Sabbath Reflection – Approaching Pentecost

This Sabbath (May 9^th) marks 35 days on our count to Pentecost.  Most people tend to think that after the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the Sabbath day, 31 AD, that His ministry was finished here on Earth and so He returned to heaven.  This is not the case.  We know that He waited after His resurrection until the next morning (Sunday) to be accepted as the spiritual Wave Sheaf offering.  His fulfillment of this ceremony marked the beginning of the “early” harvest of mankind into God’s family (Hebrews 2:10, Galatians 4:4-7).

After Jesus Christ was accepted as the Wave Sheaf offering, He returned to Earth in physical form and interacted with many over the course of the next few days.  In Luke 24:3-32 we have the recorded account of two disciples of Christ on the road to Emmaus being taught by Him.  Initially they didn’t know it was Him, but eventually they did.  Emmaus was a small town about 8 miles west of Jerusalem.  We don’t know who these disciples were in relation to others who are named, and we don’t know why they were headed to Emmaus.  It was close enough to Jerusalem that it could have been where they lived or where they were from.

In spite of the details we might desire, the important take-away was that Christ was teaching them the very afternoon after He was accepted as the Wave Sheaf.  The Days of Unleavened Bread are a reminder of our journey away from sin.  The Feast of Pentecost is a reminder of what we should be walking to, to replace the sin in our life.  We walk with Christ toward Pentecost to emulate Him, to be taught by Him, to allow Him to live in us through God’s Holy Spirit.

Jesus Christ continued to teach His fledgling Church leading up to the Feast of Pentecost.  In Acts 1:3-5 we read that Christ taught His disciples for 40 days before the giving of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.  He instructed them of many things before He returned to heaven.  I would love to have a more detailed account of what He taught them, but I suspect His teaching is distilled in what Peter, Paul, James, Jude, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all recorded in their writings.

What lessons can we consider as we “walk” to Pentecost?  We must be reminded that the only way to the Father is through His son (John 14:6), and that He will help us in our walk (John 14:16) with His Holy Spirit.  Christ is able to do far more for us with His indwelling presence through the Holy Spirit than He would be able to do if He was still flesh.  God’s Holy Spirit can now dwell in us, and because of the indwelling of that Holy Spirit we can learn how to truly love one another (1 John 3:5-14, 16, 23).  We grow in God’s love as we bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2) – to the point of being willing to lay down our life so someone else can grow in living God’s way of life (John 15:13).  This way of life will become such a way of living for us that we will reflect God’s nature without even really thinking about it (Matthew 25:31-46).

We walk toward Pentecost as sons and daughters of the Living, Eternal God – lead by His spirit (Romans 8:14).  We are on the “road” to Pentecost.  What is Christ teaching you?

I wish you a spiritually profitable Sabbath,

Joe Greene

Joe Greene 

Pastor for Richmond and Roanoke, Va

(434) 808-2146