Pentecost is one of the most prominent feasts in many Christian churches around the world. But what is Pentecost, and what is the reason for its importance? What practical relevance does this feast have for our Christian life?
At Pentecost, we celebrate the occasion when, fifty days after the Lord’s Resurrection, the Holy Spirit descended upon the first disciples who were gathered in prayer. To understand the spiritual significance of this event, let’s take a look at some of the promises God made to the people of Israel.
The Holy Spirit and the People of Israel
In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit is primarily associated with the gift of prophecy. The Book of Numbers tells of an episode in which Joshua tried to prevent some leaders from prophesying, and Moses replied: “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit on them!” (Numbers 11:29). This desire of Moses expresses the hope that one day all of God’s people would receive the spirit of prophecy, that is, the Holy Spirit.
Later on the prophets who conveyed God’s promises to his people spoke more clearly about the Holy Spirit. Isaiah, among other promises on this subject, said: “For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your descendants, and my blessing on your offspring.” (Isaiah 44:3).
Ezekiel records a similar promise: “A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances … and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.” (Ezekiel 36:26–28). The Lord promised to send his Spirit upon all his people (as Moses had longed for), and he assured them that the divine Spirit will be within them and transform them to keep God’s commandments.
Another prophet who spoke clearly about the Holy Spirit is Joel, through whom God promised: “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.Even upon the menservants and maidservants in those days, I will pour out my spirit.” (Joel 2:28–29; in some versions, it is Joel 3:1–2). Here, too, the action of the Holy Spirit is related to the gift of prophecy, but a widespread outpouring is promised.
All these passages foreshadow a future time when the Holy Spirit will no longer be manifested only in special figures (such as Moses or the prophets) but will be “poured out” like water upon all of God’s people. This future time is often called the “messianic age,” that is, the time when the Messiah would come and reign over his people. Indeed, all these Old Testament promises find their fulfillment in Jesus, the promised Messiah.
The Holy Spirit and the Messiah
One of the most explicit prophecies about the Messiah assures us that the Holy Spirit will dwell within him in a special way: “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.” (Isaiah 11:1–2) Indeed, all the promises God had made to Israel find their fulfillment in the person of Jesus, the Messiah or the “Anointed One”: The Holy Spirit will rest upon him, according to the Lord’s promise.
At the right time, God intervened in our history by sending his own Son as a man, the long-awaited Messiah, to save all humanity. In Christ, God’s promise to pour out the Spirit upon all his people is fulfilled. This coming of the Holy Spirit is realized first in the Messiah himself; then, through him, it becomes a reality in the new community of believers.
Thus, God the Son, the eternal Word, became man when he was conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit (see Luke 1:26–38; Matthew 1:18–20). From the event of the Incarnation itself, we see that the Spirit of God is strongly linked to Jesus’ earthly life. The passages that narrate Jesus’ baptism (Matthew 3:13–17 and parallel passages) clearly state that the Spirit manifested himself on that occasion, anointing Jesus so that he could begin his ministry.
The Gospel of John also records words from John the Baptist that connect Jesus’ mission with the action of the Holy Spirit: “’Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’ John also declared: ‘I saw the Spirit descend as a dove from heaven, and it remained on him. I myself did not [yet] know him’; but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’” (John 1:29, 32–33) Indeed, we can summarize Jesus’ work in two actions: by his sacrifice on the cross he takes away the sins of the world, and by his glorification he baptizes with the Holy Spirit.
The Gospel of John also present some words of Jesus that point to the gift and action of the Holy Spirit: “On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and proclaimed, ‘If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said,’ ‘Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.’ Now this he said about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive; for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” (John 7:37–39). The Holy Spirit was fully at work in Christ as the source of life-giving power, and Jesus, in turn, would give the Spirit to those who believed in him; but this outpouring of the Spirit would only occur after he was glorified through his death and resurrection.
Thus, according to the same Gospel, on the eve of his Passion, Jesus promised his disciples the full coming of the Holy Spirit (John 14:15–19, 26; 15:26; 16:7–15). By becoming man, Christ had largely stripped himself of his divine prerogatives, and the Spirit was manifested only in a limited way. But now, after Jesus had been glorified, he could send the Spirit to his disciples in all his power.
