Pentecost was and is a major feast for Jewish people. It marked the end of Passover, just as for Christians it marks the end of Easter. The feast of Pentecost came about because of the belief that God gave the Law to Moses 50 days after the Israelites left Egypt. Since the events of the death and resurrection of Jesus were related to the Jewish Passover, it was perfectly logical for Luke in the Acts to connect the sending of the Holy Spirit to the final act of Passover – Pentecost. Luke fully recognizes that the Holy Spirit came on different groups of people in different places and at different times, and gives examples of these in Acts. John’s Gospel speaks of Jesus giving the Holy Spirit to the disciples in the upper room on the day of resurrection, so it would be wrong to think of Pentecost as in any way of a one-off occasion. Rather Luke presents Pentecost in the upper room as the fulfillment of the giving of the Law: hence what seemed life fire descended on the disciples – as there was when God descended on Sinai. The result of this is dramatic scene is a powerful witness to the risen Christ by those who had just received the Holy Spirit. Now neither limited by their own fear, nor impended by the barrier of different languages, the arrival of the Holy Spirit creates confident disciples, and they achieve what Jesus promised they would through the Holy Spirit.
The gift of the Spirit is not limited to the 1st generation of disciples, or even subsequent disciples in the Acts of the Apostles. It is often pointed out that the book of the Acts doesn’t come to an end; it merely stops at particular point. The reason is that the story is still being constructed, and by us who are the present-day disciples in the tale of Jesus’ witnesses, because we too are empowered by the Spirit. We use the word “Paraclete” to describe the Holy Spirit. This is a word that was known to Jews and Gentile alike. For the Gentiles – Roman and Greek – a Paraclete was a legal representative; for the Jews, a Paraclete meant a comforter, a counsellor. The presence of the Spirit keeps us in the knowledge of God and enables us to experience the presence of God. The Spirit is never found in anger, jealousy, self-indulgence, immorality. Rather the Spirit is found where there is peace, joy, love, kindness, truthfulness, self-control. Where we see this, says Paul, we see the Spirit of God. When we do these, we are witnesses.