This Sunday is Pentecost Sunday, and this starts the second half of the church year. But you might be able to guess that the focus is still on Jesus.

When Jesus was ready to teach, he would first sit down. Early within the second reading, the reading from the book of Acts [2:1-21], the verb ‘to sit’ comes up twice. Here is a somewhat- literal translation of the first three verses:

           And in the completion of the day of Pentecost, they [the apostles] were all as                  one, as the same. And it happened suddenly, out of heaven, a sound as of a                       forceful wind being carried, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.                   And there appeared to them, being distributed, tongues as of fire, and it sat on                 each one of them….

Before you think it was just a coincidence that the same word comes up twice in two sentences, I would encourage you to think about the last time someone was doing some sitting, not only in the Acts of the Apostles, but also what happened before that, what is given in the Gospel according to Luke.

First of all, please notice the contrast of that account with the other accounts. In the Gospel according to Matthew, on Easter Sunday, an angel of the Lord rolls the stone away and sits on it (28:2). In the Gospel according to Mark, also on Easter Sunday, an angel is inside the tomb, sitting on the right (16:5). In the Gospel according to John, on Good Friday, Pilate is described as sitting on a judgment seat (19:13). But in the Gospel according to Luke, the last time someone is described as sitting is all the way back in 22:69. Jesus is speaking before the Sanhedrin and is talking about himself. Here, again, is a somewhat-literal translation of that text:

         ‘But from now the Son of Man will be sitting at the right of the power of God.’

There are other body positions of other people within these last chapters of the Gospel according to Luke and the first chapters of the Acts of the Apostles. The closest anyone comes to sitting is the ‘reclining’ at table that is done at Emmaus on Easter Sunday (Luke 24:30). A suggestion for a bible study would be to read from the beginning of Luke 22 to the end of Acts 2, to find all the uses of sitting (and other body positions) that are mentioned. Such a study would also help to see the transition between that gospel account and the book of Acts.

Why were the apostles sitting in Acts 2? The easiest answer is that they were told to do that. In Luke 24:49, Jesus tells them, literally, to sit in the city of Jerusalem until they are clothed with power from a high place. (The English translations usually use another word.)

An answer to that last question that is a little more complicated is that sitting is an important position in ancient times. Here are some things that are mentioned in the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament [published by Eerdmans in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1965] regarding the verb ‘to sit’.

By far, the biggest section when dealing with the idea of sitting has to do with ‘a mark of particular distinction’. And of the four types of people with authority who are mentioned (gods, rulers, judges, and teachers), the most unfamiliar to present-day society are those of gods and rulers; so here are just a couple quotes from those sections:

        ‘Archaeological material from Egypt, the Near East and the Greek Hellenistic                     world shows that sitting is a distinctive sign of deity. The god often sits while men           stand to pray before him. In the early period of Israel’s history the ark represented           God’s throne…[volume 3, page 441].’

        Throughout antiquity there is a close connection between the god and the ruler,               whether in personal or institutional terms. This helps us to see why in archaeology           and in literature rulers are enthroned like the gods. Even in the OT the throne is
         the particular prerogative of the ruler…[volume 3, page 442].

In other words, sitting is a very important position, and the apostles were very important people.

A more interesting question may be: Why are the tongues as of fire described as sitting? Obviously, those tongues have some authority as well. They are connected to the wind, which is the same word as ‘spirit’. This is the Holy Spirit coming down, and this was predicted by Jesus.

Another related question might be this: Where were the tongues of fire on the bodies of the apostles? Most pictures have them on the tops of their heads. For many years, one of my favorite woodcuts from the time of the Reformation was included in the Australian Lutheran edition of Luther’s Large Catechism. Included in this blog is a picture of that woodcut, by Lucas Cranach the Elder in 1527. [Anniversary Translation and Introductory Essay by Friedemann Hebart, published by Lutheran Publishing House, Adelaide, 1983; this work celebrated the 500th anniversary of Luther’s birth; the woodcut appears on page 118.]
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​This picture, as you hopefully can see, has the tongues of fire coming out of the mouths of the apostles. That certainly is different. And this difference is a good reminder of the authority that comes with words, especially the Lord’s words. The Lord breathed on his disciples at the end of the Gospel according to John (20:22), and that breath and the wind and the Holy Spirit all go together. Related to that is the fact that someone who had authority over someone else might have his foot upon the other’s neck (see Joshua 10:24). The message of a picture like that is quite clear.

Other pictures have the tongues of fire on the tops of their heads. That can work as well. The heads of all the apostles—as well as of pastors—are sinful heads. But the words that are given out by those people at various times are very special, and those words ultimately belong to someone else. 

This Sunday is called the Sunday of the Passion, and it is also another Sunday with the coronavirus still rearing its ugly head. You can almost expect every headline of every type of news to focus on that topic.

​There is an event within the Gospel according to Matthew that, according to our modern perspective, should have been mentioned in every gospel account—if the accounts were just telling the facts. You would certainly call this event ‘newsworthy’.

