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HRE2O1 Grade 10 Religion - UNIT 4 (The Early Church, Epistles, and Apocalypse) Notes
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HRE2O1 - Religion Grade 10 UNIT 4: The Early Church, Epistles, and Apocalypse Chapters 1-8
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HRE2O1 - Religion UNIT 4 NotesUnit 4: The Early Church, Epistles, and
Apocalypse
Chapter 1: Promise of the Holy Spirit
The gospels end with Jesus’ resurrection and ascension into heaven.
The story continues in the book of the Acts of the Apostles (or Acts), which
was originally part of Luke’s gospel.
Hiding from the Sanhedrin
At the end of Luke, just before Jesus ascends, he instructs his Apostles
to remain in Jerusalem, a place of danger. And so the Apostles, Mary and
some unidentified women remain hidden in an upper room, possibly the
same room the Apostles had celebrated the Last Supper with Jesus. They
were hiding because they feared the Sanhedrin (Jewish religious authorities).
The Apostles were witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection and feared that they would
be silenced. They had good reason to think that because, according to
Matthew’s gospel, the Roman guards at Jesus’ tomb also witnessed
miraculous events on Easter Sunday but they were silenced by the Sanhedrin.
They bribed the Roman guards to be silent about the miraculous events and
to spread the lie that the Apostles stole Jesus’ body. Clearly, the Sanhedrin
were committed to stampting out any reports of Jesus’ resurrection. If they
went so far as to kill Jesus for claiming to be the messiah, how far would they
go to put an end to claims that the messiah that they murdered had
resurrected?
The Promise Fulfilled
Along with the command to remain in Jerusalem, Jesus promised that
the Apostles would receive power from God. Acts begins with the fulfillment
of that promise. Fifty days after Jesus’ ascension into heaven, the Holy Spirit
burst into the upper room where the Apostles were hiding, taking the form of
the sound of a great wind. The Spirit was the power that Jesus promised
them. Tongues (the Greek word used is for human tongues) descended upon
each of the hearts of those present. Outside on the street below, pilgrims
,from many regions were gathering for the Jewish festival of Shavuot, a spring
harvest festival which also celebrated the giving of the Torah (the law) to
Moses by God (Simchat Torah). In the Jewish calendar, Shavuot comes fifty
days after the first evening of Passover. Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus’
followers overcame their fear of persecution by the Sanhedrin and rushed out
into the streets to declare the gospel - that is, the good news that Jesus had
risen from the dead.
The Gift of Tongues
The tongues of fire represented the gift of speaking in tongues, that is,
the gift of speaking in languages one has never studied. They needed that
particular gift because on Shavuot Jerusalem was flooded with pilgrims from
various regions who spoke different languages. In order for them to
understand the gospel, they needed to receive the message in their mother
tongues or languages. When Jesus’ followers spoke to the crowds, each
person, regardless of his or her mother tongue, heard the massage in their
own language. That miracle allowed many to understand and accept the
gospel. Acts reports that over three thousand people accepted baptism and
Jesus as the risen messiah that very day. Pentecost is now the name given to
the birthday of the Church. It occurs fifty days after Easter (pentekostus
means “fifty” in Greek). The church consists of the body of believers. But every
body needs a spirit in order to bring it to life. The Holy Spirit brought the body
of believers to life on Pentecost. The church is the agent for establishing and
extending the Kingdom of God on earth. The Kingdom is nothing less than
those who held dear the gift of salvation from sin Jesus’ healing miracles did
not just bring physical relief for the sufferers but they also served as
metaphors for spiritual healing from the pain of sin. Shortly after receiving the
Holy Spirit, Peter performed his first miracle: the healing of a man born lame.
That healing metaphorically announced the birth of the church, God’s agent
for his heavenly kingdom on earth.
Activity
In your own words, describe the symbolism or deeper meaning of the
following details or comparisons:
● The Upper Room
○ A good space for peace and tranquility to thrive in.
○ Symbolizes where the Last Supper was.
, ○ Where they had the Last Supper/it was held
● The Sound of a Mighty Wind
○ God’s Power - Mighty
○ God’s Breath - Wind
○ The Holy Spirit acting as God, coming in as a breath of life into the
apostles.
● Fire
○ God’s presence
○ The fire that’s burning in your soul/Passion within to want to go
out and spread the good news
● Tongues (of fire)
○ The tongues of fire represented the gift of speaking in tongues,
that is, the gift of speaking in languages one has never studied.
○ Speaking of languages to all different people/different languages
○ So they could target all the people who were around them at the
time
● The Holy Spirit in relation to the body of believers
○ The church consists of the body of believers. But every body
needs a spirit in order to bring it to life. The Holy Spirit brought
the body of believers to life on Pentecost.
○ The Holy Spirit is the one Spirit that gives life to the Body of Christ
composed of the body of believers. The body is like a single body
with one spirit. One body, one spirit.
● The Jewish celebration of Simchat Torah with the Christian celebration
Pentecost
○ Pentecost is now the name given to the birthday of the church.
○ The Holy Spirit brought the body of believers to life on Pentecost.
○ Outside on the street below, pilgrims from many regions were
gathering for the Jewish festival of Shavuot, a spring harvest
festival which also celebrated the giving of the Torah (the law) to
Moses by God (Simchat Torah). In the Jewish calendar, Shavuot
comes fifty days after the first evening of Passover.
○ Moses receives the Torah from God - a modern day version of
pentecost
○ Start of Church / God gives the Bible
○ Because of the power of tongues, He gives us the ability to spread
the word through the apostles to spread our Bible/New
Testament
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