In yesterday’s DWOD, we saw the difficulty that Mary Magdalene had in recognizing Jesus. She could not tell it was Jesus by looking at Him, because she was not expecting Him to be alive. Neither did she recognize His voice when he said: “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?”

That is why she mistakes Jesus for the gardener.

However, when Jesus calls her by name, there is instant recognition and response.

“Mary!”

“Rabboni!”

The first time Jesus talks to her, He uses 9 words (in English) spread over two sentences. The second time it is only one word.

She gets to hear Him for a longer spell the first time, yet she does not recognize His voice. But when He simply utters the one word: Mary, she knows beyond the shadow of a doubt that it is Jesus.

Why?

To answer this question, let us do some research on Mary Magdalene as she appears in the gospels.

She is mentioned by name 13 times. The very first occurrence is in Luke 8:2-3, where we read: “…certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities-Mary called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons, and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others who provided for Him from their substance.”

(By the way, the name Magdalene simply refers to the fact that she was from a place called Magdala, the way Jesus was referred to as the Nazarene because he was from Nazareth. Since there were other women named Mary associated with Jesus, this was a way of distinguishing her from the other Mary’s.)

She is identified as being one of the many women who, along with the twelve disciples “were with him.”

She is also tagged as being one of a number of women who had been healed of diseases and set free of evil spirits. Even more specifically, we are told that Jesus delivered her from the oppression of seven demons.

Finally, we are told that she was a woman of means who supported Jesus financially. (Now you know why they needed a treasurer–Judas!)

The inference from all this information given to us is that Mary Magdalene spent a fair bit of time with Jesus along his ministry journeys “through every city and village.” (8:1)

She is also singled out by Matthew, Mark and John as being one of the handful of women who stood at a distance and watched Jesus die on the cross. Furthermore, her name is also mentioned by both Matthew and Mark as being part of the group that was present when Jesus’ body was laid in the tomb.

What is also remarkable is that her name is mentioned first in all these lists except one. Clearly, she occupied a place of prominence among the women who followed Jesus. This would also explain why Peter and John came running to the tomb to check out the empty tomb when they heard the news from her. They trusted her, for they knew her well.

All of this evidence points to the fact that Mary Magdalene had heard Jesus call her by name many times before. There was a closeness, a level of intimacy that had developed between them simply because she chose to spend time with Jesus.

This is why she who had trouble recognizing His voice in a string of words had no trouble whatsoever when He simply said: “Mary!”

Dear DWOD friend, this is why you have heard us say over and over again that developing intimacy with the Lord, hearing His voice and learning how to distinguish His voice from that of the enemy as well as our own flesh are keys to advancing into your destiny.

For you too will run into situations similar to what Mary Magdalene experienced, where you may not be able to recognize Jesus visually or readily. However, if you have taken the time and the effort to hang around Him and know Him intimately, you too will have no trouble whatsoever knowing that it is He indeed who is calling you by name. And your response will also be as instant as Mary’s “Rabboni!”

She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” (John 20:15)

Ever wonder why Mary Magdalene would mistake Jesus for the gardener?

At first blush, it would appear that it was a physical problem with her visual perception. You could blame the low light of early morning for preventing her from recognizing Jesus.

Or you could attribute it to a change in Jesus’ appearance following the Resurrection. We find the disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24) as well as the disciples out fishing on the lake (John 21) also having trouble identifying Jesus.

While we cannot dismiss these two factors, my sense is that it was her expectation that was responsible for her inability to recognize Jesus.

How so?

Mary had come expecting to see the dead body of Jesus, as you can tell from her response to angels’ question: “Woman, why are you weeping?” “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” (v. 13)

And again, when Jesus asks her: “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?”, she is wondering if he had taken the body away and laid it somewhere else.

If all you expect to see is a dead Jesus, then a man standing in the garden cannot be the Risen Lord, can he? The only other logical choice would be the gardener. (Considering how hot it would get in that part of the world by mid-day, it was a necessity for a gardener to be up and at it very early in the morning).

