This past Sunday marked the festival of Pentecost on the Christian calendar, and as I typically do the New Testament reading for the week from the Lectionary of the Book of Common Prayer in midweek, we will look at our Scripture from the Book of Acts in the New Testament, which describes the events that happened on that first Pentecost. Let’s look into our Scripture and see what we can learn about that first Day of Pentecost.
As we begin reading in Acts chapter 2, we see that it is the Jewish festival of Pentecost, which is also known as the Feast of Weeks, or in Hebrew, Shavuot (vs. 1). This festival took place fifty days after Passover, which is where the Greek word Pentecost came from. The Jewish festival of Pentecost commemorates the giving of the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai. It is also a celebration of the first fruits of the wheat harvest. Because of this religious holiday, many faithful Jews from around the Middle East and Mediterranean had come to Jerusalem to worship.
Ten days prior to this, the Lord Jesus had taken His disciples outside of Jerusalem to the Mount of Olives, giving them final instructions before His ascension back into heaven. One of those instructions was for them to stay in Jerusalem for the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father (Acts 1:4-5). That is what the disciples were doing as our passage began. They were gathered in “one accord”, in unity as they obediently waited. It was now about ten days since Jesus returned to heaven, but they weren’t getting impatient or starting to grumble one against another, but were steadfast in prayer, trusting that God would fulfill His promises.
As morning began on that first day of Pentecost, the disciples were together, and they heard the sound of a rushing, mighty wind, which was the Holy Spirit descending upon them (vs. 2-3). That sound symbolizes the power that the Holy Spirit has. I can testify that the sound of very strong wind, like in a tornado, is no small thing! Then appeared what looked like tongues of fire upon each disciple. Fire represents purification and also God’s divine presence.
The Greek word for “tongues” used here is “glossa”, and it means both the actual tongue in one’s mouth, and also the language or dialect used by a particular group of people. This illustrated what happened at that moment, as when the group was filled with the Holy Spirit, they began to speak with other “tongues”, with other languages (vs. 4). The Holy Spirit would empower them to do the ministry the Lord had for them (Luke 24:49).
The disciples were led to leave the place they had been staying at, and out onto the streets of Jerusalem and the vicinity of the Temple. There they encountered many pilgrims who had come to Jerusalem for the holy days, many from foreign lands far and near, who spoke languages other than Hebrew or Aramaic. At that time these followers of Jesus were able to witness to these foreigners in their own language, telling them about the Savior and the Gospel (vs. 5-11).
One thing about this outpouring of the Holy Spirit, bringing tongues at this time on Pentecost Sunday, was that these were known, spoken languages in that day. These were languages that the disciples did not previously know or speak, but which were spoken by various pilgrims to Jerusalem for the holy days. They were languages or dialects spoken in current modern-day Turkey, around the Mediterranean world, Egypt, and areas north and east of the Holy Land. The Holy Spirit enabled them to speak to these folks, telling them the Gospel so they could believe and be saved. That way they could return home and tell their families and friends about Jesus, and the Gospel go forth to all nations. On that day at least 3,000 people were saved (Acts 2:41).
Looking at this Scripture describing the events of Pentecost Sunday, we see that this was the first part of God’s fulfillment of Joel 2:28-32, which demonstrates His faithfulness in keeping His promises. The Holy Spirit wasn’t given just to be a comfort to us, though He is indeed that, but for empowering us to boldly spread the Gospel throughout the world. Pentecost Sunday is the birthday of the Church, distinct from Israel, and is God’s instrument for spreading the Gospel. Just as the disciples waited for the Holy Spirit to come, we, too, need to rely on His power for witnessing, as He will enable us to share the truth with clarity and conviction.
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