BIBLE 101: PENTECOST

PENTECOST

by Pastor Emeritus Karen Geisendorfer-Lindgren (karengl@lordoflife.org)

May 23, 2021, is a promise that Jesus had made to them before his special day for a couple ascension. Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit of reasons. First, it’s would come to them in Jerusalem. They didn’t

Bible 101 special to my husband Peter and me because know how God’s Spirit was going to come to them, but they trusted that it would be so. And we are celebrating our so they stayed all together and waited. 40th wedding anniversary on that day. And, it And indeed, the promise that Jesus made to is special to all Christians, because this year them was fulfilled. May 23 is Pentecost. Pentecost is the day when we At about 9 in the morning, with the city celebrate the anniversary of the Christian church. bustling with thousands of foreign visitors, the The details of our wedding day are fun to share Holy Spirit came. with our kids (like when the tornado sirens went Acts 2:2-4 describes it this way: “Suddenly off a half hour before the ceremony), but the from heaven there came a sound like the rush details of that Pentecost when the Holy Spirit of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house established the Christian church is one of the where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of most miraculous and amazing events in all fire, appeared among them and a tongue rested of time. You can read all about this exciting on each of them. All of them were filled with occasion in the first couple of chapters of the the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other book of Acts in the New Testament. languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.” Here’s what happened: Each one began speaking in a different On the 50th day after Passover, there was a language—telling of the mighty acts of God— huge celebration in Jerusalem. People had come so that each of the foreigners gathered there in from all over the known world to participate in Jerusalem could hear the message of the Gospel Pentecost (pente—from Greek—meaning fifty), a in their own native language. Jewish festival which included giving thanks for What a miracle. The Holy Spirit not only came the wheat harvest. and gave the disciples the words they needed The disciples were all gathered together, there to be witnesses—but gave them in such a way in Jerusalem, waiting for the fulfillment of the that each one who heard the message could

understand what was spoken. The Holy Spirit made it possible to reach every person there, in a manner that spoke directly to them. And this was how the Christian church grew: one person sharing with another the wonderful message of how God came to the world in love through the person of Jesus Christ. Each disciple received a unique gift that enabled them to touch the heart of someone in the crowd. The Holy Spirit works the same way today: giving each of us a unique combination of gifts that makes it possible for us to reach out to others with the love of God.

And so as we celebrate Pentecost we give thanks for the Holy Spirit—who is one of the three ways that God comes to us . . . Father, Son, and Holy Spirit . . . one God in three persons . . . the holy Trinity. May God the Holy Spirit empower each of us to continue the work begun on Pentecost—growing the Christian church by sharing the good news. Happy anniversary.