Pentecost

Acts 2:1-4

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested 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.

N. T. Wright, Acts for Everyone (Part One)

It is most significant, in the light of what we said before about the ascension, that the wind came “from heaven” (v. 2). The whole point is that, through the spirit, some of the creative power of God himself comes from heaven to earth and does its work there. The aim is not to give people a “spirituality” which will make the things of earth irrelevant. The point is to transform earth with the power of heaven, starting with those parts of “earth” which consists of the bodies, minds, hearts, and lives of the followers of Jesus—as a community . . . . The coming of the spirit at Pentecost, in other words, is the complementary fact to the ascension of Jesus into heaven. The risen Jesus in heaven is the presence, in God’s sphere, of the first part of “earth” to be transformed into “new creation” in which heaven and earth are joined; the pouring out of the spirit on earth is the presence, in our sphere, of the sheer energy of heaven itself. The gift of the spirit is thus the direct result of the ascension of Jesus. Because he is Lord of all, his energy, the power to be and do something quite new, is available through the spirit to all who call on him, all who follow him, all who trust him (22-3).

Aaron Orendorff

Two points of note:

First, Pentecost was an agricultural festival celebrated fifty days after Passover in remembrance of the giving of the Law at Sinai. During Pentecost the people of Israel would offer the “first fruits” of their yearly harvest as a way of acknowledging their profound dependence upon and thankfulness toward God. In keeping with the spirit of the day (pun intended), the Holy Spirit ought to be understood a “first fruits” of sorts (a “down payment,” as Paul calls is) of the full redemption (i.e., the harvest) that is to come. The presence of the Spirit now anticipates and points towards the day when God’s presence will be poured out without limit over the entity of creation.

Second, the Spirit is not the energy of God, but rather (as Wright says), the Person through whom Jesus’ energy (as the resurrected King) is made “available.” The Spirit’s work is to reveal, glorify and unite Jesus to his followers.