Fifth Friday of Easter
Lectionary Texts:
Acts 10:23b-48
John 16:25-33
We return today to our Acts Bible Study. Please read Acts 19:1-7.
Apollos leaves Ephesus and goes to Corinth, where he will become the principal leader of the Corinthian Church (cf. 1 Corinthians 1-2).
Paul returns to Ephesus from Antioch. The next story has some oddities. Paul encounters 12 disciples, only they appear to be disciples of the John the Baptist movement rather than Christians. The number of disciples mirrors the number of Jesus original disciples.
We know that a John the Baptist movement apart from Christianity existed and persisted through at least the fourth century A.D. This was apparently a Jewish group that believed in baptism for purification. They appear to be totally ignorant of Jesus. They say they have never even heard of the Holy Spirit. Luke seems almost to be making fun of them at this point.
Paul gives a brief explanation of John the Baptist's belief in Jesus. The 12 are convinced. Paul tells them that John the Baptist baptist is inadequate. They need Christian baptism. They accept Paul's message and are given Christian baptism. Like the believers in Acts 10:44-48, they receive the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues. The only difference is that this 12 receive the spirit and speak in tongues after they are baptized; the believers in Acts 10, before they are baptized.
The passage raises several questions. Did John the Baptist not tell his followers about Jesus? Did he baptize Jesus not long before his death and not have a chance to tell his followers about Jesus? Did followers of John the Baptist, who practiced strict self-denial, reject Jesus because he was "a glutton and a wine-bibber." (Matthew 11:19, Luke 7:34). These 12 claim to have never even heard that there was a Holy Spirit, yet John the Baptist said of Jesus, "I have baptized you with water but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." (Mark 1:8). Apparently these 12 didn't get the memo.
I'll preach a paragraph at this point. Have a lot present day Christians still not gotten the memo? For so many evangelicals and fundamentalists Christianity is primarily an escape route from Hell. Repent. Be baptized. That's it. The sublime joy of life in the Holy Spirit is largely lost on them (and on a lot of mainline Christians as well). John the Baptist preached doom and gloom. Jesus preached hope and joy. "I have come that you might have life, and might have it more abundantly." (John 10:10). Like Paul's, our calling is to image that hope and joy so that others might see and believe.
Holy Spirit,
May the joy and the life that is in all that you are and all that you do fill our lives with overwhelming goodness. Amen.
Faithfully,
Christian
1 comment:
I think my mother pointed it out to me originally, but I've pointed it out to other people who have a habit of beating themselves up and going on and on about how they are horrible sinners. Yes, we make mistakes, and we should do our best to do better. But climbing up on our own cross all the time is a bit disrespectful to the one who actually got crucified. Or something like that.
Living a good life is the best way to be a Christian, I think.
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