Her expectation led to her mistaking God for the Gardener.

This is not the first time in the Bible that expectations were responsible for someone not recognizing Jesus for who He really was. Case in point. The Jewish leaders of His day. They expected the Messiah to be a military ruler like David and not the Suffering Servant that Jesus was…so they never saw Him as the One they were waiting for.

Similarly, when Jesus healed on the Sabbath, the leaders could not see God in the healing, because their expectation was that a faithful Jew, especially a teacher like Jesus, would do no “work” on the Sabbath.

Listen to these indignant words from the ruler of a synagogue: “There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.” (Luke 13:14)

Many years ago, I was greeted with anger at the end of Sunday morning worship by a member of the church I was serving at the time. She was ticked off at me, because a guest she had brought with her, who had been a member of the same church several decades prior, left upset.

My first impulse was to wonder whether I had said something in the sermon that was responsible for this. (Occupational hazard, you know…lol!) Then she divulged that what had really upset this woman was the fact that we did not sing “The Doxology” (Praise God from whom all blessings flow) following the offering.

She had come to church expecting that every element of the service would be exactly the same as her last visit some 30 years back. To hear us sing an offering song to the tune of Edelweiss was simply not acceptable. At the time we had a rotation of 4 different offering songs, so “The Doxology” was still sung once a month. But, no! That was way too much change for her to bear. So, she was never coming back.

In a way she was like Mary Magdalene, wasn’t she? Mary’s last picture of Jesus was His dead body being laid in the tomb. Because she was expecting to see Him in that same state, she could not even conceive of encountering the Risen Lord.

Dear DWOD friend, please watch your expectations as you continue on the road to your destiny, so you never end up mistaking God for the Gardener, as Mary did.

Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’” (John 20:17)

You know the story. Mary Magdalene is crying because, as she tells the angels in the tomb: “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.”

When Jesus asks her why she is weeping, she mistakes him for the gardener and says: “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”

But everything changes when Jesus calls her by name: “Mary!” Instantly she recognizes Him and responds right away: “Rabboni!”

The gospel writer does not mention this, but it would appear that Mary then expressed her delight at seeing Jesus alive by hugging him or wrapping her arms around his feet or some similar gesture.

Her expression of affection, no matter what it might have been, prompts Jesus to say: “Do not cling to me…but go to my brethren and say…”

Clearly, Jesus is not opposed to receiving such a warm expression of affection from one of his dearest friends and supporters on earth (see Luke 8:2)…but, at that particular moment, something else took precedence.

Mary’s assignment was not to stay and cling to Jesus, but to go and bring the Good News of His Resurrection to others.

Dear DWOD friend, I believe that this is a “now” word for you and me who are part of the Church today. As much as we would love to simply cling to Jesus and express our affection for a prolonged period of time, He reminds us that we have a task to fulfil.

As a matter of fact, the only reason we come close to Him is so that we may go away from Him, so that we may bring others close to Him, so that they may then go away from Him and bring others close to Him…get the picture?

Let’s flashback to an earlier incident in the life of Jesus. On the Mountain of Transfiguration, Peter, James and John are granted an incredible experience. They see Jesus in all His glory, joined by Moses and Elijah…wow! What a spiritual high that must have been!

Peter is so caught up in that awesome moment that he stammers out these words: “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah” (Mark 9:5).

But before he could finish expressing his desire to prolong the ecstatic experience, a cloud overshadows them, they hear the voice from heaven affirming that Jesus is the Father’s beloved Son and poof! No one is left but Jesus.

When we read the subsequent verses, we realize that the reason they had this incredible vision at the top of the mountain was so they could fulfil the mission that awaited them at the bottom.

There was a boy who was possessed by a deaf and dumb spirit, who needed to be set free. He would not have been delivered from his demonic oppression, had they chosen to set up shop on the mountaintop.

Yes, Jesus is so good and gracious to offer us such high moments of intimacy with Him, but He does not want us to cling to Him at the expense of neglecting those who need us to share the gospel with them.

