Clothed with Power (Pentecost Sunday 2024)
The Promise Luke 24:37 This is after Jesus’ death and resurrection/ when He appears to His disciples.
Verse 45 Jesus opens their minds to understand the scriptures.
Verse 47 The basics of the Gospel message, repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached.
- This message will also go to all the nations of the world.
- This is also a foreshadowing of what the Holy Spirit will do.
Verse 49 To emphasize the importance of the HS / he tells His disciple stay in the city until you receive the Holy Spirit.
- He starts out by saying “stay here,” stay in the city.
- In Greek, it’s actually the verb “to sit.” Jesus is telling them to sit still.
- The verb is also in the active form.
- Which means the subject of the verb does the action.
- The disciples were the subject, so they were to take the action of sitting still.
- The Greek verb here really is “to be clothed.” The idea is sinking into a garment.
- This verb is in the passive form.
- Then after they are clothed, power also comes.
- The word means strength, ability, super natural power, power to perform miracles,
Promised fulfilled Acts 2:1-4
- Historical context: Pentecost was already a Jewish Holiday or celebration.
- The second major festival of the Israelite liturgical calendar was Pentecost or the Feast of Weeks.
- Because it fell on the fiftieth day after Passover, Weeks was also called “Pentecost,” that is, “fiftieth”
- Pentecost was an agricultural festival.
- Passover and Pentecost marked the beginning and end of the grain harvest.
- So, everyone had already gathered in Jerusalem for this Jewish festival of Pentecost.
Verse 2 Notice it says the sound of a violent wind, but not actual wind.
Verse 3 Then they saw what appeared to be fire, but not actual fire.
- Then it says that the fire came to rest on each of them.
- The verb “to rest” here is the same verb “to sit” that we saw back in Luke 24:49
Verse Acts 2:4 They are all filled. Notice it says All of them were filled.
- The verb “filled” is in the passive form. So the disciples have no part in the filling.
Continuing in Acts 2:5-13 Jesus had prophesied that the Gospel would go to all nations in Luke 24:47 that we just looked at.
Verse 11 says that each person hears the Gospel in their own tongue or language.
Verse 12 Responding with amazement and yet some perplexity is completely appropriate.
Verse 13 Fear and misunderstanding / cloud the minds and hearts of many people.
The fruit of the spirit: Acts 2:37-41
What this looks like for our day. Rev 5:8-10. This is for our day on earth not heaven.