Pentecost

Many followers of Jesus will observe May 20th this year as Pentecost. Jewish worshipers will observe Shavuot (Feast of Weeks) from sundown on May 19th through sundown on May 21st. The Feast of Weeks was one of three major festivals for Jewish worshipers under the Mosaic law. This past week, Jews continued its observance. It originally had agricultural significance (Worshipers brought a grain offering as well as animals to be sacrificed.), but came to be associated also with the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai, an association that remains today. In the New Testament, it is called by a Greek name – Pentecost. Pentecost has great meaning for Christians who have studied the book of Acts. As the giving of the Law ushered in a new era in God’s covenants with humanity, so the falling of the Holy Spirit on the disciples and the preaching of the Gospel by Peter marked the beginning of the church. Instructions regarding the Feast of Weeks in Leviticus 23 included a command to leave grain in the fields for the poor and the sojourner. The book of Acts notes continued care for the poor in the aftermath of Pentecost. The beginning of Christ’s church also marked the teaching of God’s word to ever-widening circles of people – now all ethnicities could celebrate together the abundant gifts from our Creator and God. Peter’s message on Pentecost also noted individual responsibility to God to obey his will. After preaching about how God had made Jesus, whom they had crucified, both Lord and Christ, Peter instructed his hearers to “repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ of the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). Today individuals begin their identification as Christians with obedience to those same words, and like those early Christians, we still devote ourselves “to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and the prayers” (Acts 2:42).