When Mary Magdalene received this directive from Jesus, she “came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.”

Will we follow suit? Jesus is depending on you and me to act in obedience.

Day 40: Acts 28:1-31

Paul has finally arrived in Rome, just as the Lord had declared: “As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome” (23:11).

Unlike other places where Paul would share the gospel with the goal of establishing a church, Rome already had a community of believers. Paul had penned the epistle to the Romans several years earlier. In Romans 15:29 Paul expresses his desire to visit them: “I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of Christ’s blessing.” So, we should not be surprised to read in Acts 28:15 that some of them greeted Paul upon his arrival.

There is also another significant difference in the way Paul spent his time in Rome. He was still a prisoner, but he did not have to share a cell with others. Instead he was assigned a soldier who would guard him while he was under house arrest.

Paul had his own digs which must have been quite spacious, because when the local Jewish leaders “came to him at his lodgings in great numbers” (v. 23), there was enough room for them all.

What do you do when you’re in Rome, if you’re the apostle Paul? You take advantage of every opportunity to bring others to Jesus. Duh! Paul begins with the Jewish leadership. He spends a whole day “trying to convince them about Jesus both from the law of Moses and from the prophets.”

The results were no different from any other place where Paul preached the gospel. “Some were convinced by what he had said, while others refused to believe.” (v. 24). But that does not deter him. He simply turns his attention to the Gentiles.

Here is what Paul has to say about this stay in Rome in Philippians 1:12-14: “I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that my situation has actually turned out to advance the gospel: The whole imperial guard and everyone else knows that I am in prison for the sake of Christ, and most of the brothers and sisters, having confidence in the Lord because of my imprisonment, now more than ever dare to speak the word fearlessly.”

Did these efforts produce fruit? If this reference at the end of an epistle is any indication, the answer is a big resounding YES! “All the saints greet you, especially those who belong to Caesar’s household.” (Philippians 4:22).

Oh, by the way, did you notice that Paul did something else with his time in Rome? That’s right. He wrote letters to the churches he had established along the way. The so-called “Prison Epistles”—Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon—emerged from his house arrest.

There is a sense in which we, who are part of the Church today, also find ourselves in “Rome.”  We too may feel that we are under the watchful eyes of those in power or those who are opposed to us, at times. Yet, for the most part, we, like Paul, have the great privilege of “proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.” (v. 31). We get the same spectrum of responses as Paul did too!

Are we taking advantage of this window of opportunity the way Paul did with the two years that he was given? He made every attempt that he possibly could to fulfil the mandate Jesus gave us all to be his witnesses (Acts 1:8) and “make disciples of the nations.” (Matthew 28:19-20). He did this through personal contact, in small groups and by his writing.

I sense Holy Spirit saying to all of us, as we conclude this 40 Day walk through the book of Acts and the corresponding Fast: “When in Rome, do as the apostle did.”

Some of you who are reading this need to write the books that you’ve been putting off until now within the next two years. And all of us need to “proclaim the kingdom of God and teach about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness” while we are still able to do so “without hindrance.” Amen?

Day 37: Acts 25:1-27

Governor Festus is trying to tell visiting King Agrippa and his Queen Bernice who this prisoner named Paul is and why he is being held captive. He expresses surprise that the charges levelled against him by the chief priests and the Jewish leaders were not as serious as he had anticipated. “Instead, they had some points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a dead man named Jesus who Paul claimed was alive.” (v. 19)

“A dead man named Jesus.”

That is how Festus views Jesus. A dead man. Just another rebel put to death by the Romans before he could disrupt the Pax Romana that they maintained with ruthless force and do any damage to the empire. Yes, Paul claims that this Jesus was alive. But obviously, Festus is not buying that story. After all, it is only a “claim!”

