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There are some holidays that are celebrated on the same day by the Jewish and the Christian faiths. The term "holiday" originally referred to "holy days." Last week was Pentecost in the Christian faith; it is also Shavuot or the Festival Of Weeks in the Jewish faith. There are some similarities and differences between the two faiths. Pentecost is a Christian holy day, which falls on the Festival of Weeks, a Jewish holiday.
In Acts 2, the Holy Spirit came on Pentecost. That is why a reference is made to it in Acts 2:5: "And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven" (KJV). Many of these Jews were probably celebrating the Festival of Weeks, which is also "Shavuot." Shavuot literally means "weeks." It is named for "the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai, seven weeks after Passover" (myjewishlearning.com). In some churches, I have heard it called the "Great Fifty Days." Shavuot is when divine knowledge and instruction is focused on in the Jewish faith.
Shavuot and Pentecost are both focused on fifty days. Pentecost occurs fifty days after Jesus' resurrection. Before Jesus ascended into heaven, he instructed his disciples to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit. Jesus referred to it as the coming of the Holy Spirit, Holy Ghost, the Advocate, the Spirit of Truth, or the Counselor (John 14:26). Some argue that the twelve Disciples were gathered in one place in Jerusalem.
There were twelve disciples present because Matthias was chosen to take Judas Iscariot's place (Acts 1:23-26). That means there were at least twelve Disciples present when the Holy Spirit came. Others argued that there were 120 people present in the house (Acts 1:15).
We are told that there was "a rush of a mighty wind. And it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared divided tongues as of fire" (Acts 2:2-3). When we say tongues of fire, it is like flames that lap up over a log in a fireplace, and these flames alighted upon each one of the disciples. You remember the Burning Bush that Moses saw was burning, yet not consumed, or the fiery furnace that Shadrack, Meshak and Abendigo were thrown into but were not burned, nor did they smell of smoke, that is the way the flames would have been that were seen on the disciples.
Acts 2:4 tells us: "They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" (ERV). The Holy Spirit is normally symbolized by wind, fire, or the form of a dove. On the day of Pentecost, two of the three symbols were seen or heard.
On the day of Pentecost, people in the area where the disciples were located heard the rush of wind when it came through Jerusalem, and they went out to see what happened. It was God's way of getting their attention, and it worked.
The devout Jews and the other people in the area went out and started listening to the disciples. Peter and the other disciples spoke to the people who were gathering. Those listening who were in touch with God heard the message in their own language (Acts 2:5-11). Those who were not devout Jews heard the disciples speaking, but instead of hearing the message from God in their own native language, they heard noise and commented that the disciples were "drunk" (Acts 2:13).
Peter refers to the Book of Joel: "And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy" (Joel 2:28-29, Acts 2:14-18 KJV).
Pentecost to Christians is viewed as the birthday of The Church. Acts 2:41 states that those who believed in what they heard and saw were baptized into the church, and there were "three thousand people."
Pastor Katherine A. Behrens, pastor of Picture Rocks/Tivoli United Methodist Charge