Pentecost
What is Pentecost and what is its significance for us today? Pentecost is a Jewish Holiday that marks the 50th day after Passover. It is the wheat harvest because it occurs seven weeks after the first offering known as the Firstfuits Offering. Then, the day after the completion of seven weeks (49 days), the holiday is known as Shavuot, Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost (which means 50th).
Leviticus 23:15–16 You shall count seven full weeks from the day after the (Passover) Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering (Feast of Firstfruits). You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then you shall present a grain offering of new grain to the LORD.
This holiday was more than just the bringing of the first of the crops to present before God—it was a time to remember how Israel arrived in the land. This means never forgetting where they had come from in the past in order to continue to be thankful in the present. It means remembering that the land was a gift from the Lord. And it was also an opportunity to rejoice, to enjoy the fruit of the land and, yes, even to party with family and visitors!
Deuteronomy 26:1-4;10b-11 And it shall be, when you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you possess it and dwell in it, 2 that you shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground, which you shall bring from your land that the Lord your God is giving you, and put it in a basket and go to the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide. 3 And you shall go to the one who is priest in those days, and say to him, ‘I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come to the country which the Lord swore to our fathers to give us. 4 Then the priest shall take the basket out of your hand and set it down before the altar of the Lord your God. 10b Then you shall set it before the Lord your God, and worship before the Lord your God. 11 So you shall rejoice in every good thing which the Lord your God has given to you and your house, you and the Levite and the stranger who is among you.
By the time of Jesus’ arrival, Pentecost had also become the anniversary of the giving of the Law.
Let us examine the effects on Jesus’ followers before, during, and after Pentecost.
Before Pentecost
Matthew 26:56b When Jesus was arrested, Then, all the disciples forsook Him and fled.
John 20:19-22 After Jesus’ resurrection, Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
Acts 1:1-8 The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 2 until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, 3 to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.
The Holy Spirit Promised (around 500 people)
4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me;
5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
During Pentecost (120 people) 1/4
Acts 2:1-4 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
After Pentecost
Acts 2:38-39 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
Acts 2:41b-43 and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. 42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.