Jesus and Him Crucified (Acts 2)

By Ron Thomas

 

    Those chosen by the Lord were to wait in Jerusalem for the special day the Lord Jesus told them about.

    They therefore, when they were come together, asked him, saying, Lord, dost thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know times or seasons, which the Father hath set within His own authority. But ye shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1:6-8).

    So, they did. The Lord’s chosen (the twelve apostles) gathered together in one place. Suddenly, from heaven the Lord’s gift, His promise mentioned above came to them. These men spoke in languages (called “tongues”) that perplexed all those who were there and heard. They did not know what to think about this, so they falsely accused them of being drunk. When people do not know, it’s not possible for them to understand how to interpret what they see. Just as it was then, so it is the same today. Without evidence, without understanding, they assert they do know what is going on by accusing them of something not true. Peter and the others dismissed this and explained what was going on.

    Making reference to the words of the prophet Joel, Peter said that what was occurring before their eyes was a fulfillment of what Joel said (2:16). Since the people in the crowd had no counter to what Peter said, they listened. Peter continued by preaching that what the people of Jerusalem and the surrounding areas experienced the last 3 years, what they were seeing now was a culmination of the life lived and a resurrected body going to the glories of heaven. With Him now gone, the words of the prophet are fulfilled. Hearing “the words of the prophet are now being fulfilled” would not have escaped their attention. Coupled with what they knew of Jesus in this midst (as He once was), they would have started to put “two and two together”, coming to a reasonable conclusion on the matter.

- Ron Thomas preacher for the Sunrush Church of Christ, Chillicothe, OH. He may be contacted through the congregation's website. www.sunrushchurchofchrist.org