- Friday Worship - 29.05.2020

The Day of Pentecost

by Deacon Crimson

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First Reading: Joel 2: 28 – 32

Second Reading: - Acts 2 : 1 – 12

Gospel Reading - John 16: 13 – 15

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Dear Brethren,

Greetings to you in the wonderful name of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

This week has the day of Pentecost and it will be good for us to mediate upon the this special day. Some two thousand years ago and just ten days after the ascension of our Lord, the Holy Spirit was descending upon the disciples in Jerusalem.

The significance of the day of Pentecost:

In fact, the Jews have three different festivals namely the Passover which is the most important one, the second one is the Day of Pentecost and the third one is the Festival of Tabernacle. These are the feasts the Lord wanted them to observe right from the time of Moses. ( Purim is another festival too observed right from the time of Queen Esther 450 BC)

Pentecost is also called the Festival of the week after the seventh week; which means the beginning of the eighth week after the Passover. Jesus was nailed on the cross as the Pascal Lamb for the redemption of the whole world (John 1:29). This Festival has two more significance for the Jewish people because, this was the day Moses had received the Tablets of Law in the mount Sinai and it has another importance that it has the connection to offering of the first fruit to our Lord and no other work should be done on this day. ( Numbers 28:26). These were the reasons many Jewish as well as the proselytes gathered in Jerusalem on this special occasion. The latter were either gentiles or partially Jewish those who came out of the pagan religion that used to require human penance and sacrifices and so on.

What is the purpose of this day with regard to the coming of the Holy Spirit.

The book of the Acts of the Apostles is called the Gospel of the Holy Spirit. In the previous days we saw how the Holy Spirit was moving amongst certain people in the Old Testament to fulfill God’s purpose on specific times. Why He then had to visit the people again in this occasion? Well, we should remember that God is Spirit, who is present everywhere at all the times, irrespective of any person and every age of human history. But remember, that the Lord revealed himself first to the chosen people with the special revelation of law and the prophets. (Hebrews 1: 1) but after the coming of the Lord the free gift of Salvation has been extended to all people till the last corner of the earth ( Mat 28:19). To show this as a symbolism, the Holy Spirit himself had gathered all the people from different nations and languages to be assembled in Jerusalem in the right time of the Festival. Meanwhile, to fulfill the prophesy of Joel that God would pour out His Spirit on all mankind. And Acts 2: 16 & 17 happened exactly at this moment. God almighty wants all people to be saved. And the salvation and the anointing of the Holy Spirit is a free gift for everyone who believes in the Lord whether he is Jewish or gentile. This plan of God once again reestablished at the house of the Roman Centurion, Cornelius. (Acts 11:18) when the Holy Spirit was filling the household and the visitors at his house. When Jesus died on the cross the screen of the temple tore off so that we all can have the access to the throne of grace and here the Holy spirit was anointing the gentiles. (Hebrews 4:16).

Man’s Plan and the God’s foreknowledge:

Men’s desire for fame and the Lord’s desire for salvation to the Mankind: In Genesis chapter 11, we see how those men wanted to build the tallest tower to establish their name. Biblical commentators refer the strong leadership of Nimrod in this breathtaking effort. Why did they want to make a tallest tower? Roman coliseums could give us an answer for this. Romans built their great Coliseums, Those were towers though not as big as expected by the followers of Nimrod but the Romans had their carnal desires fulfilled, human sacrifices, the butchery of enemy soldiers and the blood stream of gladiators, feeding the carnivorous with the human flesh, the nailing of culprits and the innocents were all so normally prevalent with a great applaud of the crowd. The Babel was designed much higher and just estimate the crime it could accumulate if it were built at the time when the humanity was growing after the great flood. This was one reason and the Lord wanted them to spread all over the world an acquisition of new language skill. Hence, they were all spread farther away from each other.

However, in Acts we understand that people from different language and cultural background came into one place. Despite the fact, they had different language background, they all could hear the message in their own tongue when Peter started addressing the crowd. Here, it is quite evident about the how the Holy Spirit was unifying the people together. It was a foretaste of heavenly abode when the saved from various nations gathered together in the feet of our Lord and spoke the heavenly language.

In fact, the interpretation of the Gods word is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The great missionary William Carey could translate the Holy Bible more than thirty-seven different languages and it is nothing but the Gift of the Holy Spirit.

We shall meditate upon the functions are the Holy Spirit with regard to the tongues of fire, the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the fruits of the Spirit in general -till the day of Trinity.

May the Lord richly bless us.

Prayer

Loving Heavenly Father, we thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit who is the overseer of the church (Acts 20:28) and help us, Lord, to listen and to obey the mild voice of the spirit to walk in the right way. Let’s all be united by your Spirit in His fellowship. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

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