tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36100279.post4592841331956377325..comments2023-11-02T06:18:52.845-05:00Comments on Past Elder : Pentecost / Shavuot / Pfingstfest, 24 May 2015.Past Elderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10541968132598367551noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36100279.post-67675647281442978392015-05-25T16:17:28.631-05:002015-05-25T16:17:28.631-05:00“…so that on the very day where his people once ce...<br />“…so that on the very day where his people once celebrated only the giving of the Law, they still celebrate that and added to it is the giving of the Spirit!” There are Christians who believe that the significance of Pentecost is not simply adding the Holy Spirit to the Old Testament, but that it was the beginning of an entirely “new thing”, “the New Covenant”, which God announced in many places in the Old Testament. If this is true, our Lord would obviously have spoken about it, and He did in many places. Luke 4: 43, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.” If there was nothing new about the “Kingdom of God”, except for the giving of the Holy Spirit, then our Lord could simply have proclaimed, “read Moses and the prophets”. He did indeed do that, but then He added, Luke 16:31, “If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.” There are some who believe that the New Covenant, is indeed “new”, so that it requires new wineskins. There are many implications to that – far too many to address in this posting.<br />"’All that’ is not all, and not sufficient, neither for the Apostles nor for us. The rest came on this day of celebrating the giving of the Law –…” The problem with that is that receiving the Holy Spirit did not make the Apostles into the fearless witnesses to the Gospel. They had received it on Easter Sunday, John 20:22, “Receive the Holy Spirit”. After that, they were just as we are, with many fears and doubts and little understanding. Peter’s return to his original profession, the election of Matthias, and the question about establishing the Kingdom of Israel in Acts 1:6 show this clearly. But our Lord promised them special powers, Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you …”. That is what happened on Pentecost, but it was unique in the history of the Church. We do not receive those special powers; we grow in our understanding of the Kingdom of God slowly, throughout our lifetimes, through the offices of the Church, the family, friends, and teachers. <br />Peace and Joy!<br />George A. Marquart<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com