The Spirit would bring something much more complete than Jesus’ physical presence so that the disciples would be in a more advantageous position than they were when Jesus was with them in his limited condition. Jesus said: “Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.” (John 16:7). Thanks to the Spirit, the disciples would have within them the living presence of the risen Jesus, with all his power, love, and glory.
The Holy Spirit and the Christian Community
Before his Ascension into heaven, the Lord had reiterated his promise to send the Spirit: this was what God had promised since Old Testament times, and now Jesus explains how this will be fulfilled. Just before ascending to heaven, Jesus says “Wait for the promise of the Father … before many days you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit … you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses.” (Acts 1:4–5, 8; see also Luke 24:49).
Jesus promised his disciples that they would be “baptized with the Holy Spirit” – the Spirit would be fully poured out upon them, fulfilling what John the Baptist had predicted earlier about Jesus. This passage from Acts explains the main result of the outpouring of the Spirit – they will “receive power” to preach the Gospel to all humanity.
This promise is fulfilled ten days after the Ascension, when all of Jesus’ followers gathered in prayer on the day of Pentecost. Pentecost was a Jewish festival commemorating the day God gave His Law to the people of Israel at Mount Sinai. It was celebrated fifty days after Passover. The word “Pentecost,” of Greek origin, means “fifty-day period”, and is known as “the feast of Weeks” among the Jews.
According to the Acts of the Apostles, on that day when Pentecost had come, “they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts 2:1–4).
The rest of that chapter describes what happened then, when many Jews from different countries and languages who had come to Jerusalem for the festival gathered in front of the house, hearing the disciples praising God in their own languages. Peter, as leader of the apostles, proclaims to the crowd the Gospel of Jesus, dead and risen, and calls everyone to conversion. To explain what they had all witnessed, Peter refers to the prophecy of Joel, in which God promised to pour out his Spirit upon all humanity.
Since then, Christians have celebrated the day of Pentecost, when God’s promise to send his Spirit was fulfilled. Christ, ascended to heaven, poured it out upon his disciples (Acts 2:33). The Spirit, which in the times of the Old Covenant was manifested only in a select few and which during Jesus’ earthly ministry was concentrated on him as the Messiah, had now been poured out in abundance to dwell in all of Christ’s followers. God’s promise had been fulfilled.
The result of this great outpouring of the Holy Spirit is the emergence of the first Christian community, as narrated in Acts 2:41ff. This community is the Church, which, with the power of the Holy Spirit, immediately sets out on the mission of bringing the Gospel to all nations.
The Holy Spirit is given by God to those who believe in Christ (Acts 5:32). We receive him by faith and Baptism. The promise of Pentecost becomes a reality in us: the Spirit gives us strength to fulfill God’s commandments (Romans 8:1–17); he anoints us with power to live in holiness and thus transforms us into the image of Christ; he gives us strength for the mission of proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus to all humanity.
While for Israel, Pentecost was the feast of the giving of the Law on tablets of stone, for us Christians it is the feast of the coming of the Holy Spirit who writes the Law of God in the hearts of the faithful (2 Corinthians 3:3), thus fulfilling the promise that God had made through the prophet: “I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances. You shall dwell in the land which I gave to your fathers; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.” (Ezekiel 36:27–28).
This article © by Carlos Alonso Vargas is an adapted English translation of the original Spanish version Pentecostés: la promesa cumplida. See more essays by Carlos Alonso Vargas (in Spanish) on his website blog at https://carlosalonsovargas.medium.com/
Top image credit: The “puente de Dios” waterfall in San Luis Potosi, © by RODRIGO GONZALEZ on Unsplash. Free to use under the Unsplash License.
Carlos Alonso Vargas is a long-time leader in The Sword of the Spirit, who has served mainly in teaching and community building. With studies in philology and linguistics, he works as a translator and editor. He and his wife Dora have three adult children and five grandchildren and live in San José, Costa Rica.