As Gideon and his army approach the Midianites, they blow
the trumpets and smash the torches and cry out and the Midianite army is put to
flight in fear. They don't know how many
Israelites are coming against them so they flee. Gideon successfully recruits the men of
Ephraim (Joseph's son's family) to fight but only after an argument about why
he didn't ask sooner. Two other groups,
the men of Succoth and Penuel, fail to join him in this battle because it isn't
won yet. They fear the enemy and don't
want to be on the wrong side. In their
failure they have chosen the wrong side and Gideon promises retribution as soon
as he is finished with Midian.
Unfortunately, in the church we too often fuss and argue rather than
simply coming together against a common enemy, just like these tribes.
John had a large ministry.
People had come to him in droves to be baptized. They heard and believed his message and
things looked like they were becoming a mega-church and then Jesus came on the
scene. What was John's reaction to being
eclipsed? He was the one who pointed
people away from his own ministry to Jesus.
He knew that it wasn't about him, it was about Jesus. John's testimony is that his ministry was
purposefully geared towards identification of the One, he confesses that he
didn't know who he was until he saw the sign of the dove remaining on
Jesus. John had the Holy Spirit but the
knowledge he had concerning Jesus was attested by the fulfillment of a sign, it
didn't rely on an impression he formed but on God's action to confirm. John was so open handed that the first two
who follow Jesus were formerly John's disciples.
Peter knows his audience.
The people who have seen the healing are amazed and Peter begins his
sermon by pointing to the heroes and fathers of the nation and connecting Jesus
to them. He also tells the truth about
them, you are responsible for his death, you chose a murderer over
righteousness and innocence. That,
however, doesn't cause Peter to see them as enemies, he calls them brothers and
says you acted in ignorance, you didn't know, Jesus prayed for you from the
cross because you didn't know what you were doing. It is a bit easier to have that attitude
after resurrection isn't it? Peter
reaches back to Leviticus, Genesis, Samuel, and the prophets and says that Jesus is the fulfillment of all
and will be the fulfillment of all.
Until such time, He has been received into heaven. He, like Gideon, is giving a second chance to
his brothers to join him in battle. The
enemy is being vanquished and the proof is in the healing of this man, do they
perceive it?
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