Ember Wednesday
Posted on May 26, 2021 by under
Scripture: Acts 8:14-17 (NKJV)
8:14 Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, 15 who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. 16 For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
Devotion
We hear that the people of Samaria “had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus” and had not yet received the Holy Spirit. This can be a bewildering text for Christians, especially for Lutherans who hold baptism in high regard. It is difficult to understand what is going on in the case of the Samaritans because in Monday’s reading about the events of Pentecost the Holy Spirit was received at the time of Baptism.
Some have conjectured that because the Church was in its infancy, God used Peter and John to bring unity to the Church by closing the centuries old rift between the Jews and the Samaritans under the banner of Christianity. While that may be true, it remains conjecture.
What is important for Christians to understand is that God was at work among the Samaritans by having them baptized “in the name of the Lord Jesus,” and that God continued to work among the Samaritans by sending the Apostles Peter and John to them that they might lay hands upon the Samaritans.
So it is with our daily lives. We do best to focus on what God is doing, bringing us to daily repentance and forgiveness, rather than speculating about what other things God might be doing in our lives. There is no need to speculate about what God is doing in our lives, because God is always doing what is best for us for Jesus’ sake.
Prayer: O God, who didst teach the hearts of Thy faithful people by sending to them the light of Thy Holy Spirit, grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things and evermore to rejoice in His holy comfort; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
