Episode 3

Overview: On the feast day of Pentecost, pilgrims stream into Jerusalem. Political tensions are high n this occupied country, but it’s a different disruption that gets people talking. The followers of Jesus are filled with the Holy Spirit and divinely energized.

Bible Connections: Acts 2-3.

Other Sources: A strong Christian tradition suggests that Pilate’s wife was named Claudia Procula, and the gospels tell us she warned her husband after having a dream about Jesus as an “innocent man” (Matthew 27:19). In Roman culture, upper-class women often had substantial influence, so it’s no stretch to see her trying to help her husband. . . . From Jewish records and other Scriptures, we know that Caiaphas was also married to an influential woman, the daughter of Annas, an earlier high priest.

Dramatic Imagination: Did Peter really have a daughter? Maybe. We know he was married (Jesus healed his mother-in-law), and he might have had kids. An imaginative work from the late second century mentions a daughter of Peter being partially paralyzed, and there is a Saint Petronilla sometimes called Peter’s daughter, but this is unlikely. Still the arrival of Peter’s daughter is possible, just not historical.

Entry Level

• What was the most powerful moment in this episode, in your opinion?
• How would you describe the situation of the disciples at this point in the story? How might they be feeling at the beginning of this episode, and at its end?
• Do you think the program caught the excitement of this situation? the confusion? the doubt? the commitment?

Dig Deeper

• How do you think the visitors at the Pentecost festival would have responded as they saw Jesus’ disciples empowered by the Spirit? What questions would they have had?
• How do you think Peter and John felt when they actually succeeded in healing a lame man?
• This miniseries places the growth of the Jesus movement in the context of political maneuvering and social unrest. Does that change the story for you? How? Do you think it provides helpful insight on what was actually going on?

Takeaway

• Christians believe that the death of Jesus was the sacrifice for sin and his resurrection provided new life. What does the arrival of the Holy Spirit mean?
• We saw the disciples work a miracle: the healing of a lame beggar. Do you think followers of Jesus can still do amazing things like that? How could we tap into the power of the Spirit to help the helpless?