“Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” 37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37)
Dennis the Menace the movie tells the story of a good-hearted boy named Dennis who just can’t keep himself out of trouble particularly with his elderly neighbor Mr. Wilson. All of Dennis’ mischief seems to fall on the head of poor Mr. Wilson. In this movie Mr. Wilson has a flower garden that he has put years and years of work into. In his garden he has one of the world’s rarest plants that he planted 40 years prior. Believe it or not this plant blooms only once in 40 years. Once. It blooms when the moon is full; it blooms at night, and it blooms quickly. And just as quickly as it blooms it withers. So if you had this plant growing in your garden for 40 years; you tilled it and care for it for 40 years of your life, you could very easily completely miss its blooming if you were not prepared. You could know that it bloomed only once in 40 years and if you were one day off on its blooming calendar you could completely miss its bloom and never again get to see it.
Imagine the disappointment and frustration you would feel if the plant you had waited 40 years to see bloom you missed altogether. Well watch Mr. Wilson as he prepares for his plant’s special minute. Pay particular attention to 3:11-5:50 as this video cannot be shortened by me;
Can you imagine Mr. Wilson’s frustration? I can’t imagine it.
In this same way I don’t think we can fully imagine the disappointment, frustration and pain of the question that is asked in Acts 2:37 some 2,000 years ago: “Brothers, what shall we do?”
These people had looked for their Messiah all of their lives. Every prayer, every synagogue service, every feast day expressed the national longing for the Messiah’s coming
The Messiah was going to be their salvation. He was their hope. The Messiah was the one their ancestors had been waiting for for centuries. He was the One the prophets spoke of. He was the One Who would restore the kingdom to Israel. He was the One Who would end all of their pain and suffering. Jewish people dreamed about the day their Messiah would come, especially in times of hardship. They talked about that day. They wondered what He might look like. They pondered what they might do if they got to meet Him.
Peter tells us that the Prophets who spoke of the coming of the Messiah “searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow…Even angels long to look into these things” (1 Peter 1:10-12).
If there was one question every Jewish man and woman wanted to know it was, “When is our Messiah coming?” And now the Apostles, by the power of the Holy Spirit, in this first Gospel sermon of Acts 2, announce in a most undeniable way that they missed the One they had prepared their lives to see. Worse than that…they even killed Him. Can you imagine the pain of that realization!!!?
I believe the greatest challenge the Holy Spirit faced in building the church in Jerusalem was getting these deeply spiritual people to accept the fact that they missed their Messiah. It is not easy to deal with that much pain.
Indeed many in Jerusalem would say, as to Dennis, “Get out of my face, I don’t want to know you.” Others, however, will desperately ask, “Brothers, what shall we do?” (2:37).
And here’s the Good News! Even as we cannot imagine the frustration and pain of murdering our Messiah, neither can we fully imagine the feelings of relief that must have flooded their souls when Peter answered: “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (2:38).
There was hope! Praise God that the terms of forgiveness were not beyond the reach of any of them; all of them could repent and be baptized!
Let me ask you today, how have you missed the Messiah in your life?
For some of you the painful realization that you have missed Jesus for most of your life, or maybe just recently, will be more than you can handle. You will find it easier to continue to say to Jesus, “I want nothing to do with You”, than to ask, “Lord, what shall I do?”
For some of you it will be safer to push that painful realization aside. It will be easier to keep doing what you are doing than to painfully repent and say, “I have been wrong. I have loved my sin more than Jesus and have missed Jesus in the process”. It will be easier for some of us to ridicule Dennis for his message than to accept the fact that while being so preoccupied with budding plants we completely missed a grave injustice taking place in our own home.
How have you missed the Messiah in your life today? What would Jesus say to you if you asked Him, "Jesus, what shall I do?" I believe He would probably voice the same words as Peter did, but after that what else would He tell you to do?
- Go reconcile with a friend?
- Forgive your parents?
- Start putting all your effort into everything He gives you to do?
- Go sell your possessions?
- Throw away your computer and never look at porn again?
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