Easter Sunday is over along with its special emphases and excitement. But what was happening back in the first century when these things were actually occurring?
Luke clearly tells us in Acts 1:3-5 [All quotes from the NCV]
After his death, he showed himself to them and proved in many ways that he was alive.The apostles saw Jesus during the forty days after he was raised from the dead,And he spoke to them about the kingdom of God.Once when he was eating with them, he told them not to leave Jerusalem.He said, “Wait here to receive the promise from the Father which I told you about.John baptized people with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
JESUS’
POST-RESURRECTION APPEARANCES:
[The first five
occurred on Resurrection Day!]
1.
He appeared
to Mary Magdalene as a gardener (Mark 16:9-11; John 20:11-18).
2.
He appeared
to the other two women who were with Mary Magdalene—Salome and Mary the mother
of James (Matthew 28:9-10).
3.
He appeared
to Peter (Luke 24:34).
4.
He appeared
to two on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-32).
5.
He appeared to the apostles, except for Thomas (Luke 24:36-43; John
20:19-25).
6.
He appeared
to the apostles with Thomas (John 20:26-29).
7.
He
appeared to seven of His disciples on the shores of the Sea of Galilee (John
21:1-25).
8.
He
appeared to the apostles on a mountain in Galilee (Matthew 28:16-20; Mark
16:15-18).
9.
He appeared
to over 500 brethren (1 Corinthians 15:6).
10. He appeared to His
brother James (1 Corinthians 15:7).
11. He appeared to the
apostles and ate a meal with them (Acts 1:3-8; Luke 24:36-49) [This may be a combination of #'s 4&5 above].
12. His ascension (Acts
1:9-12; Mark 16:19-20; Luke 24:50-53).
13. He appeared to Paul (1 Corinthians 15:8; Acts 9:1-6; 18:9-10; 23:11).
How do we come up with
fifty days between the resurrection and the celebration of Pentecost?
FIRST – A review of Acts 1:3-5 [above] tells us specifically that Jesus ascended into Heaven in the sight of His apostles forty days after His resurrection!
SECOND – We have no biblical evidence that the apostles were in the upper room for ten days before Pentecost. However…
The word ‘fifty’, in the Greek comes from ‘pentekostos’ and it simply means
fiftieth.
By considering the Hebrews’ original instructions for celebrating the ‘sabbath year’ every seventh year, we can make some observations that may have guided this process. During this year, the Israelites were to allow the land to rest. [Leviticus 25:1-7]
However, after seven ‘sabbath years’ [49] the people were to celebrate a ‘year of jubilee’ [50th year]! This was to be a huge celebration for the people! Property was to return to its original owners. There was to be no planting or harvesting. It was to be “a special time for you to celebrate” [Lev. 25:11].
The Bible gives very little evidence that these ‘sabbath years’ were actually observed. One would think that the ‘Jubilee’ years would occasionally be mentioned in scripture, but they are not. It may be that people’s greed interfered with God’s original plan to sustain some measure of equality and justice.
Regardless, our practice is to count off fifty days and then celebrate Pentecost!
PENTECOST
The birthday of the New Testament Church!
If the Old Testament was the season directed primarily by the Father, and the New Testament period – though shorter – was focused specifically on the Son; then the Holy Spirit is now directing the affairs of the Church [the “body of Christ”]! One God in three Persons!
SOMETHING TO REMEMBER
The apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit! They broke out into the crowded streets of Jerusalem and mingled with the crowd who had gathered for the celebration. After some quick research on the size of the crowd that day I find there is little agreement. It was the celebration of the ‘Feast of Weeks’. We can assume that there were anywhere from 250,000 to a million guests in the city for this special day!
Here however is the amazing part! Luke reports that the crowd was “from every country in the world”. He goes on:
As the apostles – filled with the Holy Spirit – broke into the streets preaching, the people
...were all surprised, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. They were completely amazed at this. They said, “Look! Aren’t all these people that we hear speaking from Galilee? Then how is it possible that we each hear them in our own languages?
We are from different places:
ParthiaMediaElamLibyaRomeCreteArabia
...those people who accepted what Peter said were baptized. About three thousand people were added to the number of believers that day!
____________________________________________
And this Church would grow and expand to this very day!
HALLELUJAH!