Episode 2: “Wait for It”
Sunday night’s episode 2 of “A.D. was outstanding. The clip for Sunday’s message came alive when the whole scene was shown. Looks like Caiaphas is having a rough time. His lies and deceit seems to be building higher and higher every moment. Pilate is not having a good day either. He is absolutely angry beyond description. His anguish and fear that the news of Jesus’ resurrection would become publish is displayed in the murder of the Roman guards who were there for that miraculous moment the tomb was awakened with life. Did you find it the help that the disciples received from the zealots interesting, when the disciples escaped the city and made a run for Galilee? Fishing is taken to a new level when the disciples followed the instructions to cast to the right from the man on the shore, only for Peter to realize that it is Jesus and then swam to the bank to see Him.
Finally, Jesus asks Peter three times if he loved Him and then they watch him ascend to heaven. Before He goes He gives the disciples their mission, His mission, to go and make disciples throughout the world, but only after they return to Jerusalem to wait. Waiting is the hard part. They were waiting on the Holy Spirit but do you think they really knew what they were really waiting for?
Sunday night’s episode 2 of “A.D. was outstanding. The clip for Sunday’s message came alive when the whole scene was shown. Looks like Caiaphas is having a rough time. His lies and deceit seems to be building higher and higher every moment. Pilate is not having a good day either. He is absolutely angry beyond description. His anguish and fear that the news of Jesus’ resurrection would become publish is displayed in the murder of the Roman guards who were there for that miraculous moment the tomb was awakened with life. Did you find it the help that the disciples received from the zealots interesting, when the disciples escaped the city and made a run for Galilee? Fishing is taken to a new level when the disciples followed the instructions to cast to the right from the man on the shore, only for Peter to realize that it is Jesus and then swam to the bank to see Him.
Finally, Jesus asks Peter three times if he loved Him and then they watch him ascend to heaven. Before He goes He gives the disciples their mission, His mission, to go and make disciples throughout the world, but only after they return to Jerusalem to wait. Waiting is the hard part. They were waiting on the Holy Spirit but do you think they really knew what they were really waiting for?
The Empty Tomb: From the beginning Jesus’ opponents tried to cover up his resurrection. The Jewish leader bribed, lied and spread rumors that Jesus’ body was taken in order to stifle His resurrection. The plot to display his body was a great one with the exception of the fact that there was no body, at least not a deceased body.
Act’s Author: The Bible doesn’t say exactly who wrote the book of Acts. Many scholars believe that Acts is a continuation from the book of Luke, thus making Luke the writer. Both, Luke and the book of Acts begin with greetings that are close to the same. The writer also makes mention to himself as being close to Paul, which was Luke.
Kingdom Expectations: Even after Jesus’ resurrection, the expectations of a liberating King to free Israel from their bondage was still expected. Acts 1:6 tells us that they still didn’t get it when they asked Jesus, “So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, ‘Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?’”. They were looking for their political state and power for work domination to be set. Instead, Jesus brought a spiritual kingdom founded on love, not political power.
Act’s Author: The Bible doesn’t say exactly who wrote the book of Acts. Many scholars believe that Acts is a continuation from the book of Luke, thus making Luke the writer. Both, Luke and the book of Acts begin with greetings that are close to the same. The writer also makes mention to himself as being close to Paul, which was Luke.
Kingdom Expectations: Even after Jesus’ resurrection, the expectations of a liberating King to free Israel from their bondage was still expected. Acts 1:6 tells us that they still didn’t get it when they asked Jesus, “So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, ‘Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?’”. They were looking for their political state and power for work domination to be set. Instead, Jesus brought a spiritual kingdom founded on love, not political power.
Acts 1:8 - “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Waiting is the hard part. What could it be that they would be waiting for? After all the events that had taken place up to now, they were now instructed to go to Jerusalem to wait, to tarry. For three years they had waited on the Messiah to take the throne and rule. For three days they had waited to see if He would resurrect. Now, go to Jerusalem and just wait. What do you think went through their minds after he ascended to heaven and then told them to just wait?
I remember when I was in high school and went to my first concert. Being a trumpet player in my high school marching band, I had the wonderful opportunity to go to a concert 45 minutes from my home town to a college campus in North Carolina. The famous jazz trumpet player Dizzy Gillespie was playing a concert and I was there to see him. We arrived 30 minutes early, had great seats and at the time the concert was to start, nothing… We waited…. and waited…. and over an hour past start time he walked out. I’ve never forgotten the first thing he said before he began to mesmerize us with his talent, he said, “Anything worth havin’…..is worth waitin’ for…”.
To the Israelites, waiting was just a part of their lives. They waited to be freed from slavery in Egypt. They waited to enter the Promised Land. Abraham and Sarah waited almost 100 years to have a child. David waited for the hand of God to be removed from Saul before he would take the throne. The nation of Israel had been waiting for thousands of years for the Messiah to come. It had been prophesied and foretold that He would come to free them from their oppression. Now finally after all that waiting…”anything worth havin’… is worth waitin’ for…”.
