Just weeks after Jesus’ resurrection His followers were gathered in Jerusalem to observe the Feast of Weeks, also known as Pentecost. Suddenly the room was filled with the sound of wind, and what appeared as tongues of fire came upon them and they began to speak in different languages. In this way God announced the pouring out of the Holy Spirit as the prophets had foretold. Joel 2:28-29 was quoted by the Apostle Peter in Acts 2:17-18 at that first Pentecost: “But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh….”
In Christ’s final prayer for the Apostles and those who would succeed them, He prayed that just as He and the Father were one, those who received the Holy Spirit would be one with them (John 17:21-23). The Holy Spirit is the means by which this “oneness” with God and Christ is achieved (1 Cor 2:9-11,14). The indwelling of the Holy Spirit helps us recognise and avoid sin as we take on the mind of Christ, enabling a deeper understanding of God’s word.
God’s Spirit is the source of divine revelation, the power by which human beings can understand and grasp spiritual concepts and principles mentioned in God’s Word. Before His death Jesus told His disciples that God’s Spirit would help them understand things they had never grasped before. He told them that He would leave, “but the Helper, the Holy Spirit, [which] the Father will send in My name, [it] will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you” (John 14:26).
Jesus also said His followers would “receive power” when the Holy Spirit came upon them (Acts 1:8), and they would be witnesses of Him in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria and ultimately to the end of the earth. Paul tells us this same power enabled him to preach the gospel and accomplish “mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ” (Romans 15:19).
A vivid illustration of the power of the Holy Spirit is the example of the change in the Apostle Paul after he was struck down on the road to Damascus. ‘Saul’ was blinded for three days, and after Ananias witnessed to him, he was baptized and received the Holy Spirit. Then, through that transforming power, Saul became the Apostle Paul, one of the greatest teachers and writers in biblical history.
Pentecost is the anniversary of the beginning of Christianity under the New Covenant when God first made His Spirit available to all who would repent—thus beginning the Church, which He commissioned Christ to build. Also, according to a respected Jewish tradition, God gave the ten commandments from Mount Sinai on the Day of Pentecost and covenanted with ancient Israel that they would be His holy people.
With the observance of the Feast of Pentecost on June 1, 2025 the first three spring festivals —Passover, Unleavened Bread and Pentecost—will have occurred, but the prophetic implications of the last four festivals, observed in the autumn of each year, are yet to be fulfilled and look forward to prophetic events yet to occur. These annual festivals following Pentecost point to God’s plan for bringing the rest of humanity to repentance.
As Christians, we should never forget the great miracle that has taken place in each of our lives and that the granting of God’s Holy Spirit is the beginning of a changed life, which takes place upon baptism and the laying on of hands. The annual Holy Day of Pentecost is a reminder of the miracle God is continuing to work in individual lives.
