Giving God a Chance (Week 40, May 28, Pentecost)
Readings
1 Samuel 17:26–50
John 20:19–31
Acts 2:1–12
Silent Reflection
Remarks
It’s a difficult thing to piece together the post-resurrection timeline in the Gospel accounts. There are so many incredible stories about what happens between Jesus’s resurrection and ascension. While many of the other stories remain consistent between Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the synoptics vary quite a bit when it comes to what they record of what follows the resurrection. So just how does the timeline work?
While it’s worth acknowledging that ultimately we may never know, it’s nevertheless worth wondering about. As the stories go, it seems that after the crucifixion, the disciples retreated to the Essene home they had been in just before Jesus was killed. Not only that, but even to the very same upper room in which they observed the Passover. They stayed there, understandably scared for their lives, trying to understand what just happened. We read this account in John.
When Jesus was found in the garden by Mary, she was told to go and tell the disciples to meet him at the mountain in Galilee. But they were stuck in that upper room, not going anywhere. They heard the report, but they didn’t believe it. Even after Peter and John investigated, they appeared to be stuck behind those locked doors. I am reminded of how many times I stay locked behind closed doors, playing it safe in my spiritual life in the face of fear.
If all of those disciples are behind locked doors, who is Mary supposed to go and tell? There must have been others. Some who took a road to Emmaus and had dinner with the resurrected Christ. Others who weren’t hiding in that same upper room with the Twelve. Or did the forty-day “teaching on the Kingdom” happen in that upper room, behind locked doors?
Eventually the disciples muster what it takes to leave. They head out to the Galilee and meet Jesus on the mountain where they receive the Great Commission—which, as it turns out, may not be the Mount of Olives where the Ascension happens. I used to think the Great Commission and the Ascension happened in the same place, but then my teacher pointed out to me what the Text actually says (and doesn’t say). So, which mountain did they go to? Mount Arbel? Mount Hermon? I like to imagine these disciples heading back to Mount Hermon, all the way to the northernmost point of Jesus’s ministry. At several days’ journey, this would have forced them to walk back through their entire experience with Jesus in a very real and geographical way, passing the places where Jesus ministered, reliving all the moments of joy and sorrow and confusion and wonder, now having to reconsider them all in light of the resurrection on their way back to Jerusalem.
And when they got there, what did they do? Did they go straight to the Mount of Olives for the Ascension? How soon after that did the day of Pentecost happen? Days? Hours? Did they go back to the upper room? Did they secure themselves behind locked doors again? Or did the journey past all the places of ministry embolden them?
At the end of the day, we simply can’t be sure. But eventually they showed up at the Temple for Pentecost. Have we ever considered how hard that would be for them, showing themselves in public for the first time after their infamous leader had been executed? It’s easy to imagine the shame and ridicule they must have feared. Even if they had seen the risen Christ, the embarrassment would have been palpable. After all, who was going to believe this tale?
I picture them showing up for the festival with shawls on and hoods up, trying to remain unseen, hoping nobody would point them out.
Either way, though, they showed up.
And in the end, there would be no such secrecy, because the very fact that they were willing to show up meant God was able to go to work. And when God went to work that day, there was no hiding it. What this tells me is that God can and will do unbelievable things in spite of me, my fear, my hiding, and my locked doors—but what He wants in order to put His grace on display in an unforgettable way is for me to head out to the Temple courts and let Him get to work through me.
Silent Reflection
Response
Close your eyes and consider what it must have been like to walk to the steps of the Temple that day with the disciples. With your eyes closed, give one-word descriptions of how it feels to be there in your mind.
Consider the places God is calling His Church to engage today. What are some of those places? Where are the places God needs His people to show up in order to use them?
Now pick one of those places. Close your eyes again and show up to that place in your mind. With your eyes closed, give one-word descriptions of how it feels to be there.
Now, discuss. Repeat the exercise if meaningful to the group.
What are some ways in which you feel as though you are playing it safe in your life right now?