‘STAND FAST IN THE FAITH’

New Zealand Tablet, 23 May 1912, Page 3

‘STAND FAST IN THE FAITH’

(A Weekly Instruction specially .written for the N.Z. Tablet by ‘Grimed.’)

THE FEAST OF PENTECOST The Jewish Pentecost.— 1 On the morrow after the Sabbath of Pasch (Easter), the Jews came to the Temple for the ceremony of waving before the Lord ‘ a sheaf of the first fruits of harvest.’ Seven weeks of harvest followed, and on the fiftieth day (Pentecost is a Greek word meaning ‘ fiftieth ’) was celebrated what is known in the Old Testament as ‘ the feast of harvest, the first fruits of thy labors’ (Exodus xxiii., 16), the feast of weeks, of the first fruits of the wheat harvest ’ (Exod. xxxiv., 22). These titles indicate that the feast of Pentecost second of the three great Hebrew festivalswas ordained to express the nation’s gratitude to God for the returns from the labors of the field. In course of time, it was also made to commemorate the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai, for this event was calculated to have taken place on the fiftieth day after the exodus from Egypt. The Christian Pentecost. —The Jewish Pentecost, like the Pasch, was figurative there was to be a second Pentecost for all nations, as there was to be a second Pasch for the redemption of the world. The Paschal festival belongs to the Son of . God, the Conqueror of Death ; Pentecost is the feast of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter of men, the Giver of supernatural life to the redeemed.

The events of the first Christian Pentecost are described in the Acts of the Apostles (2nd chap.). Before He had left them Christ had bidden the Apostles remain on in Jerusalem, and await there for the gift of power from on high. Some ten days intervened between the Ascension and the day of Pentecost, and during this time the Apostles, the Disciples, with the women and Mary, the Mother of Jesus, to the number of 120 in all, continued steadfastly in prayer in the upper room of some private house. Following Jewish custom, the small Christian community passed the night before the feast in praying and in reading the Scriptures, especially the Canticle of Canticles, which mystically foreshadows God’s love for His people, and the story of Ruth, which describes the labors and joys of the harvest-time. The morning dawned, and with it came the effusion of the Holy Ghost; * Suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a mighty wind coming, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.’ If Nicodemus was present, and very probably he was, the sound from heaven must have brought back memories of the past to him. Some three years before, Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin, had sought the presence of Jesus by night, seeking to learn the Truth from the young Rabbi, and Jesus had demanded of the old man child-like faith and trust. On that occasion Christ had made use of the simile of the wind as it swept up the deep gorges round Jerusalem, or softly played about the trees in the silence of the night: ‘ The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the voice thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh, and whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit’ (literal trans. of John iii, 8). Now again the same symbol is being employed, for suddenly was heard a sound of a rushing mighty wind, and the Holy Spirit, intangible and invisible as the wind, was outpoured upon the assembled Church. Two other emblematic signs were added—fire, to signify that each Christian soul was consecrated as a sacrifice, and the gift of language, to signify that the Gospel message was to be made known to all nations: ‘ And there appeared to them parted tongues as it were of fire, and it sat upon every one of them; and'they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they began to speak with divers tongues, according as the Holy Ghost gave them to speak.’ The Spirit of God took a visible shape, resting on the head of each one present * as a tongue of fire,’ a flaming radiance with all the appearance and color of fire. Just as the Holy Spirit rested on the Messiah,

>n the day of His Baptism, under the form of a dove, 10 now in this baptism of -the Spirit He communicated EEimself to the Disciples under the form of ‘ tongues of ire ’ — apt symbol of the illuminating, purifying Spirit heir souls received. Further, all present received the gift of tongues,’ a gift wherein the recipient is raised ip into ecstasy by the Spirit and wherein he praises 3-od, manifesting His greatness and His goodness. The oul caught up by God and immersed in prayer finds lew voices in which to praise God; the thoughts that ;rowd into the mind are new, and therefore the languages in which they are expressed must be new. Such k striking and sensible manifestation of the Spirit of ■rod could not fail to make a deep impression on the minds of the pagans, for whom the gift was primarily ntended. : Apart from the mighty Power of the Spirit of God lestowed upon the Church, the principal miracle of J entecost consisted in the interior transformation of he .1 Apostles. Their Master had always represented he Descent of the Holy Ghost as necessary to complete heir moral education. The Spirit was to shine as the ight of truth in their minds an' l to burn as a flame of harity in their hearts; He was to teach them all truth nd to give them the courage necessary to carry out heir arduous mission. And so it came to pass. These ren, uncouth by. nature and strangers to learning, were o enlightened as to be able to understand the highest ruths of religion ; uncertain up to this very . day of he truths, Christ had taught them, and timid even to owardice in proclaiming them, they now became ossessed of invincible faith and undaunted courage. - 1 --- - . O