The Holy Spirit Came to Rest on those Present in the Upper Room

  • 2015.05.26 11:03

 

Jesus fulfilled the mission by going through suffering and death on the cross and was resurrected as promised. He appeared to the apostles over a period of forty days. He gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem. After receiving power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witness in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

 

At that time, if anyone vindicated Jesus who died on the cross on a charge of blasphemy, they would be arrested and put to death. Jerusalem was had a tense and violent atmosphere. There were many people among those who saw Jesus taken up to heaven on the Mount of Olives who ran away before they went to the room to pray. 

 

This tells us how hard it was to be a witness of Jesus at that time. Therefore, when He told the disciples to be a witness after receiving the Holy Spirit, the Lord, who knows our weakness teaches us that we can prove that Jesus is the Christ only by the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

At last, when the disciples were all together in prayer in the upper room, the Holy Spirit came to rest on each of them. Though Jerusalem still had a tense and violent atmosphere, like an army in full gear which is commanded to fight, they went out to the streets and began to preach the gospel by the power of the Holy Spirit after the Holy Spirit came upon them. Before they received the Holy Spirit, they were cowards.

 

However, when they were full of the Holy Spirit, they could be evangelists who are not afraid of dying. After the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came, the Holy Spirit came upon each nation, the gospel of Jesus Christ was preached to the whole world. If the Holy Spirit didn’t come on the disciples who prayed in the upper room, the gospel couldn’t have reached our nation which is far from this age.

 

       

Pastor Seok-Jeon Yoon

Extracted from Yonsei Newspaper #434 (May 09, 2015)