Good morning, today is Tuesday, April 14, 2020. My name is Keith and I am the Worship Pastor at Green Acres Baptist Church in Athens, GA.
Well, again, happy Easter to you! This week we are reading and thinking about the events that transpired in the book of Acts directly following Jesus’s resurrection and ascension. We read yesterday about Jesus being the one who was rescued from the pit of death, and as the one who defeated death, we are now invited to find hope in him. Jesus is inviting us to share in his victory, in his resurrection, and to be people who now live with hope. This is the true story about reality in which we are being called to live. Not to allow fear and anxiety to overwhelm us, but rather to understand the world through the life and work of Jesus, knowing that even something as evil as death itself is not the end. In other words, our hope is that we will share in the resurrection with Jesus and not be overcome by death.
Listen to this from Peter, still speaking to a great crowd and part of the same speech we listened to yesterday.
Acts 2:36-41
“Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”
When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
What boldness! Peter just recently denied that he knew Jesus at all when Jesus stood before the people and the Sanhedrin and they all wanted to kill him. And now Peter is speaking to a similar crowd about how that Teacher they put to death because he called himself the Messiah is, in fact, the Messiah. And Peter, as one who was just recently forgiven by God and filled with the Holy Spirit, calls the crowd to confess from their wrongdoing, just like he did. And now, as a repentant and forgiven man who is filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter tells the crowds to join him and repent and identify with Jesus, just like he did.
I don’t know how this story hits you, I don’t know where in this story you may find yourself, but hear this word from Peter and know that no matter who you are or what you have done, Jesus wants to forgive you and is inviting you to identify with him and be filled with the Spirit as well.
Prayer for Tuesday of Holy Week
O God, who by the glorious resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light: Grant that we, who have been raised with him, may abide in his presence and rejoice in the hope of eternal glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.