Pentecost

Tilney Vicarage 31-05-2020

Introduction

The last sixty days before Pentecost must have been incredibly strange to the 12 apostles.

In that period one of them Judas Iscariot was replaced by another apostle, Matthias.

It all started on what we call Palm Sunday.

As Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey ahead of the most nationalistic feasts of Judaism, all eyes were on Him

They expected Jesus to rise up – as a second Judas Maccabeus and throw the hated Romans out

But as he comes into Jerusalem, he turns towards the Temple rather than towards the Roman garrison in the town

And He then proceeds to cleanse the Temple (cf Mt 21 :12-17)

And then we have the Last Supper and the Institution of the Holy Communion service on what we recall as Maundy Thursday.

And then the Disciples

(and by Disciples I am including the women like Mary Magdalene and Mary the Mother of Jesus)

had seen how suddenly public opinion had changed and Jesus had been crucified, as we recall on Good Friday each year.

And so far as the rulers in Jerusalem were concerned that SHOULD have been the end of this annoying little sect

But that wasn’t the end of the story.

Jesus rose from the dead three days after his Crucifixion.

And we celebrate this each year as Easter Day

And although we don’t know the exact year, most historians put it either as in 30 AD or in 33 AD.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the one event that the early Church gave for its phenomenal success.

We don’t know exactly how many people saw the risen Christ

However St Paul tells us that the resurrected Jesus was seen by at least 514 men – and that doesn’t include the women such as Mary Magdalene).

And then within 40 days from Jesus’ resurrection he bodily ascended into heaven an event we remember on each year as Ascension Day, traditionally on a Thursday - 10 days before Pentecost.

Now in that 40 days from Jesus’ resurrection to his Ascension Jesus gave his Church what is known as the “Great Commission” just before he left this earth.

He told them “ Go and make disciples of all nations baptising them in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you till the end of the age” (Mt. 28:19 and 20)

However, it must have been bizarre to the disciples that Jesus gave them very clear instructions when they were to start fulfilling the Great Commission.

In Acts 1, Jesus said

“But you shall receive Power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be my witnessses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1 v.8)

So my first question is Why were they to WAIT rather than start evangelising right away

1. One reason, I think was that the disciples’ minds were probably still scrambled by the events that had happened.

It still would have been hard for them to think straight.

2. But the second more important reason was that they needed to wait for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to enable the disciples to fulfil the Great Commission.

Bringing people to Christ is a spiritual battle.

It is not simply an intellectual discussion – as you might have if you were discussing politics.

The spiritual battle for people’s hearts can only be won on the spiritual battlefield – and we need the power of the Holy Spirit to succeed.

And note how much time, the disciples spent in prayer in Acts 1 and 2

The Acts 2 outpouring of the Holy Spirit occurred in a prayer meeting

It must have been very daunting for the disciples, when they first heard it.

But what they also were learning was when Jesus asks us to do something – he provides us with the means to do it.

2. And so the second question I’d like to pose was WHY did God PICK Pentecost for the outpouring of His Spirit and the launch of the Christian mission to the world?

Why did Jesus make such a fuss about the timing?

There are a number of reasons but I believe the prime reason is that the actual meaning of the Feast explains to us much of what is going on.

Let me go a little into the background.

The Jews had three major festivals in their calender year, which all male Jews wee expected to

attend.

Passover, Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles

Pentecost (or the Feast of Weeks) was the second major festival of the Jewish year – and always took place 50 days after Passover.