Pentecost means "fiftieth" because it is celebrated fifty days after Passover. It commemorates the giving of the law at Mount Sinai. It is also known as "The Feast Of Weeks" because occurs seven weeks (seven seven-day periods) after Passover. Another name for Pentecost is "Firstfruits" for that is the day the firstfruits of the harvest are presented to God. I think there is a great deal of symbolism in the Holy Spirit beginning a new type of ministry in the world at Pentecost, for just as the guiding power of the law was given fifty days after Passover, the guiding power of the Holy Spirit was given fifty days after Passover. Just as the firstfruits of the harvest were presented to God at Pentecost, the firsfruits of the Christian church were presented to God at Pentecost.
"When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place." (Acts 2:1) The believers are spending their time in fellowship and prayer, waiting for the promised Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was in the world from the very beginning. Godly men and women were influenced by Him. Prophets were inspired by Him. But the Holy Spirit did not continually indwell believers before the ascension of Christ. Jesus told the disciples on the night before the crucifixion that after He leaves the world and goes back to the Father another comforter will come, one who will "live with you and be in you" and who will "help you and be with you forever" and who will "teach you all things and remind you of everything I have said to you" and who will "guide you into all truth" and "tell you what is yet to come". (John 14:16-17,26, John 16:13)
"Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them." (Acts 2:2-4) On the day the Lord gave the law to the people through Moses, "There was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast...Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently". (Exodus 19:16,18) The giving of the law was accompanied by fearsome sights and sounds, so also the coming of the Holy Spirit was accompanied by fearsome sights and sounds. At the first Pentecost after rescuing the children of Israel from Egypt the Lord descended on the mountain in fire; at the first Pentecost after rescuing mankind from sin the power of the Lord descended on believers like fire. As the believers are filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, they begin to speak in languages they have not been taught. Many of them have little to no formal education, yet visitors to Jerusalem hear them speaking in their own native tongues.
There is a reason why the power of the Holy Spirit is displayed in such a manner on the day He came to indwell believers during a Jewish holiday, because Pentecost is one of the three major festivals which Jewish males were to celebrate at Jerusalem. The other two major festivals are Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles. This means that there are about as many pilgrims in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost as there were at Passover. Luke tells us, "Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken." (Acts 2:5-6) It might not have seemed very remarkable to these pilgrims if they had heard the believers preaching the gospel in Hebrew or Greek. But it was truly remarkable to hear the gospel preached in every language and dialect represented in Jerusalem at the holiday. This could not have been accomplished without the power of the Holy Spirit. The fact that these mostly uneducated believers are able to declare the gospel in languages they have not learned is a sign that God is in their message. As the Apostle Paul would later say about his own preaching, it was accompanied by "a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God's power". (1 Corinthians 2:4-5) In writing to the church of the Thessalonians, Paul said, "Our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction." (1 Thessalonians 1:5) In the early church, signs and miracles accompanied the preaching of the gospel. These signs and miracles showed the world that the power of God was in the message and that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the truth.
The crowd can't believe their ears. "Utterly amazed, they asked: 'Aren't all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphyllia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs---we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!' Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, 'What does this mean?'" (Acts 2:7-12)
The puzzled pilgrims ask, "What does this mean? What are we to make of this? How are these people able to preach a message regarding Jesus, who was recently crucified, with such power? I heard them proclaiming in my own language that He has risen from the dead. What am I to do with such information?"
What are we to do with the gospel of Jesus Christ? What are we to make of a group of His followers who, just fifty days ago, trembled in fear behind locked doors and suffered crushing grief over the death of the One they had followed? What has happened to make them ready to shout from the rooftops, "Jesus of Nazareth is Lord! Jesus could not be held by the chains of death! Jesus could not be kept in a tomb! Jesus is alive! Because He lives, we who believe in Him have salvation in His name!"
The link to our worship song for today is below.
Holy Spirit
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