Good Thursday to you my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
When you hear the word ‘FLOURISH’ what images come into your mind? Perhaps a flower bed, or a thriving business, or maybe newborn babies growing well, or maybe a dating relationship moving toward marriage? But what does ‘flourish’ look like SPIRITUALLY in an a person of any age from teen to elderly?
Yesterday I left you in Caesarea in the year 44ad. How do I know that? Because historical records tell us 44ad is the year King Herod Agrippa I died in Caesarea of a severe abdominal crisis. Yesterday we looked at the shocking Biblical account of that event in Acts 12:19-23.
The very next words in Luke’s account, after the death of king Herod, are significant: “The word of God continued to spread and FLOURISH.” (Acts 12:24) What does it mean? Do you understand how powerful the WORD of God, the Bible, has been in the history of our world? This statement means the Gospel of Jesus Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit, continued to spread, from person to person, resulting in dramatic spiritual change both in people and places.
From Jerusalem, through cities and towns in the provinces of Judea and Samaria, and then beyond to all Israel, and even north into Syria and south to Ethiopia, Africa as we have seen in Acts 8-11. That was in fulfillment of Jesus’ last words spoken to His disciples before His ascension back to heaven, remember? “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
So, by the time we reach 44ad and the end of Acts 12, it had been nearly 20 years since Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection and ascension, and the Gospel had spread widely, involving thousands of people. But what about that last little phrase in Jesus’ statement: ‘and to the ends of the earth’? While the Gospel was spreading and flourishing, Jesus’ final challenge to His disciples was not yet fully happening. God needed to do something to reach the ends of the earth and Acts 13 begins that remarkable, God designed strategy!
Barnabas and Saul, you will recall, had come to Jerusalem some time before, bringing a large financial gift from the Christians in Syrian Antioch. (Acts 11:29,30) Acts 13:1 tells us they sensed the time had come for them to head back to Antioch and evidently a young man named John Mark asked to go along with them. Who is this John Mark? He is the son of Mary, in whose home the prayer meeting had been taking place when Peter was rescued by an angel from king Herod’s dungeon. (Acts 12:12)
Interestingly, a few years later the apostle Paul, in writing to the Church in Colossae, referred to this Mark as: “Mark the cousin of Barnabas.” (Colossians 4:10) That leads me to believe Mary was entrusting her son Mark to a close relative Barnabas yet not having any idea what Mark might experience.
It also tells me Mary saw a special spiritual hunger in her son John Mark, and perhaps, having heard from Saul and Barnabas about the spiritual awakening happening in Syrian Antioch, Mary thought John Mark’s life might be powerfully impacted if he was immersed in what God was doing in Antioch. Pause.
How many of you, my dear “Walking with Jesus” friends, have made decisions for your children or even grandchildren, on the basis of what you sense God wants to do in their lives? Are you praying daily for their spiritual growth? Do they know you will stand by them and encourage them if they choose to take bold steps of faith?
Possibly going on mission’s trips or maybe they would even consider relocating in response to God’s leading in their lives, to live spiritually strategic lives wherever God leads them, maybe even far away from home? Are you seeking to nurture the work of God in their lives, especially their appetite to know God and His Word, and their ability to discern and follow God’s leading in their lives?
Let’s pause again. Can you think of other parents in the Bible who made courageous decisions to support God’s powerful working in the lives of their children? How about Hannah, the mother of Samuel (1 Samuel 1,2)? Or the parents of Moses (Exodus 2); or Manoah and his wife, parents of Samson (Judges 13). Maybe you think you’re too old and these opportunities have passed you by. Do you remember old Zechariah and Elizabeth, parents God chose for John the Baptist? (Luke 1) And have you considered how two generations can work together to train and encourage the third generation? Do you remember what Paul said about both the mother and grandmother of Timothy? (2 Tim. 1:5)
Parenting and grandparenting moves to an entirely different level of strategicness when we adults take seriously our roles in nurturing and preparing and fully supporting our kids and grandkids in their spiritual development and especially in their courageous obedience to the call of God in their lives!
From personal experience, I’m in the middle of four generations who have prioritized what I’m describing. My 99 year old Dad celebrates that his parents encouraged him and my mother when they sensed God’s call to pack up and move to a foreign country to bring the Gospel of Jesus there in the middle 1950’s. 35 years later my wife and I watched my parents heartily encourage us to pack up and follow God’s call on our lives!
12 years ago, my wife and I celebrated as our daughter and husband packed up with their four girls and headed to Africa confident God was calling them to be missionaries. And now, we’ve been joyfully praying for our grandchildren as they love and trust Jesus, growing up overseas, and learning to discern God’s leading, as they watch their parents live that adventure every day!
I’ve often wondered what late night conversations Mary had with Barnabas, Saul and her teenage son about Mark’s desire to go with them to Antioch, more than 300 miles north. What Mary didn’t know, of course, and what we’ll discover tomorrow, is that in God’s great plan Antioch was simply the beginning for all three of these men.
In fact, did you know that the second book in the New Testament of our Bible was written by Mary’s son John Mark, after he traveled with Barnabas and Saul, and later the apostle Peter? Oh my, dear friends, as Jesus looks at your family and mine, what does Jesus see many years out into the future and how would Jesus like our children, grandchildren and maybe even babies yet to be born to fit into God’s larger plan for impacting our world?
Oh, that gives us a lot to think about, doesn’t it? The “lessons learned” notes at the link below will help you with that type of courageous thinking and then a great worship song, and please join me here tomorrow as we see what happened as Barnabas, his young cousin Mark, and Saul head to Syrian Antioch!
Today’s Scripture: Acts 12:24, 25.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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