Stories are easy to tell when you’re passionate about your subject. My grandchildren, for instance, bring me so much joy and laughter and they teach me much about myself and the world. I work harder at not telling just one more tale! I try to relate the highlights of our together days to Amelia’s mom and dad when it’s time for her to go home. I’m sure they’re thinking, “she’s been doing that all week.” But it’s new to me and it’s all exciting!
Luke’s second book in the Biblical canon, known to us as the Acts of the Apostles, briefly recaps the last forty days that Christ was on the earth and picks up the narrative with Jesus’s ascension into heaven. Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came to dwell in the first of the believers, and Peter’s first sermon added about 3,000 new Christ followers to their number in one day. As these new believers began meeting together regularly, the crowds amassed in Jerusalem. The Jewish religious leaders, who must have assumed their attempts to bury the Nazarene for good with false testimony about a stolen body, realized what was happening and began to push back in a futile attempt to keep the name of Jesus from being preached.
James, the brother of John, was run through with the sword and Peter was arrested and miraculously rescued. Saul is introduced and a great persecution began for the fledgling church. What appears to be the end is actually the beginning.
“It was easier to hide twelve men than the thousands of people who now constituted the church.
Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went” (Acts 8:4).
This signaled far more rapid extension of the Gospel than if the apostles had all gone out on missions while the rest of the church stayed home.
Here was a force of thousands and thousands, most of them simply “gossiping the Gospel,” others highly gifted evangelists, disseminated by persecution.” (Excerpted from The Gospel Coalition Read The Bible Plan Devotional Day 8- link to this free reading plan below)
Read the Bible: Genesis 8, Matthew 8, Ezra 8, and Acts 8
People still flock to Jerusalem, the place where God said He chose for His name to be honored, (I Kings 11:36) to be near the places Jesus walked, to hear stories passed down for generations, to be encouraged in their faith. Many come back with stories to tell of holy moments, when by the Spirit of God, their experience caused them to grasp something they’d read in the Bible on a deeper level. They share photos and mementos with enthusiasm and encourage others to make the trip to experience it for themselves. I believe this is what David meant when he said, “taste and see that the Lord is good.” (Psalm 34:8) I am equally convinced that this is exactly what Jesus meant when he issued his final command, the Great Commission.
“And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.”
Mark 16:15 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mrk.16.15.NLT
“Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.
Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.
And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.””
Matthew 28:18-20 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.28.18-20.NLT
“And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ.
And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.
For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them.
And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.
So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us.
We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!””
2 Corinthians 5:18-20 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/2co.5.18-20.NLT
I think of the travelers on the road to Emmaus on the day of Jesus’s resurrection. That seven miles must have dragged on as they talked over the events of the past few days. Can you feel the weight in their feet as they trudge along? Can you sense their pulse quickening and the knots forming in their stomachs as they remember the crucifixion in all its grizzly detail?
Even if they weren’t present when it happened, the crosses were positioned so that no traveler entering or exiting the city could miss the gruesome sight. I cringe with them as I inhale, smelling the blood and no doubt other bodily fluids. Surely they held their breath and speed-walked past this spectacle. Family groups must have shielded the eyes of small children and hurried the curious teenagers along with a clipped rebuke.
Maybe they lowered their voices at the sound of footsteps gaining on them from behind.
“He asked them, “What are you discussing so intently as you walk along?”
They stopped short, sadness written across their faces.
Then one of them, Cleopas, replied, “You must be the only person in Jerusalem who hasn’t heard about all the things that have happened there the last few days.””
Luke 24:17-18 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/luk.24.17-18.NLT
As they join forces to tell Jesus his own story, I picture the emotions widening their eyes and quickening their pace. I see them gesturing, sometimes wildly, as they replay the drama yet again as it exists in their mind’s eyes. I hold my breath with them when they recall the impossible report, first from the women and then from the men. The body was missing. I sense them wanting there to be more to the story but for the life of them, they can’t imagine what.
“Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.”
Luke 24:27 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/luk.24.27.NLT
They’re closing in on Emmaus now but they’re no longer exhausted or rushing. They are in no hurry for this conversation to end. They beg him to stay the night and their talk continues over supper.
“As they sat down to eat, he took the bread and blessed it.
Then he broke it and gave it to them.
Suddenly, their eyes were opened, and they recognized him.
And at that moment he disappeared!
They said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?”
And within the hour they were on their way back to Jerusalem.
There they found the eleven disciples and the others who had gathered with them, who said, “The Lord has really risen! He appeared to Peter.””
Luke 24:30-34 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/luk.24.30-34.NLT
And suddenly Jesus is there! Right there with them.
“For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.””
Matthew 18:20 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.18.20.NLT
“I will exalt you, my God and King, and praise your name forever and ever.
I will praise you every day; yes, I will praise you forever.
Great is the Lord!
He is most worthy of praise!
No one can measure his greatness.
Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts; let them proclaim your power.
I will meditate on your majestic, glorious splendor and your wonderful miracles.
Your awe-inspiring deeds will be on every tongue; I will proclaim your greatness.
Everyone will share the story of your wonderful goodness; they will sing with joy about your righteousness.
The Lord is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
The Lord is good to everyone.
He showers compassion on all his creation.
All of your works will thank you, Lord, and your faithful followers will praise you.
They will speak of the glory of your kingdom; they will give examples of your power.
They will tell about your mighty deeds and about the majesty and glory of your reign.”
Psalms 145:1-12 NLT
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