The Christian Feast of Pentecost is a fulfillment of the Jewish Feast of Weeks described in Leviticus 23. Both the Old and New Testament versions were about trusting God for life and recalling his promises. When the city was full of pilgrims from all over the known world, the Holy Spirit empowered the disciples to preach Christ and him crucified. They did so with miraculous language abilities, which was a reversal of the Tower of Babel judgment from Genesis 11. All these people were being invited into a new kind of life by faith in Jesus.

The Holy Spirit Empowers the Transformed Life.

The disciples went from fear and weakness to a bold and joyful public witness. Peter quotes the Prophet Joel that God would pour out his Spirit upon all flesh (flesh being sinful humanity).  

Both divine and human action are involved in faith. The Holy Spirit cut the crowd to the heart during the preaching. The people respond by repentance and baptism. Then God bestows forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit. The converts are then to “save themselves from this crooked generation.” They did so by devoting themselves to the Apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, the breaking of bread and the prayers. They also met in the temple and in their homes daily. There was such joy and generosity that outsiders were also being added to their number daily.  

Taking It Home: Often our witness to outsiders is weak because we are not devoted to the things of God, nor are we living in the fruit of the Spirit. Ephesians 5:18 tells us to “be filled by the Holy Spirit.” It is a direct command but in a passive voice. We must open ourselves to God.