The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost
2 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues[a] as the Spirit enabled them.
5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,[b] 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”
Horsham: 18th March 2024
Tomorrow is the day in the Church calendar when we celebrate Pentecost. For the Jews in first century Palestine, Pentecost was a festival which celebrated the time when the Law was given to Moses. (You can read the story on Exodus 19 and 20). It also celebrated the start of the new harvest. To us, Pentecost is the time when we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit. We remember the day when 3000 people committed to become followers of Jesus (Acts 2:41). We remember the day when a new harvest began, a harvest for the Kingdom of God which continues to this day.
2000 years ago, the festival of Pentecost would have attracted thousands of pilgrims from across the known world, and was taking place in Jerusalem about ten days after the Ascension of Jesus. The Disciples were all together in Jerusalem, in obedience to the last instruction of Jesus.
Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with[a] water, but in a few days you will be baptized with[b] the Holy Spirit.
When Jesus gave them that instruction, the disciples can have had very little idea of what to expect. When something did happen, it was one of the most powerful and dramatic events of Christian history.
Speaking about the Ascension, William Barclay writes ‘The Ascension must always remain a mystery, for it attempts to put into words and describe something that is beyond description.’ (i) The same, I think applies to the release of the Holy Spirit on that morning in Jerusalem. Something like a powerful wind… Something like tongues of fire… It’s one of a series of events of Scripture which defies description.
I’m not going to retell the story here – you can read it for yourself – but there is a point I want to make.
After their encounter with the Holy Spirit, this small bunch of Galileans, most of whom were not very well educated, came out full of excitement onto the bustling streets. People from far flung countries, from north, south east and west, from places we would now call Syria, Egypt, Crete and Iran, heard these men speaking about the wonders of God in their own languages. These people are all Jews or God fearing people – Gentiles who had converted to Judaism. To some extent or other, all these people would have all been able to speak Aramaic, the common language of Judaism at that time, but the fact of hearing the gospel message in their own language stopped them in their tracks. No surprise that to many of the locals, who only spoke Aramaic, these foreign languages sounds so strange that they might assume the disciples to be drunk.
I recently spent some time with the leaders of a local Church. They sense that they have become rather out of touch with their local community, but have little appetite for change. It made me reflect on the fact that some of our our Churches use practices, hymns and worship styles which would have been familiar to our Victorian forebears. Not so surprising that they are inaccessible to people around us.
The explosion of the Church started with the Holy Spirit enabling the followers of Jesus to speak to people in a language they would understand. It occurs to me that if we sought the enablement of the Holy Spirit to enable us to talk about the wonders of God using the same language as the people around us, we might find ourselves witnessing a wonderful and eternal harvest for Jesus.
Don’t be waiting for the sound of rushing wind and the visible tongues of fire. If you are a follower of Jesus, you already have the Holy Spirit within you (Romans 8:9, 1 Corinthians 6:19). Whatever your background. Whatever your culture. Speak about Jesus using the language people around you will understand. Speak about what Jesus has done for you in your own language.
Pentecost. The Holy Spirit. Now and forever. Immanuel – God with us.
Just a thought.