At this point, if you would like to guess the event I am referring to, please read through the shorter Passion account in the Gospel according to Matthew [27:11-66]. This would be a good thing to do as the start of a ‘bible study’—since you would be studying the bible. What do you consider as the most unusual thing to happen in this part of the text, the one most worthy of a newspaper headline?

The following verses are a literal translation of what I would consider to be the most ‘newsworthy’ part of the text. This is the part that I think would get the headline. Jesus had just cried out with a loud voice and released his spirit. And then the following things happen:

        And, behold, the veil of the temple was split into two, from above to below, and              the earth was shaken, and the rocks were split. And the tombs were opened, and            the bodies of many holy ones who, having fallen asleep, were raised. And, coming         forth out of the tombs after his rising, they entered into the holy city and appeared          to many (27:51-53).

Hopefully you would agree that all those events are significant. And they all seem to be rolled up into one massive event that happened at the same time—although the text is clear that the holy people became visible to others only AFTER Jesus rose from the dead. The next question to ask is regarding their specific significance. In other words, ‘What does this mean?’

There have been other ‘shakings’ before this. In fact, in Matthew 8:24, instead of a great storm on the Sea of Galilee, there is a great ‘shaking’. And when Jesus entered Jerusalem in Matthew 21:10, the whole city was 'shaking', and the people were saying, ‘Who is this?’ And there WILL be another shaking—this time a great (‘mega’) one—on Easter morning (see Matthew 28:2).

But that is not all; earthquakes have happened before, and they will happen again. The Gospel according to Matthew is the only account that records the bodies of some special people coming back to life. Can you imagine the headline, ‘Zombies in Jerusalem’? But the text does not say that they appeared to all. Just like Jesus did after his resurrection, after these people come back to life, they appeared to many, but not to all. There was a special purpose in this, but it was not to be the important thing.

The earthquake, the rocks being split, special people coming back to life—these are all signs of the end. And for these things to happen at the point of Jesus’ death makes him a very important person when it comes to the end. It is like he should be the center of attention when it comes to talking about the end.

Now when it comes to talking about the end, it is hard for me not to think about the book of Revelation. Did you know that the four gospel accounts are mentioned in Revelation? At least their four living creatures are mentioned there. In that book, they are mentioned in the following order: First, by secretaries, and then, by authors. (This may be a sort of ‘authorization order’, an order that gives the assurance that they were ‘okayed’ by the apostles—at least by those who were left.) So, the order of the accounts is Mark, Luke, Matthew, John. And the order of the living creatures is lion, ox, man, and eagle (see Revelation 4:7; actually, there is a ‘calf’ instead of an ox, but it is still the same type of animal). And in Revelation, chapter 6, each of the living creatures calls out a particular horseman. Each one says, ‘Come’, because the type of authority that is emphasized in each gospel account can ‘handle’ the evil attacks that come from a particular horseman who attacks the earth in a particular way. 

The third living creature is a man, and a man has authority as a judge. And Jesus has the authority of the most important judge within the Gospel according to Matthew. The third living creature calls out a horseman, and this horseman has a pair of scales. The statement was made that a quart of wheat was selling for a day’s wage, and three quarts of barley was selling for a day’s wage. This was just a little food for an awful lot of money. But the oil and the wine, some of the expensive things, were not to be damaged.

This action suggests that there will be a misuse of authority by those who have authority, basically from the time of Jesus’ ascension to the last day. Throughout that time, people who have some power will be greedy for more. And many powerful people will use their power to do evil things. But I am not telling you anything new.
Here is a quote from the Concordia Commentary Series on Revelation (by Louis A. Brighton, from Concordia Publishing House, page 168; the italics are original):

Whatever the details may be, the overall picture presented in [Revelation] 6:5-6 is a condition of both scarcity and plenty, that is, an economic imbalance in the supply of food and the daily necessities of life. And despite human attempts to adjust this imbalance economically, the end result, from place to place, will be hunger and even at times starvation. In such situations famine begins to stalk large portions of the human population.

This is also true during the time of the coronavirus. Some cheap things are being hoarded. This should not surprise anyone who is familiar with the bible and what we say about the sinful nature that we are all born with (except for Jesus of course).

We have, though, a wonderful authority in this God-man, Jesus Christ. By shaking the world, his special authority shows its importance. But bringing people back from the dead, a life-giving authority shows the extent of its effects. And it is not an authority of power; this authority was shown at the DEATH of Jesus. How much weaker can you get? Yet that point in time makes it clear that this is an action of LOVE. It is good to remember that we have an authority based on God’s love, and this authority started at the beginning, and it will last until the very end. These are NOT 'just the facts’ but ‘the justification of the sinner’—you and me.

Another ‘bible-study type’ suggestion would be to read again the Passion account, but this time, have a larger perspective and read from the end of the last sermon of Jesus, all the way to his death and burial (Matthew 26:1-27:66). That will put you in a position to rejoice in the Easter celebration of Matthew 28:1-10. Our Lenten journey is almost over. We have a wonderful resurrection ahead of us.