Oddly enough, nearly 2000 years later, the world is still full of “Festuses” who simply dismiss Jesus as no more than a dead man, just like the founders of other world religions. There are those who agree that Jesus was someone special, a wise teacher, a phenomenal miracle-worker, a great leader, etc., who still do not believe that anything happened beyond his death.

Sadly, there are even “Christians” in churches who do not believe that Jesus was raised from death. They believe that He continues to live through those who follow Him. They would describe Him as being “immortal” in this sense. But, as for Him being alive today…they’re not quite ready to go that far.

Yet, as the apostle Paul puts it in I Corinthians 15:14: “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” To get even more down to basics, without believing in His Resurrection, you cannot be saved! Here is Paul again: “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)

The challenge that faces us is the same that the first edition of Church in the Book of Acts faced. You may recall this episode in Acts 17, when Paul was preaching to a non-Jewish crowd in Athens. As long as he was talking about God the Creator, no problem. Everyone was with him. But, as soon as he declared the truth about Jesus, here is what happened.

When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.”At that, Paul left the Council. Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed.” (vs. 32-34)

How do we “prove” to those who believe that the Christian faith is about “a dead man named Jesus” that he is alive today?

There are some who can do this via scholarly debate with persuasive logic and appeal to extrabiblical sources. However, for most of us, the best way is what we have been seeing in the book of Acts over the past 37 days. You guessed, it, signs and wonders.

Go back and read through the entire book of Acts and you will discover over and over again that it was signs, wonders and miracles that provided irrefutable proof that Jesus was indeed raised from the dead—whether it was the healing of the lame in Jerusalem (chapter 3) or Lystra (chapter 14), the raising of Tabitha from the dead (chapter 9), or the many others described in summary form (5:12-16, 6:8, 8:6-7, 19:11-12).

If Jesus is doing through Christians (little Christs) today exactly what He did when He was physically alive on this earth, then surely, He is no longer “a dead man named Jesus” who Paul, …………..(your name) and others “claim is alive”, but He is indeed alive. Today. Here’s the “in-your-face” proof.

Now it is their turn to respond–to sneer, to hear you again or to believe.

Day 34: Acts 22:22-23:11  

Paul gets into trouble again (Surprise! Surprise!) with yet another crowd turning on him, this time in Jerusalem. “Then they raised their voices and shouted, ‘Rid the earth of him! He’s not fit to live!’” (v. 22). Before they could take matters into their own hands though, the Roman Commander comes to his rescue.

He then orders Paul to be flogged and interrogated—in that particular order. The flogging would make him more open to tell the truth when he was interrogated. That was Roman logic for you.

What happens next is rather unexpected: As they stretched him out to flog him, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been found guilty?” When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and reported it. “What are you going to do?” he asked. “This man is a Roman citizen.” The commander went to Paul and asked, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes, I am,” he answered…Those who were about to interrogate him withdrew immediately. The commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen, in chains. (vs. 25-27, 29).

As we know from previous chapters, Paul is not exactly allergic to suffering. Nor is he immune to it. He had experienced his fair share of persecution along the way. Most of the time he would just take it lying down, so to speak. Yet, in this instance and also in Philippi (Acts 16:37-39), he pulls out the trump card of Roman citizenship that prevents them from laying a hand on him.

What is going on here?

Fast forward to chapter 23:6-8, when Paul is facing the Sanhedrin. “Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, descended from Pharisees. I stand on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead.” When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. (The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees believe all these things.)

Let’s be clear about one fact. The leadership of the Jews was clearly opposed to Paul and wanted to stop him from spreading the message of the gospel. Yet, before they could come at him unanimously, Paul comes up with a strategy to split them down the middle by blatantly siding with one of the two groups. Now there is a brouhaha within the Sanhedrin between the Pharisees and the Sadducees which prevents them from doing anything to Paul.

What is Paul doing here?

Sandwiched between these two episodes…in Acts 23:1, Paul makes what seems to be an innocuous statement: “My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day.”  The response to it is shocking: At this the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth.

Paul’s response is rather harsh, wouldn’t you say? “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!”

