Opening: Have you ever had an experience in life that you were anticipating, but
when it occurred, it was a surprise, or at least more than you imagined? Maybe
it was the birth of your child or grandchild. What is it like when your world
is radically changed for the good?
Scripture: Read Acts 2:1-13.
Insights:
- Pentecost is the birthday of the Church, and the beginning of the era of the Holy Spirit. It is the fulfillment of Jesus’ promises from John 14:15-30 and 16:5-15. This was also a fulfillment of John the Baptist’s words about the Holy Spirit’s baptizing with fire.
- Why tongues of fire? Tongues symbolize speech and the communication of the Good News. Fire symbolizes God’s purifying presence, which burns away the undesirable elements of our lives and sets our hearts aflame to ignite the lives of others. On Mount Sinai, God confirmed the validity of the Old Testament law with fire from heaven (see Exodus 19:16-18). At Pentecost, God confirmed the validity of the Holy Spirit’s ministry by sending fire. At Mount Sinai, fire came down on one place; at Pentecost, fire came down on many believers, symbolizing that God’s presence is available to all who believe in him.[1]
- While we speak of the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, we are not saying that the Holy Spirit came into existence at Pentecost. That is not so; God is eternally Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In fact, Acts makes that quite clear. The Holy Spirit was speaking in David (Acts 1:16); the Spirit spoke through Isaiah (Acts 28:25); Stephen accuses the Jews of having opposed the Spirit all through their history (Acts 7:51). Now at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit becomes the dominant reality in the life of the Church.
- Those that first heard the coming of the Holy Spirit were devout Jews living in Jerusalem but were from other countries. They would have known the Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek that was commonly spoken in Jerusalem, yet the Holy Spirit uses the spiritual gift of tongues to communicate the message. God certainly has a flare for the dramatic! It was quite an attention getter, and set the stage for Peter’s sermon (tomorrow’s devotional).
Life
Questions:
- The Holy Spirit came in a powerful way on the day of Pentecost. Has some kind of manifestation of the Holy Spirit ever occurred in your life, in your presence, in your family? (It doesn’t have to be speaking in tongues!)
- How is the coming of the Holy Spirit different than the coming of Jesus?
- Has there ever been a time when God was working through you, but others ridiculed you? What was your reaction? How did you handle it?
Prayer: For the
Holy Spirit to use us in powerful ways to declare the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
