Mt. Olives Cemetery from Gethsemane

And They Were Bewildered (Part 2 of 2)

Dear Friends, last week I wrote that Jesus traveled with his disciples from the Galilee to Jerusalem during his last days with them. In Jerusalem, he instructed them to wait “until they receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon them.”

I wondered why he went to such efforts to ensure the disciples would be in Jerusalem to receive the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit could have come down anytime, anywhere, right? Not really. God is always more purposeful than that.

I’d like to follow up on that. As Pentecost is next week, here are some of my thoughts.    Pentecost: Give me five!

Many know the word “Pentecost” in its adjective form--“Pentecostal.” We often use it to describe a denomination or a theology relating to the Holy Spirit or evidence of spiritual gifts.

The word “Pentecostal” does find its roots in the events of “Pentecost” recorded in Acts 2:1-12.  However, “Pentecost” is not originally a holiday to celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit. Notice that Luke writes, “On the day of Pentecost.” This wasn’t a new thing--it was and remains a Jewish festival, which God first declared all the way back in Exodus 23.

Pentecost is also called the Festival of Weeks. Literally meaning, “count fifty,” Pentecost gets its name from the Greek & Latin root “pente,” (which means five) because it falls fifty days,seven weeks plus one day, after the first sabbath of Passover.

(Quick aside: Jewish tradition has added a second meaning to Pentecost: The day God revealed the Law to Moses. However, this meaning is not found in scripture. This interpretation developed through oral tradition and was first written about in the Talmud as part of Rabbinic Judaic tradition centuries after the time of Jesus).

Some context - God loves celebrations.

God revealed the Law to Moses about three months after he led the Israelites to freedom from Egypt. The Law includes the Ten commandments, as well as other ordinances revealed, clarified and ordered throughout the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy.

In these scriptures, God institutes seven festivals for the Israelites which remain the basis of Jewish holidays today. Four of these festivals take place in the Spring to commemorate how God freed the Israelites from slavery and to celebrate how God provides through fruits of the harvests. What many people may not know is how precisely these holidays coincide with the events of the crucifixion, resurrection and coming of the Holy Spirit. The Festivals are listed in order in Leviticus 23.

·  Passover & Unleavened Bread are technically two festivals, but often referred to simply as  “Passover.” Passover is celebrated for one night and commemorates how God saved the Israelites from judgment by the blood of a sacrificial lamb. The following week, the Israelites were to refrain from eating bread made with yeast, to remember that when God told them to leave Egypt in haste and didn’t have time for the bread to rise.  Exodus 12:1-20. God instructed all Jews to go to Jerusalem for Passover. Passover is the day Jesus, as the sacrificial lamb, was crucified.

***·  The Festival of First Fruits*** is celebrated one day after the first Sabbath of Passover. This festival celebrates the first “sheaf,” or stalks of the spring season grain crop. ***Festival of First Fruits is the day Jesus was resurrected.***

***·  The Festival of Weeks (Pentecost)***, fifty days after Passover, people celebrate God’s provision by offering the first crop of the springtime grain harvest. All Jews are instructed to go to Jerusalem. *Pentecost is the day the Holy Spirit came down.*

God is in the details