Pentecost

The Holy Spirit Empowered the Church to Proclaim the Gospel

Before Jesus ascended into heaven, He made His disciples a promise. They were not to begin the mission in their own strength because they would soon receive power from the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8). They obeyed His command, gathered together in Jerusalem, and waited. They did not yet know how God would fulfill His promise, but they trusted that He would.

Then Pentecost arrived.

Acts 2 tells us that the disciples were gathered together when suddenly the sound of a violent rushing wind filled the house. Something like tongues of fire rested upon each of them, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit. Immediately they began speaking in languages they had never learned, declaring the mighty works of God to the crowds gathered in Jerusalem.

This miracle was not random.

Pentecost was already an important feast long before Acts 2. The word simply means “fiftieth” because it was celebrated fifty days after Passover. During the Old Testament, this feast reminded Israel of God’s provision and eventually became associated with God’s giving of the Law at Mount Sinai. On that occasion, God gave His Word written on tablets of stone, but before Moses could even come down the mountain, the people had already broken the covenant by worshiping the golden calf. As judgment fell upon Israel that day, about three thousand people died (Ex. 32:28).

Now, on another Pentecost, God was doing something even greater.

Instead of writing His Word on tablets of stone, He was placing His Spirit within His people. Instead of three thousand dying under the condemnation of the Law, about three thousand believed the gospel, were baptized, and received new life in Christ (Acts 2:41). The Law had revealed humanity’s inability to save itself. The Holy Spirit now provided the power to live the life God had called His people to live.

Jesus had told His disciples this would happen. In the upper room He said, “It is for your benefit that I go away, because if I don’t go away, the Counselor will not come to you” (John 16:7). That must have sounded impossible. How could anything be better than having Jesus physically beside them? Yet Jesus knew that His followers would accomplish far more if the Holy Spirit lived within every believer than if He alone remained with them in one location.

The timing of Pentecost also reveals God’s remarkable plan. Jews from throughout the known world had gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the feast, bringing with them many different languages and cultures. When the disciples began proclaiming the gospel, every person heard the message in his own language. What seemed impossible became possible because the presence of God empowered the people of God to accomplish the purpose of God.

The miracle also reminds us of another event from the beginning of the Bible.

At the Tower of Babel, humanity united in pride, attempting to reach heaven on its own terms. God judged their rebellion by confusing their languages and scattering them across the earth (Gen. 11). At Pentecost, people from those scattered nations gathered once again. This time they did not build a tower to reach God. God came down to them. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, the language barrier was overcome so the gospel could begin spreading to every nation.

As the crowds gathered in amazement, some assumed the disciples were drunk. Peter quickly stood and explained what was really happening. He boldly proclaimed that Jesus, whom many in that very city had rejected and crucified, had been raised from the dead and exalted as both Lord and Messiah. The fearful fisherman who had denied Jesus only weeks earlier now preached with extraordinary courage because the Holy Spirit had transformed him.

When the people asked what they should do, Peter called them to repent, believe, and be baptized. About three thousand people responded that very day, and the church was born.

Everything changed at Pentecost.

During Jesus’ earthly ministry, there had been one Teacher proclaiming the kingdom of God. Now there were thousands. The same Holy Spirit who empowered the apostles would dwell within every believer, enabling ordinary men and women to carry the gospel wherever God sent them. The mission was no longer centered in one person walking through Galilee. It was multiplying through the lives of people scattered throughout the world.

The story of the Bible has always been about God coming to rescue His people.

At Pentecost, He came to live within them.