Monday; June 16
I have been reading Acts 2 for almost as long as I have been reading. Growing up when and how I did, the story of the conversions on Pentecost were an important part of my religious upbringing. However, it wasn’t until recently – when someone new to studying the Bible pointed it out – that I realized I had missed an interesting observation. Most of us are familiar with Luke’s introduction to Peter’s sermon, “But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: ‘Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words.’” (Acts 2:14); but I want us to take a closer look. I would imagine that many of the people in the audience on this occasion had been in the crowd that called for Jesus’ crucifixion. Now, here is the point I missed. The handful of people who were about to preach to them had been personally impacted by their audience’s rejection of Jesus. Becau...