DAY 50 – PENTECOST

PENTECOST..........Finally - after all the waiting - it is here!

Jeremiah 31:33
Luke 24:45-53
Acts 1:1-5
Acts 2:1-41
Hebrews 12:1-3

In Jesus day, Shavu’ot – the Festival of Weeks – was the next major festival following Passover, and it was the last of the Spring Feasts.   It honored the giving of the The Ten Commandments at Mt Sinai after the Israelities were rescued from slavery in Egypt.  It’s name of Pentecost came from the original instruction that it was to be fifty days after Passover.  I do not know exactly what year the commandment was given to celebrate Pentecost – but it was probably sometime between 1093 and 1071 B C, so it has been being celebrated for a minimum of 3,088 years. 

Pentecost, as a celebration of the giving of the Ten commandments at Mt Sinai – God’s Word written on 2 tablets of stone; and subsequently the Torah aka Pentateuch – God’s Word written in the first 5 books of the Old Testament dictated by God and transcribed by Moses – is a significant precursor to Pentecost in 33 A D when God’s Word became written on men’s hearts through the power of the Holy Spirit, the promised Comforter who was to come. 

Jesus made that possible by his death on the cross. He endured the cross, despising its shame, for the joy set before him. What was that joy? Us. We are his inheritance. Everything he suffered was for our redemption – and he finished the work he came to accomplish: to be the consummate sacrificial payment for sin and to give us access to God Almighty. 

When Jesus lived on earth, he was both fully God and fully human, but his humanity limited his mobility. He could only be in one place at a time. Now, through the power of the Holy Spirit, he could be everywhere, with everyone at all times. 

Pentecost was just 10 days after Jesus’ ascension. The disciples and 108 additional followers had obeyed Jesus’ command to go back to Jerusalem and wait – which included lots of time dedicated to prayer. They were obedient and expectant. They weren’t told what day the promise would come – but the fulfillment of the promise on the date it occurred is significant. 

That Pentecost in 33 A D was different than all others before it. It was fulfillment. Just as Jesus changed the 3 earlier Spring Feasts by fulfilling them – and specifically telling the disciples that from that year forward, instead of remembering the Exodus, the Passover celebration was to be about Him, He effectively did the same with Pentecost.   God was no longer distant and available only once a year to one high priest and a few chosen prophets, he became available to every one who seeks him. And – it was the date that marked the beginning of the Christ-ones’ church – literally, the beginning of Christianity...and it happened 1984 years ago! 

In my 38 years in the Presbyterian Church, that beginning was honored. Now, in the Pentecostal church I am in, it isn’t even mentioned. Go figure. In my Presbyterian history everyone was encouraged to wear red on Pentecost Sunday.   Red, because it is symbolic of the tongues of fire that came down on those in the upper room. Then they carried their message to the streets – and the masses heard the gospel in the various tongues that the Holy Spirit spoke through the 120 Upper Room Seekers – each in their own language!

Peter – who had denied Jesus in the courtyard during Jesus’ abuse and suffering – now boldly proclaimed the Truth of the risen Lord to the masses… and 3000 converts were added to their numbers.  Talk about people finding Truth!  That’s one of the actions of the Holy Spirit. 

The Holy Spirit is the loving, gentle Comforter – the One who leads us into all truth, if we only ask. 


Lord, I’m asking….