(Today’s audio reading on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2L5cbk1a6tdtdfHSdoggMk)
And when the day of Pentecost had fully come they were all together in one place. (Acts 2:1)
Historically, Pentecost day was an agricultural, celebration-remembrance day for the Jews, occurring on the 50th day following the first Sunday after Passover. On that day they presented to the Lord the first sheaf of barley reaped from the harvest of that crop. Through cross references, it’s also called by the Jews the Feast of Weeks, and the Day of the First Fruits, with those first fruits being of the wheat harvest (and I’m not taking time here to get into the difference between the wheat and barley. Suffice it to say that this was a grain crop celebration.)
I mention this because as I listen to discussion, it seems that some think of Pentecost as a kind of special, once-in-history day on the calendar that is attached to “speaking in tongues.” It’s not. It’s a time of remembrance by the Jews for God’s graciousness to them in their farmlands and crop productions. The significance of the day is not lost on us, that this was a day of harvest celebration. The message of Pentecost coming from the story in Acts 2 is that God was beginning a harvest of people never before seen in history. God, in the person of his Holy Spirit, was going to visit earth and present himself with undeniable evidence that he was mightily at work. Just as a field of crops ready for harvest cannot be ignored, God the Holy Spirit could not and would not be ignored. His presence would bring a response from all people who witnessed his power.
It’s noteworthy that the phenomena occurring on this Pentecost day happened when these believers were all together. Unlike the few witnesses at the empty tomb of Jesus, or maybe just a few (who knows how many of them were there?) at the Ascension-to-Heaven of Jesus, this took place when all the followers of Jesus were together. They were together, united in prayer, seeking the Father for their next move—which seemed clearly to be “wait in Jerusalem…power is coming.” It is striking that the Harvester’s deliberate instruction was to wait.
I remember asking a friend of mine who managed a large farm how soon it would be till harvesting started. She held up her hands and took a deep breath, and said it had started that morning! The amount of work that had preceded that point of action; the focused effort that lay ahead of a large work force; and, all of the complexities of present and future weather patterns were now merging into a unified, intricate, mosaic of harvest. Much had preceded that moment of initiating harvest, and much would follow.
On the believers’ Pentecost Day experience, the presence of God the Holy Spirit would be demonstrated, and harvest time would begin. It’s important to note that there had been much preparation for this harvest. It was not ‘just happening’ without warning. It had been in motion for eternity. None of those who were “all together in one place” would miss it. Neither would those who were spectators.
The Supreme Harvester was moving in on their agricultural celebration. The harvest of this Pentecost Day would be unprecedented. “Father, thank you for using a special day that was marked in red letters on the Jewish calendar to advance your salvation plan for all peoples.”
Freddy Boswell 