The Reflection of the Cross –  Encountering the Holy Spirit No 4

Evening Service at St Mary’s Acts 2: 1-18 Luke 3: 15-23.

My husband and I where on a walking holiday at Scargill House in Yorkshire. There we met John he had come for an interview to become a member of the Scargill community. In conversation with him he shared with me his testimony. He had been a drug addict and his life was in a mess. He said that he spent a lot of time in his room at home where most of the time he was high on drugs.                                  On this particular day he was in his room, when for no particular reason he picked up his grandmother’s Bible, it fell open and he read the words, “Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 10: 39 John encountered the Holy Spirit He said, “It was like someone breaking down the door of his bedroom, releasing him into freedom.” He went on to say that as a result of his meeting with Jesus he made a cross from part of their garden fence and he carried it from Liverpool to London, camping on the way. When people asked him why was he carrying a cross? He told them what Jesus had done for him.  He was set free from the drug addiction that had bound him.

I’ve no doubt that his grandmother’s prayers had been answered.

Encountering the Holy Spirit

The encounter between Jesus and John the Baptist at Jesus’ baptism fulfilled the prophecy of John which was that “The Christ would baptise them with the Holy Spirit and the unquenchable fire.”

 In order for Jesus to baptize us with the Holy Spirit in our humanity, he received first the Holy Spirit in his humanity, and so when he sent the Holy Spirit into the world it was so that we can become like him, we are a heavenly people, translated into his kingdom, in the present,

At Pentecost the disciples received the Holy Spirit they left the house and went out onto the streets where they encountered people from across the known world. Luke was told that they were able to converse in languages that were unknown to them.

This was sign from God as uneducated men were able to speak in diverse tongues.

Peter confirmed that what the crowd were witnessing was the coming of the Holy Spirit prophesied by Joel ‘In the last days I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh.” Joel 2: 28 and we read those who received his word were baptised and received the Holy Spirit.  The undisputable sign that Jesus is the Christ.

Jesus had spoken about the Holy Spirit to his disciples, he would be their comforter, and counsellor.

The Holy Spirit would help them pray to God when they were stuck for words. He would give them remembrance of his words and reveal Jesus to them, some would prophesy and others have visions and dream dreams.

The church was born at Pentecost, it consisted of Jewish people and proselytes, Gentiles that had converted to Judaism.

There at Pentecost Peter having been given the keys of the kingdom, here in Acts 2 he opened the door of the Kingdom to the nation of Israel and proclaimed publicly for the first time that Jesus was the Christ. With another key he opened the door to the Gentiles when he visited Cornelius. Acts 10

The Holy Spirit has brought me into studying the various aspects of the cross.

The Common Prayer Book says we enter into the benefits of his passion. To elaborate on that:

Isaiah used one of the titles of the Christ, Jesus the ‘Branch’ coming from the root of Jesse’s stump. The wooden cross being part of the total redemption, the cross withstood the earthquake, how Jesus must have suffered as the tremor shook it, his disjointed body taking the strain.

 He redeemed us through his dying to sin and its causes

from the curses put on man and the woman after they ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

 And the curse put on the man who was faced with the penalty of death and was hung upon the tree, he had to be taken down before night fall. Joseph and Nicodemus took Jesus down from the cross before night fall. Deut 21:22,2.

He took our suffering upon himself, for example:

John 19: 25-27. “When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold your son!” Then he said to the disciple , “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.”

From the cross Jesus spoke to his mother, (we see the gifts of the Holy Spirit in Jesus).

Mary must have been devastated and Jesus comforted and counselled  her

Mary was deeply hurt and no doubt her sister and John, Mary Magdalene were there supporting Jesus and Mary.

 But Jesus wasn’t silent he asked John to become his mother’s son, for Mary to adopt John as her son.

Paul wrote that we have been adopted into the family of God, God is our Father. Romans 8: 23. Galatians 4: 5

Alexander Tee ‘The Amazing Cross’.’The Aroma of Adoption’ “  

Who can conceive the content and kindness of the Calvary’s cross? The Messiah actually suffered inconceivable torment not only to redeem us from Satan’s slave market, but to promote every one of those slaves to an equal share of all his royal inheritance. The wealth and estate of any king is usually tremendous but Jesus is no normal king. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords and ours is an inheritance on the basis of a joint heir! What love, other than divine love, could ever dream of such a promotion for such sinning slaves? Surely this aroma of adoption oozing from Calvary’s unique tree is very fragrant.”

In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians he wrote that Gentiles had no covenants with God, but in Christ,  the cross has united Jew and Gentile as one new man, so making peace and both have access in one Spirit to the Father. The Holy Spirit actively involved with this encounter and it’s still going on today.

Therefore we are blessed with the Father’s devotion and love towards us. The Holy Spirit working with Father God and Jesus, who only wants the best for us. His gives us his gifts to bless other Christians and for us to embrace the lost.

Mary would I’m sure remembered Simenon’s words. “A sword shall pierce your heart,” it became her experience heartbreak and suffering

As we journey with Jesus we find ourselves suffering, whether it’s in bereavement or when we have been hurt by others, we bring our deep hurts to the cross and know that Jesus cares for us, as he cared for and bore his mother’s suffering. He will lighten our load help us work through them and  very often heal through repentance.

Taking up our Cross

When we take up our Cross and lose our earthly life, we enter into these victories and many more that Jesus has given to us, we gain an abundance of life.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank you for sending the person of the Holy Spirit into the world. When I encountered Him he revealed the truth about who Jesus is, the Christ.  Thank you for all the benefits of Jesus’ victory that are ours in Christ. In Jesus’ name. Amen.