A Truly Red-Letter Day

 The dates of major feast days are often printed in red on liturgical calendars to note its significance, and the Feast of Pentecost is one of those days. Although Pentecost is considered one of the major feast days of the church it often passes with little fanfare such that one would not ordinarily think about it or be reminded of it. However, it proved to be an extraordinary way of the spreading of the Gospel. To understand Pentecost and its significance we need to see where it stands in the Biblical story.

Most of us are aware that this is the day the Holy Spirit descended upon and indwelt the crowd gathered around the apostles. The arrival of the Holy Spirit created such a stir that thousands who were in Jerusalem came out to see what was going on. Peter’s message of the gospel was so powerful three thousand were baptized.

Pentecost occurred 50 days after the resurrection and it was during this time that Jesus’ disciples’ convictions about the resurrection took shape and were solidified.

As a result of the Pentecost event the Gospel went public and things have not been the same since.

Pentecost, or Shavout in Jewish, was a feast day that had been celebrated by the Jews since the time of Moses, and it was celebrated 50 days after the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The Feast of Pentecost was the beginning of the “Feast of Weeks” which originally came the day after seven full weeks following the first harvest of grain. In the Jewish tradition the fiftieth day was known as the Festival of Weeks. It was a day of first fruits when offerings of the new grain were presented to the Lord, and this offering of the first grain was a portent of the coming of the Holy Spirit.

Pentecost is significant for several reasons. First, the Gospel is the good news that is not only about conquering death, but about living life differently. Life is now about living a life in union with God, and this union takes place through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The Gospel teaches us that we can now live on a different level when we are united with God through the Spirit. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the first fruits of the Gospel and intimately tied to the resurrection because the Spirit is a first fruit – a deposit so to speak – of our coming personal resurrection.

This Pentecost Sunday, of course there will be no
flames of fire dancing on people’s heads, but one can certainly recognize that this is a time to open one’s self to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit so that one can lead a gospel-filled life.