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Our Blog is Inspired by The Holy Spirit.
rejoicing that they had been found worthy. Acts 5:40
Once again we are in a favorite part of the Bible for me.
Why?
When Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John told about the Disciples, the Disciples always seemed at a loss as to what was going on. All you have to do is go back and read St. John’s description of the last supper.
Jesus said where he was going and they asked him where was that? John 14:4
Jesus said he was going to the Father. They said to Jesus, “Show us the Father?” John 14:8
Jesus appeared to them after He rose from the dead and Peter said, “Let’s go fishing.” John 21:3
In the first chapter of Acts, we find the Disciples huddled in a room with the doors locked for fear of the Romans and the Jews.
In their minds the game was up, they would be hunted down like animals and put to death.
This wasn’t anything like what they had expected. I believe they expected by Jesus’s power, the Romans would be thrown out, and they would be placed in positions of authority. Refer back to an earlier blog, where the mother of James and John asked Jesus to make her sons sit one on His right and one on His left.
So here we are, and I thank God that Luke wrote Acts.
Acts records what happened in the early church and sadly ends with Paul in Rome. I say sadly because the Church has evolved since the death of Jesus, and as a layman I am not familiar with any other Church-approved writing, Inspired by the Holy Spirit, telling of that continuing evolution.
It would seem to a layman the evolution of the Church stopped at Rome with Paul or Paul’s letters.
Of course, this isn’t true. The Church is made up of humans who are finite and couldn’t possibly fully understand an infinite God.
But,
We can, have, and are always evolving.
Sorry to go off track.
Back to Acts Chapter 5 which the Church breaks down over Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday’s readings. I don’t know what the Blog writers will write about on Thursday and Friday so we are going to make a summary of the three days because it fits into what we have been talking about since the start of our blogs.
Also, a quick mention of what happened before today’s reading.
Tuesday:
Yet more than ever, believers in the Lord, great numbers of men and women, were added to them. Thus they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and mats so that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on one or another of them. A large number of people from the towns in the vicinity of Jerusalem also gathered, bringing the sick and those disturbed by unclean spirits, and they were all cured. Emphasis mine Acts 5: 14-16
Wednesday:
The high priest rose up and all his companions,
that is, the party of the Sadducees,
and, filled with jealousy,
laid hands upon the Apostles and put them in the public jail. emphasis mine Acts 5:17-18
See just what we told you, the difference is the disciples don’t fear the Jewish authorities anymore. This is the second time Peter and John appeared before the Jewish Authorities and at that time they were told NEVER to mention the name of Jesus again. Acts 4:15
What we have just typed is not part of the daily readings. What a shame!
Recap: The disciples ignored what the Jewish authorities told them NOT to do, proclaim Jesus, and are now in jail.
Continuing Wednesday’s reading:
But during the night, the angel of the Lord opened the doors of the prison,
led them out, and said,
“Go and take your place in the temple area,
and tell the people everything about this life.”
When they heard this,
they went to the temple early in the morning and taught. Acts 5: 19-21
Wow, this is quite a story, and sadly it’s broken up into four sections that will be read over three days, and frankly, you lose much by this time span.
Wednesday ends with the Jewish authorities asking the guards to bring back the Disciples.
The guards respond they are gone!
Thursday’s reading from Acts chapter 5:
Here are three interesting pieces of information from Thursday’s readings.
1. “We gave you strict orders did we not,
to stop teaching in that name.
Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching
and want to bring this man’s blood upon us.” emphasis mine Acts 5:28
What a sea change, from persecuting Jesus to now saying they don’t want this Man’s Blood upon them.
But Peter and the Apostles said in reply,
“We must obey God rather than men.”
Peter and the rest of the Disciples now have a spine!
The Holy Spirit.
Next, Peter told them
The God of our ancestors raised Jesus,
though you had him killed by hanging him on a tree.
God exalted him at his right hand as leader and savior
to grant Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins.
Friday, still Acts chapter 5:
A Pharisee named Gamaliel speaks to the Pharisees and Sadicusies and tells them if they are fighting against man, they will win,
But,
If they are fighting against God, they will surely lose.
The question then is, “What can we do?”
After recalling the Apostles, they had them flogged,
ordered them to stop speaking in the name of Jesus and dismissed them. Acts 5: 40
All of this was written so we could talk about the next line, and before you look, what do you think will be the reaction of the Disciples to their being flogged?
Don’t peak!
