Christians celebrate Pentecost this week. But it’s actually a Jewish holiday – and its Jewishness brings us heightened meaning. Pentecost, or Shavuot, actually begins tonight at sundown.
When God gave Moses the Law, written on the tablets on Mt. Sinai, He created for Himself a visible reminder of His presence among His people. Those tablets were kept in the tabernacle - where He lived “in the midst" of His people - and eventually in the temple (“house”) that was built for Him. It was a holy place and approached with great awe and reverence. That giving of the Law, intertwined with a harvest festival of first fruits, was the Jewish festival of Weeks, or, as we call it, Pentecost. In time, the celebrations were joined and we can affirm that “man shall not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.” (Deuteronomy 8:3)
On the day of Pentecost following Jesus’ death and resurrection, God changed His address (Acts 2). He visibly and audibly moved from the Temple into His people. A “rushing wind” (spirit, breath of God) left the man-made temple and descended on the community of believers. 1 Corinthians 3 says that “you are the temple of God and the Spirit lives in you.” The “you” is plural. Yes, God in fact indwells every one of His children. But the text states clearly that the temple that God now resides in is “us.” Not each of us is a temple, but we together are “the temple.” Each one of us a stone in the temple that has been prepared for its place by the Master. God resides in His temple, His body. Paul reaffirms this in the same letter stating that “the body is one unit but is made of many parts, …so it is with Christ."
As we celebrate today that God would choose to live in us and among us, it is a great time to meditate on the truth of how we as believers are knitted together. God’s house (that's us - not the building!) gives evidence to the world of His greatness. His body carries out His truth and love. His presence and power are visible as we are united in Him. I need YOU in order to experience the fullness of God’s presence. The world needs US, as a whole and functioning body to reach out to it. He designed us that way.
John 17:20-23
“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in US, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one; I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. “
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