Gracious God, we are reminded again about when the first believers were given the courage to tell others about Jesus.
We believe you give us that same courage to tell others about Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit.
You know, O God, that sometimes we are fearful and we feel alone.
Just like the first believers, we too are surrounded by your love and presence.
Help us live in such a way that others see in us a reflection of your love. Help us have the courage to tell others about the difference you make in our lives.
Help us notice those who want to be in the fellowship of Christians.
Help us to witness to one another so that we grow in faith.
Through the power of your Holy Spirit and the witness of your son,
Jesus the Christ, we pray today. Amen.
Who knows what day it was yesterday?
Right, Pentecost.
And what happened on Pentecost?
So, when we think of Pentecost, we think of when God sent the Holy Spirit to descend upon the followers of Jesus.
In the beginning . . .
Since we are going to be studying Jesus as found in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy . . . let’s go back to the beginning and talk about the Feasts and Holidays of the Bible.
There are seven specific holidays that God instituted, which were intended to be times to meet with God.
We know about Pesach (PAY-sahk) or Passover which takes place 14 Nisan in March or April and is instituted by God in Leviticus 23:4-5 and Exodus 12:1-4. This celebration also coincides with our Easter.
I think some of us have heard about Hag HaMatzot (Hawg Hah MAHT zog) or the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This takes place from 15-21 Nisan in March or April and is instituted by God in Leviticus 23:6-8 and Exodus 12:15-20.
And then we come to Yom HaBikkurim (Yome Hah-Bee-koo-REEM) or the First Fruits.
Today – these first three feasts (Pesach, the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the First Fruits) have all been incorporated into the celebration of Passover – therefore, today, when we reference Passover it actually means all three feasts.
But . . . for the purposes of understanding Pentecost, let’s first start with the Feast of the First Fruits or as we said (Yome Hah-Bee-koo-REEM). This takes place on 16 Nisan which occurs either in March or April. This celebration was instructed by God in Leviticus 23:9-14
Leviticus 23:9-14 The Message (MSG)
9-14 God spoke to Moses: “Tell the People of Israel, When you arrive at the land that I am giving you and reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain that you harvest. He will wave the sheaf before God for acceptance on your behalf; on the morning after Sabbath, the priest will wave it. On the same day that you wave the sheaf, offer a year-old male lamb without defect for a Whole-Burnt-Offering to God and with it the Grain-Offering of four quarts of fine flour mixed with oil—a Fire-Gift to God, a pleasing fragrance—and also a Drink-Offering of a quart of wine. Don’t eat any bread or roasted or fresh grain until you have presented this offering to your God. This is a perpetual decree for all your generations to come, wherever you live.
This festival is called Shavot (Sha-voo-OTE) and takes place on 6 Sivan which occurs either in May or June. This celebration was instructed by God in Leviticus 23:15-22.
The Festival of Weeks
Leviticus 23:15-22 The Message (MSG)
15-21 “Count seven full weeks from the morning after the Sabbath when you brought the sheaf as a Wave-Offering, fifty days until the morning of the seventh Sabbath. Then present a new Grain-Offering to God. Bring from wherever you are living two loaves of bread made from four quarts of fine flour and baked with yeast as a Wave-Offering of the first ripe grain to God. In addition to the bread, offer seven yearling male lambs without defect, plus one bull and two rams. They will be a Whole-Burnt-Offering to God together with their Grain-Offerings and Drink-Offerings—offered as Fire-Gifts, a pleasing fragrance to God. Offer one male goat for an Absolution-Offering and two yearling lambs for a Peace-Offering. The priest will wave the two lambs before God as a Wave-Offering, together with the bread of the first ripe grain. They are sacred offerings to God for the priest. Proclaim the day as a sacred assembly. Don’t do any ordinary work. It is a perpetual decree wherever you live down through your generations.
22 “When you reap the harvest of your land, don’t reap the corners of your field or gather the gleanings. Leave them for the poor and the foreigners. I am God, your God.”
We will see how examples of the gleaning rights in the books of Ruth, Job, Isaiah, Judges, Jeremiah, Micah and other places in the Bible.
A Sound Like a Strong Wind
2 1-4 When the Feast of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Without warning there was a sound like a strong wind, gale force—no one could tell where it came from. It filled the whole building. Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks, and they started speaking in a number of different languages as the Spirit prompted them.
5-11 There were many Jews staying in Jerusalem just then, devout pilgrims from all over the world. When they heard the sound, they came on the run. Then when they heard, one after another, their own mother tongues being spoken, they were thunderstruck. They couldn’t for the life of them figure out what was going on, and kept saying, “Aren’t these all Galileans? How come we’re hearing them talk in our various mother tongues?