When on the road to Emmaus, according to Luke 24:21, two of Jesus’ followers said, “We had hoped He was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel”. We have been waiting… He comes… we think…. and now He’s dead…. We HAD hoped. Waiting has once again begun. And now Jesus instructs the disciples to wait some more.
The waiting didn’t see to be as bad now. After all, they had just witnessed him being taken up into the clouds. Before Jesus asked them to wait, He first met their needs. This is a visual pattern of God’s work in our lives: “Provision and Promise before Petition.” Jesus took care of them, spelled out a promise of what He would do, and then asked something of them. His petition to His followers was to stay in Jerusalem and wait.
Waiting is the hard part. What could it be that they would be waiting for? After all the events that had taken place up to now, they were now instructed to go to Jerusalem to wait, to tarry. For three years they had waited on the Messiah to take the throne and rule. For three days they had waited to see if He would resurrect. Now, go to Jerusalem and just wait. What do you think went through their minds after he ascended to heaven and then told them to just wait?
I remember when I was in high school and went to my first concert. Being a trumpet player in my high school marching band, I had the wonderful opportunity to go to a concert 45 minutes from my home town to a college campus in North Carolina. The famous jazz trumpet player Dizzy Gillespie was playing a concert and I was there to see him. We arrived 30 minutes early, had great seats and at the time the concert was to start, nothing… We waited…. and waited…. and over an hour past start time he walked out. I’ve never forgotten the first thing he said before he began to mesmerize us with his talent, he said, “Anything worth havin’…..is worth waitin’ for…”.
To the Israelites, waiting was just a part of their lives. They waited to be freed from slavery in Egypt. They waited to enter the Promised Land. Abraham and Sarah waited almost 100 years to have a child. David waited for the hand of God to be removed from Saul before he would take the throne. The nation of Israel had been waiting for thousands of years for the Messiah to come. It had been prophesied and foretold that He would come to free them from their oppression. Now finally after all that waiting…”anything worth havin’… is worth waitin’ for…”.
When on the road to Emmaus, according to Luke 24:21, two of Jesus’ followers said, “We had hoped He was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel”. We have been waiting… He comes… we think…. and now He’s dead…. We HAD hoped. Waiting has once again begun. And now Jesus instructs the disciples to wait some more.
The waiting didn’t see to be as bad now. After all, they had just witnessed him being taken up into the clouds. Before Jesus asked them to wait, He first met their needs. This is a visual pattern of God’s work in our lives: “Provision and Promise before Petition.” Jesus took care of them, spelled out a promise of what He would do, and then asked something of them. His petition to His followers was to stay in Jerusalem and wait.
As much as we all hate to wait, it is still a part of our Spiritual DNA. We wait for many materialistic things in our lives and we are also, like the disciples, wanting and waiting for Jesus’ return to earth to complete His work. The Bible is full of encouragement through the waiting process. Psalms 27:13-14 “wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord”. Isaiah 40:31 “ But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.”
The waiting process is not an absence of activity. Tt’s a realignment of the right activities to allow God to change our hearts and minds. Waiting is a verb. It requires action as weird as that sounds. Ways we wait are as follows:
2. Expect and Prepare
Waiting on the Lord is the active process of preparing. It’s not a passive action. Just as in planting a garden. You plant and wait for the seeds to grow, but you must water, cultivate, fertilize and continually give care until the fruit of your labor happens. Waiting for God to work we act with faith, preparing our hearts, following His lead by being obedient with our time, talents and abilities, actively loving others as He loves us, living our lives as if He died yesterday, rose today and is coming back tomorrow.
3. Worship
In worship we place our attention and praise not on our problems, but on God the problem solver. The disciples show us what worship consist of in that they met together to pray and worship and encourage each other. (Luke 24:53). Worship doesn’t only take place in music. It is an attitude of offering to God everything we have. (1Corinthians 10:31)
READING:
Read the following verses and write down what they mean to you. How do they encourage or challenge you?
Romans 8:25
Psalms 16:8-11
Psalms 69:3
Psalms 130:5-6
Isaiah 40:31
The waiting process is not an absence of activity. Tt’s a realignment of the right activities to allow God to change our hearts and minds. Waiting is a verb. It requires action as weird as that sounds. Ways we wait are as follows:
- Be Still
2. Expect and Prepare
Waiting on the Lord is the active process of preparing. It’s not a passive action. Just as in planting a garden. You plant and wait for the seeds to grow, but you must water, cultivate, fertilize and continually give care until the fruit of your labor happens. Waiting for God to work we act with faith, preparing our hearts, following His lead by being obedient with our time, talents and abilities, actively loving others as He loves us, living our lives as if He died yesterday, rose today and is coming back tomorrow.
3. Worship
In worship we place our attention and praise not on our problems, but on God the problem solver. The disciples show us what worship consist of in that they met together to pray and worship and encourage each other. (Luke 24:53). Worship doesn’t only take place in music. It is an attitude of offering to God everything we have. (1Corinthians 10:31)
READING:
Read the following verses and write down what they mean to you. How do they encourage or challenge you?
Romans 8:25
Psalms 16:8-11
Psalms 69:3
Psalms 130:5-6
Isaiah 40:31