By 
Easter is over. Colored eggs and bunny decorations are put away until next year. The pastels and pretty things may be for our children or hold-overs from childhood; but their role is to occupy the sidelines of the Easter season while our attention is devoted to the Savior and His journey to the Cross. As the days pass and the high of Easter morning fades, what impact has your journey to the other side of the Cross had on your relationship with the Lord?
Luke gives us an idea of what the apostles did after Jesus was lifted up before their eyes. They gawked, astounded at the realization that the cloud above was the very presence of God taking Jesus into Heaven. Then two men in robes interrupted their reverie with a reminder: “This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11, ESV). After this, the apostles returned to the upper room where they were staying, and all these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. (Acts 1:14, ESV)
In that room we find the apostles—men whose attentions, before the resurrection, ranged from taking down the elite to who will sit at Jesus’ right hand. Then the women—those who were with Jesus and the apostles all along but who were, after all, considered property to the culture of the day and largely uneducated. Finally, Jesus’ mother and brothers, who doubted and dismissed the agenda of Jesus while He was alive.
It was this group that was now together, with one accord, and devoting themselves to prayer. Even before Pentecost which occurs in the next chapter, all were unified by their experience with Jesus. Individually and collectively they were devoted to the One who was born, who died for them, who rose from the grave, and who will come again.
Post Easter, let us join with them in their awe and devotion! The infinite, immeasurable, immutable God became man. He lived the sinless human life that we could not. He taught with great wisdom, and He healed with great compassion before He suffered humiliation, crucifixion, and death. These are not small acts that we can simply acknowledge and move on.
Many would like to manage the Godhead—simplify Him into a comprehensible, relatable god who reinforces our emotions, encourages our thoughts, adapts to the progression of the culture. Quite honestly, this would be easier—understandable, relevant, applicable.
And wholly without power or stamina; void of ever-lasting love and eternal joy!
God cannot be both manageable and omnipotent; time-bound relevance is incompatible with omniscience. As finite beings we wage a losing battle to master comprehension of the Infinite One.
The fact that God is infinite and immutable is very good news for us. His love and devotion for His creation has never changed. From before the beginning of time, HE IS! Through desertion, deception, and death He never wavered. In political divisiveness, apathy, and war He is never caught off guard and always in control.
So this upper room crowd were the beginning of the church that would soon be ignited with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Still reeling from all that had happened, knowing the divisiveness and animosity that surrounded them, these first Christ followers started with unity and prayer. They would meet obstacles not unlike those we face today.
Pastor and commentator Thomas Constable claims Luke alludes to 3 antagonists facing the church: prejudice, personal agendas, and pride.*
1.Prejudice
Constable defines prejudice as “prejudging, judging on the basis of limited information.” Unbelieving Jews and Gentiles “refused to accept the witness of the Christians” and “would not tolerate the evidence that the believers presented.” Today, many Christians and churches choose tradition and progress over the bedrock foundation of scriptural truth. When the church doesn’t resemble Christ, non-believers have a hard time seeing the benefit of submission to God and tend to judge His followers as misguided, even hateful. It is only by shining the truth-filled love of the Holy Spirit that we can be used to dispel the darkness of prejudice. Philippians 4:6-7 says that when we make our requests known to God through prayer the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (ESV). Then as now and always, prayer is our protection against the harm of the prejudice of others and that of our own.
2.Personal Agendas
The second obstacle the church and its members display is our tendency to desire something other than the will of God. Our personal agendas may even look pretty good, while all of our own making. Like Ananias & Sapphira (Acts 5) or Simon Magus (Acts 8:9-24), we want to look spiritual more than act spiritual, and we find glory in obtaining gifts for our own purpose. Oh how we need to realize the short-sightedness of our own plans! It is important for us to see God rightly—to see Him as infinite in all His attributes—and relinquish control to the Spirit He provides for us. The best prayer to combat the pull of personal agendas? “LORD, thy will be done.”
3.Pride
The last antagonist is the worst because it is hard to recognize in ourselves! Our ego keeps us from admitting our flaws. Pride is never talked about positively in the Bible; it always leads to a fall. Pride today is given much social media attention and even has its own parades. The only way to combat pride is not to. We cannot fight pride; it always has the upper hand. It can only be broken in us by the Spirit. Humility may be the antidote to pride, but it takes the Spirit to truly humble ourselves. When we do this, our conversations with unbelievers take on a new focus: that of our reliance on a Sovereign God because our own knowledge fails us, as well as gratitude for a holy God who would hold nothing back, even His own Son, to have relationship with us. Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! (Romans 11:33)
The apostles and the rest of the first church may not have named these obstacles, but they experienced each in turn and met them the only way they could—on their knees, together, and fully submitted to God.
As followers of Christ we spent Holy Week contemplating the progression of events leading to the Cross. On Easter we celebrated that to which the darkness of Good Friday led: resurrection from the dead—death defeated and our debt paid! On this side of the cross then, may we live out our devotion as the upper room crowd did: with one accord and devoted to prayer. In other words, may we be the Church.
To the glory of God alone!
*Constable, Thomas. Dr. Constable’s Notes on Acts. 2022 Edition. pp. 14-15.
https://planobiblechapel.org/tcon/notes/pdf/acts.pdf
Elizabeth Murphy
Elizabeth Murphy has been following Christ since she was 17. Although this road has not always been straight, she has seen God’s hand in every detour. Elizabeth is blessed with and by her husband of 30 years, John, and 2 grown daughters. As an educator, she has been able to feed her insatiable desire to learn every day and share learning with others. Elizabeth became a student of Womenary in 2016. From the Bible to theology to cozy mysteries, Elizabeth is always absorbed in reading. This still leaves time for enjoying travel with her husband, walking, old movies, and time with extended family and friends. Elizabeth loves to walk alongside fellow Christ-chasers—learning and laughing through life.
