Scripture: Acts 2:1-21
Today is Pentecost, the day that the Spirit of God
revealed Himself to the world. John’s
gospel tells us more about the coming of the Holy Spirit than any of the other
gospels - passages such as in John 14:26 – “26 But
the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my
name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I
have said to you.” It
appears that the advocacy of the Spirit will center on the truth of God as revealed through the
teachings of Jesus Christ. He brings us
nothing new and nothing that we shouldn’t already know.
And in John 16:7, Jesus speaks of the connection between His ascension and the coming of the Spirit – that unless He leaves, the Spirit will be unable to come to our aid. And No – I don’t know why. I just know that God’s timing always has a purpose, and nothing will ever be able to change it.
Pentecost occurs 50 days after Passover, and for Israel, it was a celebration of the harvest. Faithful Jews from all over the known world came to Jerusalem to make sacrifice to Jehovah God for His benevolence and providence.
So today, we consider the power and presence of the Holy Spirit and what it means for our walk in faith.
Read Acts 2:1-13
At the conclusion of Luke’s gospel, he records these words from Jesus - “49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” (Luke 24:46-49) And in the passage from Acts 2 which we just read, we discover what the Father would sent to them, and the extent of the Power that it brought for the faithful. But first, we need to remember who those people were who were gathered in that “house” – they were common, everyday Jewish people who believed in and trusted Jesus as their LORD and Savior! OK – so maybe God didn’t see them as so common after all, but from the world’s perspective, they certainly were.
They had no power or authority that had come from the leaders of earth; they had no wisdom that established them as learned men and women; they had no credentials that proved the truth of their worth and abilities. They were ordinary men and women like you and me who had given their lives to the LORD Jesus, and had credited their being to the One God of all creation. And these simple men and women had received the all-powerful gift of God through the coming of the Holy Spirit.
And what preceded the gift? A demonstration of power and presence unlike anything that had never been experienced before. In Acts 1:4, Luke reminds the faithful of what Jesus said about this moment - “wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” This was no parlor trick, nor was it magic, nor a means to personal glory – it was God’s baptism for ministry in the name of Jesus Christ!
Remember that Jesus’ ministry had been fairly well confined to Israel and Samaria, with an occasional excursion into Gentile territory. Now, those who would hear about Him were primarily descendants of the Assyrian and Babylonian exiles who never returned home, as well as others whose ancestors may have migrated to other lands in an attempt to escape persecution or other trials. But regardless, all had come to celebrate the blessing of harvest.
But for Christians, it would no longer be a celebration of grain harvest, but rather one of “soul harvest”. It was now a time to remember and proclaim the ministry of truth that Jesus had already established, just as it is for each of us today.
Read Acts 1:14-21
There will always be scoffers when Jesus is proclaimed, regardless of the situation or time, but there will also be those who will hear and will believe (Acts 2:40-41). When Peter begins to preach, his previous life as a fisherman of Galilee would no longer hold a place of prominence in his life. He was about to live the prophecy of Jesus when the 4 fishermen were called to be His disciples –“19… Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 They immediately left their nets and followed Him.” (Matthew 4:18-22)
He tells the crowd that the charges of drunkenness are false, and goes on to show that everything that is happening in that moment was proclaimed hundreds of years before. Israel had always assumed that Joel’s prophesy was tied to the coming of their Messiah, but Peter’s intent in quoting these words was to show that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah who is available to all who believe in the Christ, and that there is no other!
He takes the lead among all who had received the gift of the Spirit that day, and would now be recognized as the leader for this new branch of Judaism. He quoted the prophet Joel; he proclaims the gift that is Jesus Christ; and he would tie it all together in a powerful message of salvation. (Acts 2:22-41)
These “last days” had become “new days” for Israel and the entire world. Salvation is no longer dependent upon strict adherence to the law of Moses; it is no longer about perfection as defined by human understanding; it is no longer the exclusive right for Israel and them alone – even gentiles and servants can now know the glory of Almighty God; and sin would no longer be the final word, resolved only through preestablished means of sacrifice.
Pentecost brought an entirely different newness to our world, and yet, there are still many who believe that anyone who seeks after the Holy Spirit and all that God would have us know through Him must either be ignorant or deranged! But we still wait for the Day of Truth to arrive, when “every knee should bow … and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is LORD, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:5-11)
May that day come soon!
