Growing in Faith
Instructions given between Jesus' Resurrection and His Ascension
Stained Glass Window - Image of Jesus and the Disciples in the days before His ascension - Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
What could those encounters with Jesus AFTER His Resurrection have been like? Now it was OBVIOUS He was no ordinary man. Now the people who had been in His presence the past four years had to admit He was extra-ordinary! Truly, He had risen from the DEAD!!! Not only had Jesus raised Lazarus. He had somehow raised HIMSELF!! That could only be because of the work of GOD himself. Now His statements that He was the SON OF GOD made sense! Now the men and women around him had witnessed that all that He had told them in riddles and parables prior to His death and Resurrection had actually come to pass (like rebuilding the Temple in three days). I am sure that in this second round, they were more attentive to each word He spoke than they were the first time around!!
And what powerful words they were, these last minute instructions between the Resurrection and the Ascension. Jesus needed to pass along the baton of God’s Word to his teammates, to those fallible men and women He had gathered around Him before physically dropping out of the race of life. He needed to entrust the task of making more disciples and sharing God’s blessings to the rest of the world and He needed God’s Holy Spirit to lead and empower them in this monumental task.
Or put this way, Jesus needed to plant the WORD in His people, and the Holy Spirit would nurture it and have it grow strong enough for them all to follow suit, planting, nurturing, growing, generation after generation.
It starts with the simple act of “feeding the sheep” as we see in John 21. Feeding those who gather, taking care of them, nurturing their faith.
15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”
“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”
16 Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”
17 The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?”He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.
As recorded in Chapter 11 of the Gospel of Mark:
14 Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.
15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands onsick people, and they will get well.”
19 After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. 20 Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it. (Mark 11)
And in Chapter 28 of the Gospel of Matthew:
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28)
Here we see the same scene recorded by Luke - along with the Promise of Help to come, later understood as being a reference to God’s Holy Spirit. (Chapter 24)
44 He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you:Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”
45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
All this was spoken nearly 2000 years ago.
Praise God for all those who have successfully passed along the faith, like a baton from person to person, hand to hand, pastor and Sunday school teacher and choir leader and singers to everyone in a pew, or at the listening end of a Bible radio broadcast, or the words of pastors preaching on TV or over the internet, all passing the baton along to their family members, to neighbours, to young, to old, in word and through deeds, in prayer and via practical actions, the strength of the Spirit making it possible to teach, preach and pass along the faith - one fed sheep at a time. Grandparent to parent to child — neighbour to friend, workers to colleagues, believer to newcomer to the faith — Generation after generation. A little like the 80s shampoo ad: “I told two friends and they each told two friends and so on and so on and so on..” on and on exponentially!
Source: YouTube: “And they each told two friends Shampoo Commercial”
Praise God for the mystery of His Holy Spirit, who works in us and stirs up in us the desire to use our gifts in ways that feed the sheep around us.
Praise God for the workings of His Word, let loose in this world.
:-)
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The graphics below were made for a church publication around the theme of Growing in Faith. They are shared here for re-use or to inspire others to create their own.
What examples can we add of Growing in Faith?
It is our time to pass along the baton - to feed our sheep - thanks to the mysterious Power of God’s Holy Spirit at work.
Still today.
