This week we see how the Holy Spirit interrupts our natural tendency to distance ourselves from evil. Whether it’s from timid fear or calloused indifference, it’s easy to want to keep evil at arm’s length. However, Jesus wants his kingdom to advance against evil. Through the gospel the Holy Spirit exposes the lies of our spiritual enemies and fills us with the courage to proclaim that gospel boldly.

This week we see how, our triune God interrupts life’s noise with the sound of his name. God does not leave us in the dark about his identity. Instead, all three members of the Trinity work together to reveal God to us. By teaching us his name, the Lord blesses his people with clarity and certainty about who he is. Faith in the triune God is faith that comes from the triune God.

This week we see how, on the day of Pentecost, Jesus interrupted humanity’s self-idolizing with Spirit-dwelling. Left to ourselves, we would be trapped in a never-ending obsession with making our own names great. However, Jesus sends his Holy Spirit through his Word to dwell in our hearts through faith. Those filled with the Spirit trust in and call on the Lord’s saving name.

This week we see how Jesus’ ascension into heaven establishes indestructible power for the Church’s work. Just as Jesus’ claims about himself were contested while he was on earth, so also the Church’s witness about him will always be contested. That same witness, however, is accompanied by the power of the Holy Spirit, whom Christ continually sends for the life and growth of his Church.

This week we see how Jesus’ resurrection from the dead gives us an indestructible source of love. Instead of building relationships on superficial interests or shared opinions, the bond of love that exists within the family of Christ is based on the work he has done in our lives. All of us are recipients of his unconditional love for us. That love is the pattern and power for our love for each other.

This week we see how Jesus’ resurrection from the dead gives us an indestructible joy. Normally grief and joy are seen as opposites. A person either has one or the other. But when Jesus rose from the dead, he transformed what had been a source of grief into a source of joy. He promises to do the same for us as we follow a path we know will be paved with hardships but leads to our heavenly home.

This week we see how Jesus’ resurrection from the dead has established indestructible forgiveness for all who trust in him. His resurrection proves that his sacrifice as the Lamb of God was a sufficient payment for the world’s sin. Whether we’ve failed Jesus despite our best intentions or outright opposed him in our lives, his forgiveness is full and unconditional. That forgiveness forms the sum and substance of the praise we offer him and the proclamation we take to the world.

This week we see how Jesus’ resurrection from the dead has established an indestructible witness for his church. Not only will attempts at restraining that witness fail, Jesus actually uses those attempts to further spread his gospel. The opposition faced by the witnesses of the resurrection added credibility to their witness and forced their witness to spread far and wide. As beneficiaries of the spread of that message, we now have the joy of also participating in it.