecution against Jesus’ followers that drives most of them from the city, but it has a paradoxical effect. This tragedy actually became the means by which Jesus’ people are now sent out into Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the world.
