Acts 2:1-21 [Pentecost CWS A]
Pastor Ron Koehler
Grace—Tucson, AZ
May 31, 2020
A Perfect Pentecost Dear Friends in Christ, Remember parties? Remember big get-togethers with other people? Remember celebrating special days like Easter with a crowd? Yeah, it’s been tough for many of us not to have had those kinds of events (including Easter!) for a couple months now. God’s people have always cherished opportunities for fellowship, for joining in worship, for special celebrations. The Bible shares the details of some of those times. One of those was Pentecost. Let’s clear up one thing that can be kind of confusing. If you’re looking for “Pentecost” in the Old Testament so you can learn more about what all these people were doing in Jerusalem, you won’t find it. That’s because Pentecost is a Greek word. When we read about this festival in the New Testament, it is called Pentecost because the New Testament was written in Greek and that is the Greek name for this annual festival. In the Old Testament, which was written in Hebrew, you actually find a couple names for it: The Feast of Weeks or the Feast of the Harvest—Feast of Weeks because it was held 7 weeks after Passover (a “week” of weeks, so to speak), and Feast of the Harvest because that’s what it was about. It was a celebration of the spring wheat harvest and it went back all the way to the time of Moses. This was a holiday commanded by God to be observed in a particular way. It was a day off of work for everyone. Nothing was going on except God’s people joining together. Each person or family would bake some bread with the new grain, pack it in their bags and baskets, along with whatever else they needed, and make their way to the festival. This first and best of the crops baked into loaves was used as a wave offering to God. The priests offered some of the grain along with drink offerings and animals sacrificed in thanksgiving to God—an aroma pleasing to him. There was also a specific sacrifice of atonement for their sins that was made that day. Everyone one was together, the smell of roasted grain and meat filled the air, and they worshiped God who provided for them both spiritually and physically. This was a happy time, a time to give thanks to God and enjoy his blessings. It was worship and it sounds like kind of a party too! Now fast-forward about 1500 years from the time it was first celebrated to the account before us from the book of Acts. Does it make sense then that there were Jewish people gathered for this festival from all those cities and countries mentioned? Just as we have three major festivals—Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost—this was one of three major holidays for them, along with Passover and the Festival of Tabernacles. Everyone celebrated them and travelled for them. So this annual event was really important! Just as we wish for a perfect Christmas celebration or a perfect Easter Day, people then looked forward to this great festival.