Acts 2:36-46
The Spirit Poured Out by a Crucified Messiah
The Gospel is the announcement of what happened in Jesus! But the event of Jesus goes on! The disciples were told to wait – this is God’s work. God comes as the Spirit’s poured out.
The waiting Peter speaks: Scripture, Jesus with Cross, Resurrection, Enthronement, and Spirit. All are surprised, captured, even Disciples. But it’s Good News even for the crucifiers.
All are called to changed thinking and practice. Jesus is the Anointed One. Plunge in! God’s Spirit is given to you as never before. People respond from everywhere. 3,000 baptized.
The Spirit shapes a new community. Thousands of stories, lives to change. Devotion to several things: Teaching, learning, realizing the breadth and depth of what God has done. Shared life, a new community beginning to cross all boundaries. Breaking bread: Jesus death and life in shared meals. Prayers, a renewed relation with Abba, new hopes, needs. They realize a oneness and new reality that sees possessions in a new way, as resources to share. They flood the temple as a united group and share intimacy in scores of homes.