John 20: 19-22 19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. 21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
Sometimes I think we don’t realize or remember that the disciples were just normal guys and not necessarily stellar guys at that. Take this passage for instance.
It doesn’t say that they were sitting around planning how they would go spread the good news or rejoicing that the king, the messiah, had fulfilled the scriptural prophecy. No, they were huddled together, hiding, worried that they would be next hanging on a cross!
Now, I can’t blame them. I would have been worried about my own hide too. It stands to reason that the same people that crucified my leader were probably coming for me too in an effort to completely squelch the opposition. I mean, they didn’t have to worry that someone would tweet their location or they’d get caught in an Instagram or Snapchat post but people still talked. Who knew what would be said or leaked, maybe for a price?
The truly good news for us is that as normal and human as these guys were and as weak and scared as they were at this time; they were given a charge by their savior and they went and did. True, they had this as a direct command but let’s be real, they were going out to face persecution, even death. We, today, are charged with spreading the word but not at the peril of our very lives. We can do this folks, we can. And we should. Receive the holy spirit. Go. Do.
What are you being called to do? Is it really too big for you to handle?
If you liked this and want to spread it around, we have the social icons below.
If you just want to return to the home page, click here