So they left the presence of the Sanhedrin,
rejoicing that they had been found worthy
to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name. Emphasis mine Acts 5: 40
And,
And all day long, both at the temple and in their homes,
they did not stop teaching and proclaiming the Christ, Jesus. Acts 5:41
Wait for just a second, they have just been flogged, which means they were tied between two poles. A whip was swung so that the whip landed on top of the shoulder and dug into their backs.
This is not fun.
Put yourself in their shoes, what would you do, scream, curse, want revenge?
No!
They left REJOICING!
Rejoicing, your back has been torn apart and you are rejoicing?
Give me a break.
First, we have Bishop Barron telling us Jesus experienced true Freedom, and was filled with Joy, on His Cross, which we wrote about ten years ago in our first book A Journey with the Holy Spirit which is now a Revised Edition, and now we have His disciples rejoicing they have been flogged
This makes no sense, and even today this makes NO sense.
This reminds me of when I was a kid, watching pro-wrestling on our black and white T.V. The good guy had white shorts, and the bad guy wore black. The good guy would spend most of the match being beaten up by the bad guy.
But,
Just before the match was over the good guy was given the strength to overcome his opponent.
Hooray for the good guy!
This is how I feel about Chapter 5 of Acts. Earlier, in chapters 1, and 2 the Disciples are locked in a room, Receive the Holy Spirit, kick down the door, my words, go out and tell everyone who is there they have made a huge mistake.
They have crucified God!
And then say,
Repent and be saved!
I have pictured the scene of them walking back and rejoicing and I can see one of them who didn’t get as many lashes, bummed that he had fewer lashes than the others.
Think for a moment about what had to go through the Pharisees’ and Sadducees’ minds.
They had to be shocked, the reaction they demanded and expected, by having the disciples flogged, was thrown in their faces by the REJOICING of the Disciples.
This is why we have said since our first blog, that when God ALLOWS a difficulty in your life, being flogged, I think you will agree is a difficulty, know that a God of Outrageous Love will take care of you.
Don’t curse your Difficulty as I did for so many years,
CELEBRATE and thank God for your difficulty, and let God take care of you.
Chapter 5 is about the power of the Holy Spirit, and how you can use this power to completely change your life.
And we pray you will be rejoicing that you had been found worthy
“The nine” We pray you will grow in the Love, Joy, and Peace of the Holy Spirit by growing in Patience, Kindness, Generosity, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control.
Sidebar:
This has been a long blog, so we will make just a few short comments about lent.
This Lent we decided to:
Read the Catechism
Play the guitar for at least ten minutes a day.
Skip all snacks between meals.
No desserts.
I learned a lot reading the Catechism, which I hope we will be talking about in future weeks.
Playing the guitar for ten minutes has changed a lot in my life.
I played the guitar when I was a teenager, and sixty years later the Holy Spirit urged me to pick it up again.
The Holy Spirit also told me to sign up for an online music course. All I got out of this course was to make a goal of playing the guitar for at least seven minutes a day.
For me, that was very important.
I tend to set goals that are way too high, and if I don’t attain them, I quit.
I played the guitar for two years and then Country and rock and roll crept in, yep you guessed it, satan, and a year ago I stopped.
This Lent, the Holy Spirit encouraged me to play religious music, not country, or rock and roll, and to play for at least ten minutes a day.
I am the kind of person that when a song gets in my head it stays, and I hum or sing it the rest of the day.
There are great religious songs out there. “Amazing Grace”, “Take my Hand Precious Lord,” Servant Song.” “It is well with my Soul,” “Rain Down,” Just a Closer Walk with Thee” to mention seven songs.
By the way, if you want to get the words and cords go to www. ultimateguitar.com, it’s a great web page.
I started playing and singing, and after a while realized that if I am singing a song about God, guess who is blocked out?
I hope by now you know this answer, it starts with an “s”
What we achieved was more Joy and Peace, and I realized that just like saying the Rosary, this was a great way to stay in the Holy Spirit. When I am humming or singing satan gets blocked out.
Lastly, not eating between meals, and skipping desserts has allowed me to lose eight pounds.
So yes it was a great Lent, I have learned more, found how I can increase my Joy and Peace, and I am lighter.
God taking care of me!
As an Easter Present to you, copy and paste Andrea Bocelli – Hallelujah (live at Teatro Regio di Parma) in the search bar on YouTube. It’s not in English but it is beautiful. It brings a tear to my eye every time I listen to it.
