On the day of Pentecost, amazing events took place. As the disciples were together, waiting as the Lord had instructed, the sound of a mighty wind came and filled the place. Tongues of fire appeared and separated before resting on each of the disciples. Immediately after, they were able to speak in other languages. The Holy Spirit had come, just as Christ had said.
Pentecost (also known as Whitsunday) is significant for many reasons, such as marking the arrival of the promised Holy Spirit and serving as the official day that the Christian church began. However, this day also teaches us about God’s grand plan of redemption. The church started with Jewish roots, but God always intended for its reach to be worldwide. For He desires that everyone hears the good news so that people from every nation and language will be His disciples.
When the church celebrates Pentecost each year, we are reminded of the Lord’s global mission to make disciples of all nations. What started out as a mustard seed sized group of followers grew and became a church that now encompasses people from across the world. God is still working to accomplish this mission as the Holy Spirit empowers and equips believers to take the good news to places near and far, in their local areas and where Christ is not yet known.
As we meditate on the powerful ways that this feast day reminds us of God’s work to bring more people to Himself, may we think of ways that we can participate in His mission.
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1. God Sent the Holy Spirit
Before we get into the details of Pentecost, of the gift of the Holy Spirit and the ability to speak in other tongues so that many heard about Jesus’ death and resurrection, we first need to remember that God was the One who took the initiative – He sent the Holy Spirit. Humans did not manufacture the event of Pentecost; it was a miracle from God.
Christ had already promised the disciples that He would send a Helper to them, an Advocate and Comforter (John 14:16-27). This Helper would assist them and empower them to live in obedience to all that Jesus commanded. As He said before His ascension, “I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49, NIV).
The disciples were never meant to live the Christian life in their own strength or to accomplish God’s will through sheer effort. They needed help. Hence, the Father and Son sent the Holy Spirit to equip the disciples with what they needed to walk in obedience to the mission (Psalm 68:18; John 14:26; 15:26; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 4:7-8). With the Spirit of God living on the inside of them, they could boldly preach the good news and spread the gospel around the known world at that time.
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2. The Holy Spirit Empowered the Apostles to Declare the Gospel to Others
People cannot know or place faith in the gospel if they never hear about it. And they cannot hear about it unless someone tells them (Romans 10:14). A strange yet wonderful aspect of God’s global plan is that He wants humans to participate by acting as ambassadors and emissaries. He could make the rocks speak out and proclaim the gospel, but He chooses to allow us to be a part of His great plan and purpose.
He knew, though, that we would need help. This is why He sent the Holy Spirit on Pentecost to fill the disciples. Through the Spirit’s power, they were able to tell others about what Jesus had accomplished. Being indwelt with the Holy Spirit transformed frightened men into bold witnesses for Christ.
Consider Peter, the Apostle, who had denied knowing Jesus when pressure was placed on him (Luke 22:54-62). On Pentecost, this same Apostle stood in front of a crowd and proclaimed the truth of who Jesus is and boldly told them: “God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it” (Acts 2:32, NIV). He was able to declare this message because of the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit.
Today, this remains the same. God is the One who enables us to declare the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection. The Holy Spirit testifies about Christ, and He gives us the strength to accomplish His global mission as we share the gospel with others and disciple them (John 15:26-27).
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3. On Pentecost, People from Many Nations Heard the Gospel
Scholars have often depicted Pentecost as a reversal of the Tower of Babel. At Babel, the languages of the people were confused so that they would stop rebelling and do as God commanded – spread across the earth and fill it (see Genesis 9:1 and Genesis 11:7-9). No longer could people understand each other. Yet, on Pentecost, the Holy Spirit enabled the disciples to speak in foreign languages so that the crowd present would hear and understand the message about Jesus (Acts 2:4-12).
Scripture describes how “God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven” were present and heard the gospel proclaimed to them (Acts 2:5, NIV). Commentators, like Ellicott, note that these individuals were likely a combination of Jews and proselytes (Gentile converts to Judaism). They were originally from various places around the world, but they were present in Jerusalem for the Feast of Shavuot, or the Feast of Weeks. Miraculously, they understood the disciples despite the natural language barrier.
God’s plan always included every nation of the world. Even from the time of Abraham, we see the indication of this in that all nations would be blessed through his seed (Genesis 22:18). And Christ, the promised seed, specifically told the disciples to go into the world and make disciples of all nations, not merely staying within the confines of Galilee or even Israel (Matthew 28:19-20; Galatians 3:16). As Jesus said in an earlier chapter in Acts, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8, NIV, emphasis added).
Unlike Babel, the result of Pentecost was understanding, so that many people responded in obedience to the message of the gospel. But this event’s reach was still global since the Holy Spirit empowered the disciples to speak to the crowd consisting of people from nations across the world. The great mission of our Lord is for all people on earth to hear the good news and become His followers.
