251 of 365 - Witnesses with a story to tell

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. Acts 1:12

After forty days of appearing to over 500 people and speaking of the kingdom of God, Jesus leaves His followers in the capable hands of the power that will soon come upon them.

The disciples make the short journey to Jerusalem as Jesus instructed. The plan? To wait. Power is coming. Power is promised. Power is needed for the charge at hand. Jerusalem is where the most devout Jews are…the ones who ordered Jesus crucified…the place Jesus encountered the most hostility. And this is where they are told to go and tell what they have seen and heard and learned. They go to the upper room, and they wait. This assignment can only happen with the help of something supernaturally more powerful than themselves.

Christian theologian James Boice says, “Humanly speaking, [Christianity] had nothing going for it. It had no money, no proven leaders, no technological tools for propagating the gospel. And it faced enormous obstacles. It was utterly new. It taught truths that were incredible to the unregenerate world. It was the subject to the most intense hatreds and persecutions.”

It doesn’t look promising at this point. Jesus is gone and 120 or so frightened, uneducated, unsure-what-to-do followers wait in an upper room. God’s story is so unlikely it can only be His. 

We are the next generations of the 120 in that upper room. If we believe Jesus to be our Lord and Savior, we are witnesses. We have a story to tell…of what we have seen, and learned, and experienced with Him. We have spheres of influence and reach both near and far away…some friendly, some hostile. But like me, you may feel like the crew in the upper room. A bit paralyzed and scared and unqualified and overwhelmed by it all and not sure where to start. Keep reading, friends, this story is for you and me!
 
Questions: What do you think is going through the mind of the followers as they wait? What do you think they think they are waiting for?