No Ordinary Power

“When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that the people of Samaria had accepted YAHVEH’s message, they sent Peter and John there. As soon as they arrived, they prayed for these new believers to receive Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit). Ruach HaKodesh had not yet come upon any of them, for they had only been baptized in the Name of Adonai Yeshua. Then Peter and John laid their hands upon these believers and they received Ruach HaKodesh. (Acts 8:14 – 17) (Also read Isaiah 43:1 – 7; Psalm 29; Luke 3:15 – 22) One of the earliest lessons we learn in our following of HaMashiach is that we cannot do it on our own. When it comes to spiritual power, we soon discover that our wells are dry and our harvest is barren. On many occasions I have been reminded of that very thing. Nowhere is it more evident for me than in preaching. There have been times when I believed the sermon was downright spectacular. It felt right. It was biblically and practically strong. I couldn’t wait to enter the pulpit and preach, but when the delivery time came, the sermon felt like a weighted-down 737 trying to lift off.

It taxied down the runway but never left the ground. In spite of my best efforts, the sermon was a flop! At other times though, the opposite has occurred. Sometimes I feel as if the sermon is lousy and has no redemptive value at all. With no more time to prepare, I stumble into the pulpit with great fear and anxiety. And wouldn’t you know it? On more than one occasion it was in this sermon that something happened. For me at least, it is but one more reminder from YAHVEH that my power is never to be confused with YAHVEH’s power. This matter of power was at the forefront of the embryonic church of Yeshua HaMashiach. They were muddled and confused about so many things that had transpired among them. Had they continued on under their own power, who knows what would have happened? But YAHVEH does not abandon us to our own devices; YAHVEH always provides His power. It is truly the story of Acts. The developing church needed power. It needed direction and YAHVEH provided all of that and more.

I.) There were remarkable things happening in the church. As evidenced in Acts 2:1-4, when the Spirit descended upon the believers gathered together in Jerusalem, an extraordinary outpouring of YAHVEH occurred among them. The ministry of Peter then occupied the centre stage as his preaching stretched the boundaries of the existing church. The news of YAHVEH’s movement reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem. The apostles there chosen to send from among them Peter and John to visit the church at Samaria. This action was a prelude to what would happen a short time later when the church once again sent an emissary to the church at Antioch, a man named Barnabas (11:19 – 26). But there is something else happening within this story. A careful study of the book of Acts shows the slow and deliberate movement of YAHVEH in expanding the reach of the gospel of Yeshua HaMashiach. The Spirit of YAHVEH descended in great power upon the church of Jerusalem at Pentecost. Likewise we see the evidence of YAHVEH’s activity among the Hellenists in Acts 6. Thus the sending of Peter and John to Samaria is but one more bit of evidence that shows how the gospel reached beyond the boundaries and limits of Judaism. With each passing moment, Acts describes the inclusive power of the gospel. Peter and John went to Samaria to witness YAHVEH’s activity, but upon their arrival, they evidently recognized that something was missing in the movement. The believers had been baptized, but they had not been empowered by the Spirit (8:16).

II.) Recognizing the lack of completeness within these followers, Peter and

John “laid their hands upon them and they received Ruach HaKodesh” (8:17). The moment was wrought with power: there was the power of human touch and there was the power of YAHVEH’s Spirit. Granted, there is an inherent mystery to be found in this passage. Why was Philip’s great preaching, which resulted in a great movement among the Samaritans, not enough to grant the presence of YAHVEH’s Spirit among these believers? The text provides no clues to that mystery, but it is clear that the completion of their faith journey was made evident when Peter and John blessed them with their presence and invoked YAHVEH’s Spirit upon them. It is a striking snapshot of how the momentum of the gospel is moving beyond the safety and comfort of Jerusalem. It has moved to Samaria and in Acts it will continue to expand. It is the very thing that Yeshua spoke of in Acts 1:8 when He said, “You shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.” Truth is, the gospel did not cease in Samaria or Antioch. It continued to grow and expand. It reached well beyond the confines of Judaism; it stretched to the whole wide world. The work of the Spirit in Acts signals that YAHVEH’s activity is a thriving life force. This was no mere “movement”; what YAHVEH was up to was the sheer life of the Church. The Spirit of YAHVEH was lifting the gospel into every corner of creation. As for me, I am glad that it did. Had it not, I would not have heard the story of Yeshua . . . and neither would you. Thanks be to YAHVEH!