Dear Friends,
The disciples were gathered in Jerusalem to wait, as Jesus had instructed them. A great many Jews had gathered there for the Festival of Weeks, Shavuot, primarily a harvest festival and one of the three pilgrimage festivals during which Jews were expected to travel to the great Temple. The word Shavuot had been translated to Greek as Pentecost, meaning “fifty days.” The ancient harvest of wheat was begun on the second day after the Passover and lasted for seven weeks. On the day of Pentecost, the harvest was celebrated. Over time, the festival also came to commemorate the giving of the Torah, the Law, to the people on Mt. Sinai.
Our Christian Pentecost, fifty days after Jesus’s resurrection, celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit among the Jews gathered in Jerusalem. Jesus had promised this, and, as the disciples waited, “suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability . . . about God’s deeds of power.” That day, we are told, “those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added” to those who would follow Christ.
Some now refer to the Day of Pentecost as the “birthday of the Church” because of the coming of the Holy Spirit to guide and empower the life of the Church, as Jesus had told the disciples would happen. We’ll have a fine celebration this coming Sunday as we welcome little Samuel Womack into the household of God in Holy Baptism. Wear red, the color of flame!
Wishing you every blessing,
Mtr. TJ