“Acts 3:12-19 ;1 John 3:1-7; Luke 24:36b-48.
Passing on the baton
For all of you who were here last week, you will notice how similar the Gospel lesson is from last week’s. Last week was the gospel of John, this week the gospel of Luke. In each text Jesus appears to the disciples. They are afraid and unbelieving, he convinces them that he is indeed their teacher and friend raised from the dead. Last week John made emphasis in seeing, “he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.” This week however, he emphasis not only in seeing but also in touching, “Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”
The reading from Acts begins presenting us with the picture of what it would look like when the disciples are equipped with the power from on high, when they fulfill their calling as witnesses. We read Peter’s proclamation of what God has done and is doing in Jesus Christ. However, his proclamation is not alone; it is complemented by miracles. The verses previous our reading tell of the man lame from birth who always sat at the temple’s gate begging. Peter and John in the name of Jesus healed this man, and when people saw them as the source of this miracle, they explained that the real source is the risen Christ they proclaim; they are only witnesses who have received power.
The scriptures from Luke and Acts present a transition. You see, Jesus is getting ready to go to His Father. Before leaving, He promises His disciples the same power He has, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit that was over Jesus and anointed Him to proclaim good news to the poor and sent Him to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
The Gospel of Mark chapter 16 verse 17 explains what these disciples were going to be able to do with this power, with this anointing “And these signs -Jesus says in Mark- will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they… will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” Mainly they were going to do what Jesus did. They were going to continue Jesus’ ministry…they were going to be “Jesus” to the people. At this moment Jesus is passing on the baton to his disciples.
What can we learn from the story of Acts? We can learn that the witnessing of the early church was a combination of words and deeds that not only promoted Jesus’ resurrection but also provoked this resurrection in others. The gospel that the early church proclaimed was that God was in the process of fulfilling the promise to restore all things and the miracles they did in Jesus’ name were proof of this restoration. Those first believers saw themselves as a community, a community in which the Spirit was making that Good News of the risen Christ a reality. They saw themselves as a community already experiencing the new life of the resurrected Jesus. Peter was an example of this; the Peter we see in the Gospels is different to the one we see in the book of Acts. He was restored by the Risen Christ.
What made their witnessing so effective? The presence of the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit gave them the strength to combine their message with their life. As we see in Acts, Luke recounts for us a story in which that work of renewal took a very concrete form, a healing, a life transformed by the faith in the resurrected Jesus, a man walking by the power of Jesus’ name. However, the healing made by these disciples in the name of Jesus went beyond that this man. When they devoted themselves to their fellowship with one another, it was a healing for society, a healing for the relationship among men. When they shared their possessions with one another to meet the needs among them, this was an act that promoted God’s restoration in this world. When they lived and worked in the harmony of “one heart and one mind,” it was a manifestation of God’s renewal: a glimpse of God’s dreamed society.
Luke and Act also tells us about the process of witnessing too. First Jesus commissioned them; he gave them authorization. The power to do what they did came during Pentecost. No one has the power to witness without the permit, the authorization from God, without being sent by God. Whom does God authorize? Those who know Him personally, those who believe in him, those who have experienced by firsthand the power and transformation of the risen Christ.
The book of Act in chapter 19 narrates the case of seven men whom dared to witness without God’s authorization, without knowing Jesus as their Savior. . “13 Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.”14 Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15 One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?” 16 Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.”
Jesus is looking for witnesses, He is ready to activate His power over those who are willing to say, “here I am, sent me”. God wants to send “times of refreshing” not only over us as church but, over this world. Listen to Romans 10:13-15 “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
Let us be witnesses of the risen Christ, let us believe in the power of the Holy Spirit, let us proclaim refreshing times in the name of Jesus, let us provoke Jesus’ resurrection in those we meet.