Last Sunday we started a study into the book of Acts. It was a great start and while reading through it I was struck by the use of numbers and their significance in the bible.
You see Jesus after his resurrection was with his disciples for 40 days. Now, today that just seems a little over a month or almost 6 weeks or just a number of days. We do not place emphasis upon these things. However, to the people in the first century there was indeed significance in the numbers. The number 40 for instance was used 149 times in the bible and that number is associated with a period of probation, trial and chastisement, but also ends with a period of renewal, restoration, or revival.
   So where am I going with this? Well think about the individuals who Jesus was with...all of them were downtrodden and dejected at the death of their Master whom they had put all their hopes upon for a return to the Kingdom of Israel of old. Some if not all started a return to their old lives. So here we have a group of followers who obviously did not get nor understand the true nature of their leader nor did they understand the changes that he had been foretelling even prior and up to his death. So they obviously never understood what was happening nor about to happen as foretold by the prophets of the Old Testament.
   Then suddenly their Master is alive and with them. Yet not only with them, he is living, breathing and eating with them for 40 days. This is a time where their faith is tested, it is a probationary period where Jesus is with them and with the Spirit's assistance begins opening the minds of his disciples so that they can finally start to comprehend what has truly occurred. That Jesus broke the bondage of death and was raised to life anew. It was this 40 days of time that was necessary for the disciples to truly begin the process of understanding and knowledge.
   Yet it was not until they saw him ascend into heaven that the true power and change would occur. For Jesus had to leave and then the Holy Spirit would descend from our Father and bring true comprehension to these individuals. Yet that would not occur until after the period of probation...or testing. But Jesus told them that after he left another would come and help them. Once the Spirit came they would be His witnesses throughout all the world to all men. What we see is the restoration of his disciples as his chosen ones. They chose to remain in Jerusalem as directed and they chose to believe. They passed the test and because they were obedient they received the gift of the Holy Spirit renewing their relationship with Jesus and our Father.
   Yes there are a lot of other significant things happening in Chapters1 of Acts and I am not diminishing those in any way. I was hoping to add more significance and clarity to some of the happenings of this chapter as we begin to look into more detail about the workings of the Holy Spirit in and through the disciples of Christ. May God give us a better understanding of how His Holy Spirit can and will make us witnesses to His glory as we delve deeper into these texts.

Mark