The so-called “ascents”—Easter, Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles—also known as “pilgrim celebrations”—are mentioned multiple times in the Old Testament. The Law of Moses gives the people of Israel explicit instructions on how to celebrate these three biblical high days each year (Exodus 23:14-19; Leviticus 23; Deuteronomy 16:16). The two spring festivals—Pesach (Easter) and Pentecost, often known as the “Feast of Weeks”—have both been fulfilled in the New Testament.
God’s Son presented himself as the “Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world,” magnificently fulfilling the prophetic foreshadowing of the sacrificial lamb offered with Pesach. References: Exodus 12:7, 13, 21-23; John 1:29. When He declared, “It’s done!” He accomplished the Old Testament prophesies (John 19:30) about the vicarious sacrifice needed to make peace between God and humanity. Following his triumph against Satan and death, as well as his resurrection from the dead (Matthew 28:6; Luke 24:6; John 20:1-18; Acts 4:10), He demonstrated his identity for 40 days (Acts 2:24; 3:15) with a wealth of convincing proof.
Acts 1:4–14 and Luke 24:50–53 both state that the Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost, was to occur ten days following his ascension.
The promise of the Father
Throughout His multiple appearances to His apostles, the rising Christ demonstrated His magnificent victory and bodily resurrection. He taught (Luke 24:26) that the Messiah had to go through suffering in order to enter his glory. After all, He had already imparted to them—even prior to his death on the cross—that all that was written about Him had to come to pass (Luke 24:44). Additionally, He commanded Him to remain in Jerusalem “until you are clothed with power from on high,” as well as promising His disciples that the Father’s promise would be fulfilled (Luke 24:49).
While He was with them, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, “but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, He said, you heard from Me” (Acts 1:4). The Father’s promise concerned the coming of the Holy Spirit. In this way the Lord Jesus made it clear that the promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit as the Helper would be fulfilled. These are the comforting words that the Lord Jesus spoke to His disciples before He died on the cross: “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever” (John 14:16-17). He repeatedly tells the disciples that this Helper would be bestowed by the Father in his name: “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you in all things …” (John 14:26).
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses,” the Savior reiterates just before His ascension. (Acts 1:8).
The promise has been fulfilled
As the house they were in was suddenly and violently filled with wind, symbolizing the unstoppable Holy Spirit of God filling everyone present, the first followers of the Lord Jesus were brought together during Pentecost: “When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place […] and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:1–4). John the Baptist had earlier predicted about the Lord Jesus, saying in John 1:33, “this is He Who baptizes with the Holy Spirit,” and in Matthew 3:11, “but He Who is coming after Me [… He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” These prophecies were realized, fulfilling the promise.
The Holy Spirit
The coming of the Holy Spirit in fulfillment of the Father’s promise is the glorious gift of God that is bestowed upon each one through faith in the sacrifice of the cross of God’s Son. God’s promises are ‘yes and amen’ in Him. It is God who confirms and anoints us in Christ. He seals us and gives us the Holy Spirit by faith as a guarantee in our hearts (2 Corinthians 1:21-22). “But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge” (1 John 2:20). “… In Him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit …” (Ephesians 1:13-14). Our gift of God is the guarantee of our inheritance, to the praise of his glory!
Thanks to GospelImages for the painting.
