Daily Devotional • May 19
Pentecost Sunday
A Reading from Acts 4:18-21, 23-33
18 So they called them and ordered them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge; 20 for we cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard.” 21 After threatening them again, they let them go, finding no way to punish them because of the people, for all of them praised God for what had happened.
23 After they were released, they went to their own people and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 When they heard it, they raised their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth, the sea, and everything in them, 25 it is you who said by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David, your servant:
‘Why did the gentiles rage
and the peoples imagine vain things?
26 The kings of the earth took their stand,
and the rulers have gathered together
against the Lord and against his Messiah.’i
27 “For in this city, in fact, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the gentiles and the peoples of Israel, gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. 29 And now, Lord, look at their threats, and grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness, 30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31 When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness.
32 Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. 33 With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.
18 So they called them and ordered them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge; 20 for we cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard.” 21 After threatening them again, they let them go, finding no way to punish them because of the people, for all of them praised God for what had happened.
23 After they were released, they went to their own people and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 When they heard it, they raised their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth, the sea, and everything in them, 25 it is you who said by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David, your servant:
‘Why did the gentiles rage
and the peoples imagine vain things?
26 The kings of the earth took their stand,
and the rulers have gathered together
against the Lord and against his Messiah.’i
27 “For in this city, in fact, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the gentiles and the peoples of Israel, gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. 29 And now, Lord, look at their threats, and grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness, 30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31 When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness.
32 Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. 33 With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.
Meditation
It is right, of course, to listen to God rather than to people, even those with power, but it takes a boldness which requires confidence, courage, and relentlessness. Moral philosophers in antiquity encouraged their pupils to cultivate boldness as a character trait to ensure their success in life, but for the early church, it meant a God-enthused assurance to do his work and testify to Jesus’ gospel. It is not a personal ability but a gift from the Holy Spirit.
On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles in Jerusalem. The apostles were empowered to preach the death and resurrection of Jesus in Aramaic, and amazingly everybody in the audience heard and understood the message in their own languages. This astonishing event is a reversal of the biblical story of the Tower of Babel. Filled with the Holy Spirit, now all believers of Jesus prayed with one mind, understood each other, preached the same gospel, and shared everything in common.
By the power of the Holy Spirit, the apostles also performed miracles to heal the sick and spoke the word of God with boldness, so much so that many people who heard their word believed in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. One of the great gifts of the Pentecost to the church is boldness in the Holy Spirit, the confidence to preach the resurrection of Jesus and the courage to speak the word of God. People in poverty, in suffering, in sickness, and in desperation need a strong hope for a new life. Nations in aggression, in greed, in hatred, and in wars need stern warnings to avoid self-destruction. All people need to hear the love of Christ and the truth of God. May the church, by the power of the Holy Spirit that we commemorate on this Pentecost, speak the word of God loud and clear with divine boldness that the world may be saved and all people may receive God’s blessings!
The Rev. John Yueh Han Yieh, Ph.D., is professor in New Testament at Virginia Theological Seminary and a New Testament editor for the Bible Society in Taiwan. Dr. Yieh enjoys his teaching ministry at VTS and is a frequent preacher and speaker in the U.S. and Asia.
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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:
Grace Church, New York
The Anglican Church of Canada