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4. God Made the Gospel Known in Their Own Languages
When the Holy Spirit came, He came as fiery tongues. The fire evoked the imagery of the presence of God seen throughout the Old Testament (Exodus 3:2-3; 13:21; Deuteronomy 4:11-12). Also, the fiery tongues were connected to the ability the Spirit gave the disciples to speak in many other languages. He could have miraculously made the people understand the disciples’ speech. Instead, the Spirit engaged with the people at a personal level through their individual languages, an aspect that is tied up with the identities and cultures of people groups (Acts 2:6-11). God ensured they heard the gospel in their heart language – “we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” (Acts 2:11, NIV).
The gospel is for all people regardless of their language, culture, or ethnicity. We see evidence of this through the event of Pentecost as the Spirit gifted the disciples with the ability to share the good news with people who spoke many different languages or tongues.
His global mission is still taking place today as the Holy Spirit empowers believers to cross physical, linguistic, and cultural boundaries to take the gospel to others. He is present in the translation work of organizations and ministries to make the Bible available in the heart languages of the people. And the same Lord who enabled the disciples to speak in foreign tongues is the One who continues to invite people of various nationalities and languages to come to Him. We are wise to do the same, obeying the Spirit’s guiding to point people, regardless of background or language, to the Savior.
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5. The Connection between Shavuot and the Coming of the Holy Spirit
One of the Jewish feasts in the Old Testament was the Feast of Weeks, or Shavuot. During this feast, Israel gave thanks to God for the harvest by offering bread as well as grain, burnt, and sin offerings (Leviticus 23:15-16; Numbers 28:26-31). The two loaves of bread were special firstfruits that were waved before the Lord, known as the bread of the firstfruits (Leviticus 23:20). Each year, the Jews would travel to Jerusalem to celebrate this feast which occurred fifty days after the Feast of Firstfruits (the fifty days is the reason we have the Greek name “Pentecost”).
In addition to being a celebration of thanksgiving for the harvest, Shavuot is also associated in Jewish tradition with the giving of the Torah. Many Jews today emphasize this tradition by remembering when God gave Moses the Law on Mount Sinai (Exodus 24:12-18). Usually, the Ten Commandments are read, and people eat honey and dairy products in celebration of the gift of God’s Word.
It is no coincidence that the Father and Son sent the Spirit on the day of Pentecost. A feast day associated with the giving of the Law, a symbol of the Old Covenant, was the same day that the Holy Spirit came. On Pentecost, we celebrate that the Old Covenant has been fulfilled, as evidenced by the giving of the Spirit – a sign of the New Covenant. As was prophesied, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” (Ezekiel 36:26-27, NIV).
The mystery of the New Covenant age is that salvation is available to the Jew and Gentile alike, and both can enter God’s family as equal members and heirs (Ephesians 3:6). He has poured out His Spirit, first at Pentecost, and then later to Samaritans and Gentiles, to show that they also belong to Christ. He is the firstfruits of the resurrection, and the later harvest will take place when all believers – including Jews and Gentiles – are resurrected at Christ’s coming (1 Corinthians 15:20-23). Until then, we give thanks for the ongoing harvest of people across the world who place faith in Jesus.
God’s plan of redemption for the world always involved the Jewish people and every other nation in the world, as the connection between Shavuot and the coming of the Holy Spirit demonstrates.
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6. The Church Began with a Focus on Global Mission
The giving of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost marked the birth of Christ’s church. And no longer was it just the small group of disciples. On that day, God added about three thousand people to the church after they heard and responded to the Spirit-inspired message preached by Peter (Acts 2:41). From there, the church kept growing as this book of the Bible testifies.
Luke, the author of the book of Acts, included a snapshot of the early church directly after Pentecost, a passage that continues to be the ideal for all churches. We are presented with the description of believers learning from and submitting to the teaching of the Apostles. They shared what they had and sold property to give to those in need (Acts 2:42-45). As we read the verses, we come away with a keen sense of generous fellowship in the church and of every member striving together to live for the glory of God. Luke wrote: “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:46-47, NIV).
From the beginning, the church was rooted in the global mission of God. Jesus had already given the Great Commission and subsequently provided them with the ability to carry out His command (Matthew 28:18-20). At the Holy Spirit’s arrival, He empowered the disciples to boldly proclaim the gospel to their fellow Israelites, but also to those who were from other nations. All these believers were brought into close fellowship with the wider church as they worked together to glorify God.
The great news of Jesus’ sacrificial death and glorious resurrection was never meant to be kept within the tight-knit circle of disciples. It spread from Jerusalem all the way to the ends of the earth as the church grew and included increasing amounts of people. And Christ’s church is still growing, propelled by Spirit-filled individuals who participate in the Lord’s mission by living and serving in obedience to God, just like the disciples did on the day of Pentecost.
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Originally published Monday, 19 May 2025.