Tag Archives: Jesus

Baptized in the Spirit. . . A Closer Look

Posted on by under Doctrine

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     In Acts 2 we see the account of the birth of the church when the Holy Spirit fell on the apostles and they were filled with power (Acts 2:1-4).  Many have looked at this passage and are not sure, however, of whether the Spirit fell only on the apostles, or if He fell on the 120 mentioned previously (Acts 1:15).  So then, who did receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2?  Was it the 120 who were in the upper room when the replacement for Judas was chosen, or was it just the apostles?

     First let’s examine who was given the promise of the Holy Spirit by Jesus.  When Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5, 8) and to baptize them in it, to whom was He speaking?  In order to find the antecedent of them, we need to look back at Acts 1:2.  Here Luke tells us that the them in this context are the apostles that Jesus had chosen.  Therefore the promise of Jesus to send the baptism of the Holy Spirit was given to the apostles.  They were the ones to receive the promise and watch Jesus ascend into heaven (Acts 1:11).

     Second let’s examine the time frame with regards to the promise and the coming of the Holy Spirit upon them.  After witnessing the ascension of Jesus into heaven, the apostles traveled a ‘Sabbath day’s journey’ (fixed at 2,000 cubits or roughly 1,000 yards) back to Jerusalem.  Thus they would have arrived back in Jerusalem on the same day in which Jesus ascended and met with the others mentioned in the upper room there (Acts 1:12-17).  Since we see that Jesus was with His apostles for 40 days after His resurrection (Acts 1:3), and since we know that Jesus was in the tomb for 3 days, we can accurately calculate that it had been 43 days since the death of our Lord on the cross when this event with the 120 in the upper room takes place.  Since we also know that there are 50 days between the Passover (time of the crucifixion) and the day of Pentecost, we can see that this meeting took place one full week prior to the day of Pentecost.  The importance of the calculation of the days is that it shows that the narrative of the 120 in the upper room was not on the same day as Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit fell upon the apostles.

     Third let’s examine the event of the Holy Spirit falling upon them on the day of Pentecost.  In looking at Acts 2:1-4 the Bible tells us that they were all together in one place (it does not specify where that place is – upper room, temple, marketplace, etc.).  The Holy Spirit fell upon them and they began to speak in tongues.  Again we need to find the antecedent of them and they in this passage.  This is found by looking at the last verse of Acts 1.  Here we read that the lot fell upon Matthias and he was numbered with the other eleven apostles.  This is to whom the they at the beginning of Acts 2 is in reference.   They were the 12 apostles and it was upon them that the baptism of the Holy Spirit was given, fulfilling the promise made by Jesus in Acts 1:5, 8.

     Through the rest of the book of Acts we can see that the apostles had the ability to heal sickness, cast out demons, and transfer spiritual gifts by the laying on of their hands.  Once the apostles passed from this life, however, those spiritual gifts and that miraculous ability also passed away.  The working of miracles to confirm the word of God had accomplished the task given to them, mainly to confirm that the words spoken by the apostles and prophets were true and were from God (Mark 16:20).  We today have the written word, which we can read and examine to see that these things are so.

Who is This Jesus?

Posted on by under Christian Evidences

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People may often wonder about Jesus and who He really was.  It has been said by some that Jesus was just a good man, or that He was only a prophet, but that He was not the Son of God.  What evidence do we find in God’s word about who Jesus really was?  When Jesus and His disciples approached the region of Caesarea Philippi He asked them what the people thought about who He was.  They answered Him that some thought that He might be John the Baptizer, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.  However, when He asked His apostles who He was, “Simon Peter answered and said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God’” (Matthew 16:16 NKJV).

How did Peter know who Jesus really was?  One reason is that Peter had been travelling with Jesus for some time and had seen the things that Jesus was able to do.  Some of what Peter had seen is recorded for us in Matthew chapter 8, which chronicles several of the miracles of Jesus.  In this chapter we can see that Jesus exhibited power that mere men or prophets simply did not have.  Specifically, there are 5 such miracles that demonstrate the power of Jesus over several aspects of life.

The miracles of Jesus in chapter 8 of the book of Matthew include the following:

  1. The healing of the leper (Mat. 8:1-4), which demonstrates Jesus’ power over the seen or external world.  All could see that the leper had the disease, but no one else could have healed him other than God.
  2. The healing of Peter’s mother-in-law (Mat. 8:14-15), which demonstrates Jesus’ power over the unseen or internal world.  She had a fever, and while others may be able to tell by her demeanor that she was ill, none but God could see the internal cause of the fever.
  3. The healing of the centurion’s servant (Mat. 8:5-13), which demonstrates Jesus’ power over time and space.  It was not necessary for Jesus to travel to the centurion’s home to heal the servant, He was able to do it from a distance.  This shows that Jesus had a power that mortal man does not posses.
  4. The calming of the storm at sea (Mat. 8:23-27), which demonstrates Jesus’ power over nature.  No mere man could have accomplished this feat as even His disciples exclaimed, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” (Matthew 8:27b).
  5. The casting out of demons (Mat. 8:28-32), which demonstrates Jesus’ power over the spiritual realm.  Again this shows that Jesus was more than a man and that He really was the Son of God.

We see that the purpose of miracles was to confirm the message that was spoken (Mark 16:20).  Therefore, it is not unusual that Matthew shows these 5 miracles here in chapter 8 as Jesus has just finished delivering the Sermon on the Mount (Mat. 5-7).  Indeed, at the end of that great sermon the people realized that Jesus was not like other men.  “And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes” (Mat. 7:28-29).  Thus the miracles of Jesus help to prove to us just who He really is, that being the Son of God and a member of the Godhead.

Are We Focused?

Posted on by under Article

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“And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea.  But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, ‘It is a ghost!’ and they cried out in fear.  But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.’   And Peter answered him, ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.’  He said, ‘Come.’ So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus.  But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, ‘Lord, save me.’  Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’  And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased” (Matthew 14:25-32 ESV)

When we read the text above, we are usually reminded of the miraculous power of our Lord in walking on the water.  However, there is another principle in this reading that we should be sure to not miss.  Notice that Peter is allowed to walk on the water also.  While Peter maintains his focus on Jesus, all is well and he is able to do something that no other mortal man has ever done.  But when Peter takes his eyes off of Jesus, he sees the effect of the wind on the sea, and he becomes afraid.  Peter then began to sink.

Now think about our own lives.  When we keep our focus on Jesus, and make Him our top priority we can have that inner peace and confidence just as Peter did.  But when we focus our attention instead on the storms of life, the cares and concerns of this life, we too begin to sink.  We should make it our point to maintain our vigilance in keeping Jesus as our first priority.  Only then can we have that confidence and assurance of our eventual eternal home with Him.