“Who Is the Holy Spirit”
Between the resurrection of Jesus and His ascension, our Lord told his disciples to return to Jerusalem and pray “until.” “Until” WHAT was the question. Jesus didn’t actually say what this meant but indicated they would know. Ascension Day arrived 40 days after Jesus walked out of the grave. Standing on a mountain with His disciples He gave the Great Commission – “Go into all the world and preach the gospel.” Then He ascended into the clouds.
The disciples shouldn’t have been shocked by this as Jesus had surprised them before. I mean, He died, but came back to life on the third day, “Just as He said.” Let’s give them a little grace though as this was a bit hard to believe. He died, then came back to life! Now they are being told to “go pray until you’re filled with power.” “Power?”
We can speculate and perhaps debate the actual feelings of the disciples as they walked back to the place of prayer. Are you ever anxious when He asks you to pray or do something that’s out of your comfort zone? And maybe this is a good place to mention, there were several times Jesus became irritated with his closest followers, and it was always for the same reason – “Their lack of faith” in trusting He would do what he said he’d do! Do you have trouble trusting?
The disciples gathered to pray. One day, two days, three days, but they continued and on the 10th day as “they were all together in one place, suddenly a sound like the blowing of violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting” (Acts 2:1-2). Leaving the room, they went out and faced a massive crowd of people which had gathered from every nation under heaven.
Amazed – Perplexed – Bewildered – Astonished – Awe – are words the Bible uses to describe the reaction of the people as they saw something within these early disciples never witnessed before. Jesus had said, “I must go away so My Father can send the “Comforter” (Helper, Advocate, describing the Holy Spirit). The Holy Spirit is a person referred to as “He” (John 14, 15, 16). He doesn’t have a body, but has characteristics of a person and is known as the third person of the Trinity. (Tomorrow – The purpose and function of the Holy Spirit).
Pastor Carnes