When he discovers that he has just insulted the High Priest, Paul repents instantly: “Brothers, I did not realize that he was the high priest; for it is written: ‘Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.’”

What is this incident all about?

Remember these words of Jesus from Matthew 10:16? “Be wise as serpents and innocent as doves?” Paul illustrates this advice perfectly in today’s reading.

By apologizing immediately when he realized that he had violated Exodus 22:28 (“Do not blaspheme God or curse the ruler of your people”), Paul maintains his innocence before God.

By using his Roman citizenship to his advantage and by causing a split in the Sanhedrin, Paul demonstrates the need to be wise as serpents.

The same Holy Spirit who directed Paul to act with wisdom and stay innocent will do the same for us as well. Amen?

Day 31: Acts 20:7-38

In verses 7-12, we read about a meeting in an upper room where Paul was preaching and teaching. We’re not sure when he got going, but he was still carrying on with no sign of quitting when the clock struck midnight.

Let’s conservatively estimate that the meeting started at 9 p.m. Eutychus is enjoying Pauls’ message in the closest thing to a recliner in the room—leaning against the equivalent of what we would call a window “frame” today. Even the eloquent and erudite apostle could not hold Eutychus’ attention captive for more than three hours.

If Eutychus had been sitting on the floor or leaning against a wall, hitting the ground could have passed for being slain in the Spirit. But when you nod off from your lofty perch on a window sill with no bars or screens to break your fall, you hit the bottom floor. Paul sure knocked him dead with his preaching, didn’t he?

How does he respond to this emergency right smack in the middle of Point 7 of his sermon? He puts the sermon on pause. “Excuse me for a minute, folks, while I attend to a situation that has arisen that needs my attention.” He “went down, fell on him, and embracing him said, ‘Do not trouble yourselves, for his life is in him.’” (v. 10).

Notice the casualness of the entire episode. A guy drops dead while I’m preaching? No big deal! I’ll just go raise him up. “Don’t go away, folks! I’ll be right back to finish my sermon!”

Eutychus comes back to life.  What does Paul do next? “Now when he had come up, had broken bread and eaten, and talked a long while, even till daybreak, he departed.” (v. 11). The pause turns into a midnight lunch break. Paul packs some carbs into his system, gets another shot of energy and keeps going for a longer stretch than before–until daybreak. Conservatively, let’s say he got going again at 1 a.m. and finished at 5. He finishes his seven hour, 77 point sermon and hits the road again.

What strikes me about Paul is how natural it was for him to perform a supernatural act in raising Eutychus from the dead. There was no big fuss. No panic. No cause for concern. Raising the dead was no different than healing someone of a headache.

While, on the one hand, it is a striking display of God’s power, yet, it is exactly what Jesus sent his newly-minted disciples to do on their very first ministry trip: “And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons.” (Matthew 10:7-8)

Raising the dead is not even given a climactic place at the end of the directives; it is sandwiched between cleansing lepers and casting out demons. It’s no big deal!

Paul says in his farewell visit with the elders in Ephesus that all he did was “preaching the Kingdom of God” (v. 25). As he writes elsewhere: “And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of humanwisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power…” (I Corinthians 2:4). And again in Romans 15:19: “…in mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that…I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.”

Signs and wonders were not an exception, but the norm. They were part and parcel of preaching the gospel of Christ. Yes, indeed, for Paul, the supernatural was so natural.

How about you, dear friend? Jesus said: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.” (John 14:12)

That promise was not just for Paul in the Upper Room that night. Do you believe in Jesus? If so, it is also for you right now. Amen?

 

Day 28: Acts 18:1-28

You really have to give Aquila and Priscilla a lot if credit for what they did with Apollos.

Credit for their courage. Credit for their caring. Credit for their correction.

