Did The Holy Spirit Empower Only 12 Disciples On The Day Of Pentecost?

There is a teaching in the church that on the Day of Pentecost, only the 12 Disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit, and not all of the 120 who were in the Upper Room, including Mary, the surrogate mother of Jesus.

(Sidebar - Some people use the term "ghost" from the King James Version of the Bible to refer to the third person of the Trinity. However, the word is an improper translation of the Greek word 'pneuma' which refers to the Holy Spirit, wind, or the breath of God. The English word "ghost" refers to the spirit of the dead or a phantasm. The Greek word translated as 'ghost' is 'phantasma' and is never used in reference to God.)

The Creator God of the Universe chose to send the Holy Spirit during the Jewish national holiday, known as Pentecost, the Feast of Harvest, which was 50 days after the crucifixion of Jesus. It was the celebration of the wheat harvest, and was intended to remind the people of their time spent in Egypt and it marked the giving of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. They were to bring offerings to God to celebrate with great rejoicing in music and dance because they had been delivered from their bondage. Everyone was invited to this feast, including Levites, servants, sons and daughters, the fatherless, the widow, and even strangers (Deuteronomy 16:9-12).

The Day of Pentecost was so incredible that it affected the entire human race and their relationship to God. The Holy Spirit was given as a gift from the Father as the confirmation that the New Covenant of grace - paid for by the shed blood of Jesus, and now written on the heart of every Christian - is more effectual than the Law given at Mount Sinai that was written on stone (2 Corinthians 3:3-18). It also confirms that those who place their trust in Jesus find true deliverance and healing from the penalty of sin. There is no better reason to celebrate with great rejoicing in music and dance on that day!

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit

It was during the Last Supper that Jesus gave farewell instructions to the Apostles. He declared to them:

"Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father." (John 14:12 NIV)

Jesus told the Disciples that they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit and commanded them to wait in Jerusalem.

"And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, "you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." (Acts 1:4-8 ESV)

The promise was the sending of the Holy Spirit, "the Counselor… from the Father" who would "testify" or prove, affirm, and demonstrate that Jesus is Lord so that all those who would put their trust in Him would "receive power" to be His "witnesses…both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (John 15:26; Acts 1:8 NIV). This was not a new promise. The gift of the Holy Spirit had been promised in the Old Testament:

"...for with stammering lips and another tongue will He speak to this people. To whom He said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest, and this is the refreshing..." (Isaiah 28:11-12 KJV)

The difference between the Old and New Testament ministries of the Holy Spirit is that, prior to the Day of Pentecost, His power came upon spiritual leaders at particular times but did not take up residence within them.

Before a person becomes Born-Again and is transformed at the moment of salvation, the Holy Spirit is WITH them to draw them to Jesus, but this is not the same as being IN them. Jesus promised the Disciples before He was crucified and resurrected that He would "ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor" who would not just live with them but would take up permanent residence within them when they become a Christian (John 14:16-17).

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit takes place at the moment a person becomes Born-Again. It is this baptism that makes the Christian complete in Christ. All that the Father is, Jesus is. All the "fullness of the Godhead bodily" dwells in Jesus (Colossians 2:9 NIV). This means that Jesus is the physical presentation of all that the Father is.