| 3550 Southwest Loop 820, Fort Worth, TX 76133 Phone: 817-926-8277 -- Fax: 817-926-8278 Preschool: 817-923-2040 email: st.christophers@att.net |
St. Christopher Episcopal Church
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To Know Christ and Make Him Known
| A Look at Our Church Seasons and Holy Days - Pentecost |
The Day of Pentecost is a day of Christian celebration observed on the seventh Sunday
after Easter. On Pentecost we remember an event that occurred to the disciples 50 days
after the Passover during which Jesus was crucified and 10 days after they watched Jesus
literally ascend into the clouds.
The disciples and followers - we are told there were 120 in all - had gathered in Jerusalem
to celebrate the Jewish feast of Shavuot. With Passover and Succoth, Shavuot was one of
the three pilgrim holidays on which all Jewish adult males who were able to do so were
required to come to Jerusalem to sacrifice the first loaves from the new grain on the altar in
the temple.
When Jesus’ disciples met for this holiday it must have been a difficult time, given the recent
events they had experienced. While they were gathered there was a sound like a violent
wind, then something that looked like tongues of flame came down and rested on each
person’s head. The disciples all began to speak in such a way that people of many different
languages could understand them, each in their own language. Hearing the noise, others
came to investigate and were astonished to hear this group of mostly uneducated Galileans
speaking the various languages of many countries.
The people began to ask each other what all this could mean. Some thought the young men
must be drunk, but Simon Peter pointed out that it was only 9 o’clock in the morning and
offered another explanation: Peter equated the events of Jesus during his life and beyond
with fulfillment of prophecy, reminded them of the miracles they had all witnessed, including
their Rabbi’s resurrection. He equated the physical ascent of Jesus that they had witnessed
to Jesus’ being exalted to the right hand of God and declared that it was the Spirit of God,
which Jesus had promised, who had “poured out” what the crowd was seeing and hearing
that day. His conclusion was that God had made Jesus both Lord and Messiah. The first
Pentecost ended with Peter baptizing all 3,000 people in the crowd in the name of Jesus.
Christians consider the Day of Pentecost the birthday of the church because, from that
moment on, the disciples carried the message of Christ everywhere they went all over the
world.
The Season after Pentecost, in which Christians develop their relationship with the risen
Christ, lasts from the Day of Pentecost to the day before Advent.
Decorations on the Day of Pentecost are red to symbolize tongues of flame and the Holy
Spirit; during the season of Pentecost they are green to symbolize the growth and life of the
church.
after Easter. On Pentecost we remember an event that occurred to the disciples 50 days
after the Passover during which Jesus was crucified and 10 days after they watched Jesus
literally ascend into the clouds.
The disciples and followers - we are told there were 120 in all - had gathered in Jerusalem
to celebrate the Jewish feast of Shavuot. With Passover and Succoth, Shavuot was one of
the three pilgrim holidays on which all Jewish adult males who were able to do so were
required to come to Jerusalem to sacrifice the first loaves from the new grain on the altar in
the temple.
When Jesus’ disciples met for this holiday it must have been a difficult time, given the recent
events they had experienced. While they were gathered there was a sound like a violent
wind, then something that looked like tongues of flame came down and rested on each
person’s head. The disciples all began to speak in such a way that people of many different
languages could understand them, each in their own language. Hearing the noise, others
came to investigate and were astonished to hear this group of mostly uneducated Galileans
speaking the various languages of many countries.
The people began to ask each other what all this could mean. Some thought the young men
must be drunk, but Simon Peter pointed out that it was only 9 o’clock in the morning and
offered another explanation: Peter equated the events of Jesus during his life and beyond
with fulfillment of prophecy, reminded them of the miracles they had all witnessed, including
their Rabbi’s resurrection. He equated the physical ascent of Jesus that they had witnessed
to Jesus’ being exalted to the right hand of God and declared that it was the Spirit of God,
which Jesus had promised, who had “poured out” what the crowd was seeing and hearing
that day. His conclusion was that God had made Jesus both Lord and Messiah. The first
Pentecost ended with Peter baptizing all 3,000 people in the crowd in the name of Jesus.
Christians consider the Day of Pentecost the birthday of the church because, from that
moment on, the disciples carried the message of Christ everywhere they went all over the
world.
The Season after Pentecost, in which Christians develop their relationship with the risen
Christ, lasts from the Day of Pentecost to the day before Advent.
Decorations on the Day of Pentecost are red to symbolize tongues of flame and the Holy
Spirit; during the season of Pentecost they are green to symbolize the growth and life of the
church.