First, for their courage.  Let’s remember the context of this incident. Apollos is the guest preacher in Ephesus. He is a teacher and a good one at that–an eloquent man mighty in the Scriptures…he spoke and taught accurately the things of The Lord…he began to speak boldly in the synagogue.” (vs. 25-26)

It takes courage to correct the guest minister at your church, doesn’t it? Aquila and Priscilla realized that Apollos knew only the baptism of John. In other words, he was teaching that baptism was only for repentance. He was not familiar with baptism in the name of Jesus. He certainly had not experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Clearly, he needed to know the complete truth.  You see, there was nothing wrong with the rest of his teaching, as we see in v. 28:”He vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ.” However, there was a gap in his theology that Aquila and Priscilla promptly filled with their correction.

This is why I applaud them for having the courage to correct Apollos.

Secondly, for their caring, which is evident in the way they corrected him. “They took him aside and explained to him the way off God more accurately.” (V. 26)

They took him aside.  They did not correct him in public.  They did not embarrass him in front of the congregation. They did it in a private setting.

Here is a cardinal rule that we would do well to follow: Praise in public, correct in private. Sadly, in many instances, the exact opposite happens. Praise, if it is offered at all, is often done behind the scenes. (“We don’t want it to get to your head, you know!”) Correction often happens in front of everybody.  The one who is corrected is often humiliated. Those observing want to crawl under the rug.  And no one is edified.

Aquila and Priscilla cared enough to correct in private, as Jesus taught us in Matthew 18:15.  They deserve our applause.

Thirdly, they are to be commended for choosing to correct.  They could have shied away from confrontation and possible conflict by saying nothing. But too much was at stake. On two fronts.

On the one hand, the Ephesian Church needed to know the whole truth, which went beyond the baptism of repentance. On the other hand, Apollos, who had so many other gifts that could be used by God in evangelizing the Jews, needed to proclaim the complete gospel, which included baptism in the name of Jesus and the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Aquila and Priscilla took the risk of offending him or hurting his feelings. They did not go the route of avoiding potential conflict. They cared enough to confront and convict.  They deserve our applause.

Having commended Aquila and Priscilla for their ministry of correction, we also need to applaud Apollos for receiving the correction in humility.  Because of his willingness to be corrected, “when he desired to cross to Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him.” (V. 27). Another door of ministry opened up for Apollos as a result.

Dear friend, there are times when you will find yourself in the position of Apollos, needing to be corrected.  Will you be humble enough to receive correction?

On other occasions, you will be called to offer the ministry of correction.  Will you, like, Aquila and Priscilla, correct with courage and with caring?

I hope and pray that you will.

 

 

Day 25: Acts 16:19-40

At midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed. (Acts 16:25-26)

Did you hear about the recent earthquake in Chile that measured 8.2 on the Richter scale? Thankfully, the loss of life and damage to property was minimal, considering the magnitude of the quake. However, there was one unexpected consequence that caught everyone off guard.

It was reported that the earthquake caused all doors to be opened at a women’s prison in Iquique and all 293 inmates escaped.

The connection with the earthquake in today’s reading could not be ignored. An earthquake hits a prison in Philippi nearly 2000 years ago. Another one hits a prison in Chile earlier this week. The result is the same. No prisoner is held by chains anymore. Every one of them is free. In the case of Philippi, none escaped. In Chile, they all escaped.

What preceded the earthquake in Philippi? Prayer and Praise by Paul and Silas. Having just suffered a severe beating with rods, experiencing excruciating pain, they choose not to cry or complain about their predicament. They lift up their eyes to heaven, focus on Jesus and offer a sacrifice of prayer and praise.

Anyone in Paul and Silas’ condition would have prayed any one of the following prayers:

“O God, please look upon your servants with favour.”

“O God, please make this pain go away.”

“O God, please send an angel to get us out of here as you did for Peter.”

But, Paul and Silas do not stop with prayer alone. They add praise. And, all of a sudden, great power is released. The earthquake follows.

Notice that “the foundations of the prison were shaken” as a result of the earthquake. Not only were Paul and Silas now free from their chains, but so were the rest of the prisoners.

That, my friends, is the power of prayer and praise—a very potent combination.