Parthians, Medes, and Elamites;
Visitors from Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia,
Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia,
Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene;
Immigrants from Rome, both Jews and proselytes;
Even Cretans and Arabs!
“They’re speaking our languages, describing God’s mighty works!”
12 Their heads were spinning; they couldn’t make head or tail of any of it. They talked back and forth, confused: “What’s going on here?”
13 Others joked, “They’re drunk on cheap wine.”
Peter Speaks Up
14-21 That’s when Peter stood up and, backed by the other eleven, spoke out with bold urgency: “Fellow Jews, all of you who are visiting Jerusalem, listen carefully and get this story straight. These people aren’t drunk as some of you suspect. They haven’t had time to get drunk—it’s only nine o’clock in the morning. This is what the prophet Joel announced would happen:
“In the Last Days,” God says,
“I will pour out my Spirit
on every kind of people:
Your sons will prophesy,
also your daughters;
Your young men will see visions,
your old men dream dreams.
When the time comes,
I’ll pour out my Spirit
On those who serve me, men and women both,
and they’ll prophesy.
I’ll set wonders in the sky above
and signs on the earth below,
Blood and fire and billowing smoke,
the sun turning black and the moon blood-red,
Before the Day of the Lord arrives,
the Day tremendous and marvelous;
And whoever calls out for help
to me, God, will be saved.”
22-28 “Fellow Israelites, listen carefully to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man thoroughly accredited by God to you—the miracles and wonders and signs that God did through him are common knowledge—this Jesus, following the deliberate and well-thought-out plan of God, was betrayed by men who took the law into their own hands, and was handed over to you. And you pinned him to a cross and killed him. But God untied the death ropes and raised him up. Death was no match for him. David said it all:
I saw God before me for all time.
Nothing can shake me; he’s right by my side.
I’m glad from the inside out, ecstatic;
I’ve pitched my tent in the land of hope.
I know you’ll never dump me in Hades;
I’ll never even smell the stench of death.
You’ve got my feet on the life-path,
with your face shining sun-joy all around.
29-36 “Dear friends, let me be completely frank with you. Our ancestor David is dead and buried—his tomb is in plain sight today. But being also a prophet and knowing that God had solemnly sworn that a descendant of his would rule his kingdom, seeing far ahead, he talked of the resurrection of the Messiah—‘no trip to Hades, no stench of death.’ This Jesus, God raised up. And every one of us here is a witness to it. Then, raised to the heights at the right hand of God and receiving the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, he poured out the Spirit he had just received. That is what you see and hear. For David himself did not ascend to heaven, but he did say,
God said to my Master, “Sit at my right hand
Until I make your enemies a stool for resting your feet.”
“All Israel, then, know this: There’s no longer room for doubt—God made him Master and Messiah, this Jesus whom you killed on a cross.”
37 Cut to the quick, those who were there listening asked Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers! Brothers! So now what do we do?”
38-39 Peter said, “Change your life. Turn to God and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, so your sins are forgiven. Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is targeted to you and your children, but also to all who are far away—whomever, in fact, our Master God invites.”
40 He went on in this vein for a long time, urging them over and over, “Get out while you can; get out of this sick and stupid culture!”
41-42 That day about three thousand took him at his word, were baptized and were signed up. They committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles, the life together, the common meal, and the prayers.
43-45 Everyone around was in awe—all those wonders and signs done through the apostles! And all the believers lived in a wonderful harmony, holding everything in common. They sold whatever they owned and pooled their resources so that each person’s need was met.
46-47 They followed a daily discipline of worship in the Temple followed by meals at home, every meal a celebration, exuberant and joyful, as they praised God. People in general liked what they saw. Every day their number grew as God added those who were saved.
John 14:26 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.
Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Acts 4:31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
With a sound like a violent wind and amid flames of fire, the long-promised Holy Spirit arrived on the day of Pentecost. The disciples and other Christ-followers witnessed His undeniable presence and continue to do so even today as He gives comfort, wisdom, and power to those who name Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
Once we name Jesus as Lord and receive His Spirit, we then choose daily - if not moment by moment - whether to live in the Spirit, whether to depend on His power, follow His direction and rely on Him to help us die to self. When we make that choice to walk with the Spirit - when we choose to let Him guide us along the narrow path of loving, joyful and freeing friendship with Christ - others will glimpse in us what God is like. And by the Spirit's power, we can resist the temptations of the world, stand strong in God's truth, keep our eyes on the Lord Jesus, and know in our heart of hearts the hope of Christmas.