18.02.02 Lk. 24:45-49; Acts 1:3-4a
PARTING INSTRUCTIONS
Lk. 45 Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. 46 He also said to them, “This is what is written: The Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead the third day, 47 and repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 And look, I am sending you what My Father promised. As for you, stay in the city until you are empowered from on high.”
Acts. 3 After He had suffered, He also presented Himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during 40 days and speaking about the kingdom of God. 4a While He was together with them, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father’s promise.
“Wait for the Father’s promise.” It is interesting that Jesus did not tell them when the “promise” would arrive. So they went to Jerusalem, and after ten days of prayer, the promised gift of the Holy Spirit came upon them during the Festival of Weeks (Pentecost). The eight day Festival of Passover[1] was at the beginning of the harvest season when barley was harvested. The Feast of Weeks ended the harvest season with the gathering of the wheat. At the Feast of Weeks the First-Fruits were offered to our Lord and it was at that time when the Holy Spirit came upon 120 disciples who were in the Upper Room, in an event that to be known as Pentecost. The Festival of Weeks commemorated the time when the Mosaic Law was written on tablets of stone. The Mosaic Law was, by divine purpose, an incomplete and partial revelation of God. It was the plan of God that in the fullness of time (Gal. 4:4) His divine purpose would become fully understood. That was through the words and work of Jesus. Then, on Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came to write the perfect law of liberty and life in the hearts of men.
18.02.02.A. MEDALLION COMMEMORATES THE DAY OF PENTECOST. The only medallion known to honor the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost (Papal Bull of Our Lady of Zion). The medallion was minted by a small mediaeval monastic order in the 12th century. Photo: J. Boudet.
18.02.02.B. THE DAY OF PENTECOST AS DEPICTED IN THE RABULA CODEX OF 586. One of the earliest surviving representations of the Day of Pentecost is from the Rabula Codex of 586. The Virgin Mary is in the center with the apostles around her. A dove above her, representing the Holy Spirit, descends and “cloven tongues like as of fire” are above everyone.
[1]. The term refers to the Festivals of Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruit. See also “Levitical Feasts as Prophetic Reflections of Jesus” in Appendix 5.