This power is so great that it does not simply set individuals free, it shakes the very foundation of the structure that keeps them bound. When the foundation is compromised, the structure comes tumbling down.

When we began this 40 Day Fast, it was with a dual purpose. Firstly that our hearts would become more like that of our Father whose will is that “none should perish” (2 Peter 3:9).  Secondly, to quote Lou Engle: “Prayer is the Air Force that softens the enemy defenses for the ground troops to move in and take the land.” In other words, we pray that Holy Spirit will soften the hearts of those who have not yet made Jesus the Lord and Saviour of their lives, so that they will be ready to surrender their lives to Jesus when they encounter a member of the ground troops.

The magnitude of the Great Harvest which is about to be reaped is so huge that territory will be taken in large chunks. It is not only individual conversations and corporate gatherings that will result in conversions.

But, like the earthquake in Philippi, the very foundations of the structures that keep people bound and blind to the truth will be shaken.  Watch for the present scientific presuppositions that declare many addictions to be “diseases” or “unalterable conditions” to simply crumble in the very near future. We too will see “prisoners” set free in very large numbers at one time.

What are you and I called to contribute to this coming harvest? If Paul & Silas’ example is any indication, we too are called to simply add Praise to Prayer. The power that is released from heaven when this happens is nothing short of earth-shaking and the results will be earth-shattering!

Will you do your part? I hope so. I pray so. Let it be so. Amen.

Day 22: Acts 15:1-21

The leadership of the early Church is forced to confront a serious theological issue that threatens to rip them apart. “Do Gentiles who become Christians need to become Jews first through the rite of circumcision or not?”

The issue is first raised in Antioch by certain unnamed men from Judaea (v. 1) and again in Jerusalem by a sect of the Pharisees (v. 5). We can learn a lot from the manner in which the leadership addressed this issue and eventually settled it.

The group in Antioch “determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question.” (v. 2)

Paul and Barnabas had just returned from their first missionary journey, where they saw Gentiles come to Jesus in large numbers (chapters 13 & 14). They did not require any of them to become Jews first before they could become Christians. Needless to say they did not see the necessity of this intermediary step. They were convinced that God did not require it either.

Regardless of where they stood on the issue, they still did not want to go any further without input from the leadership in Jerusalem. Thus the decision is made that a group of them would travel to Jerusalem for this purpose.

They teach us the importance of honouring those whom God has placed in spiritual authority over us by seeking their input first. Sad to say, time and again, we see this violated at various levels of the church. Someone makes a decision independently without consulting or receiving the blessing of their spiritual authority. More often than not, this has the potential to cause confusion and/or further division. In certain cases it leads to a loss of credibility, which is often very difficult to gain back.

Even though Paul & Barnabas had great credibility with the church in Antioch, they still go to Jerusalem.

When they get to Jerusalem, the sect of the Pharisees present their case: “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.” (v. 5)

There are three different responses that present the case for the exact opposite—from Peter, Paul & Barnabas and James respectively.

Peter, who saw Holy Spirit come upon the Gentiles gathered at the house of Cornelius states very simply that God, by “giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us…made no distinction between us and them…”  Then he poses a pointed question: “Why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?” (vs. 8-10).

Paul and Barnabas stress “how many miracles and wonders God had worked through them among the Gentiles.” (v. 12)

Finally, James provides the Council with the backing of Scriptures from Amos 9:10-11 to prove that what the others were reporting lined up exactly with God’s heart “that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who are called by My name.”

Notice how, when Paul and Barnabas honoured their spiritual authority and went to Jerusalem, their position was bolstered even more—first with Peter’s testimony and persuasive words, then with James’ appeal to the prophets. Now they have the backing of the Jerusalem Church, and their credibility goes up more than before.

Dear friend, no wonder then that Scripture teaches us: “Remember your leaders who taught you the word of God. Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and follow the example of their faith…Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God” (Hebrews 13:7, 17).

We would be wise to heed these words, as did the leadership in Antioch. Amen?