Pentecost in the Bible constitutes a deep well of theological meaning. Yet often the attention it receives focuses too narrowly on the speaking of “tongues” (i.e., languages) and how that historical occurrence in Acts 2 informs an understanding of spiritual gifts within the church today (1 Cor 12–14).
Norman Kraus probes deeper and sheds more light on the meaning of Pentecost.
He explains,
“The drama of [the] incarnation [of Christ] does not conclude with a final act that neatly wraps up the loose ends of the story and draws the curtain. Rather it ends with an open future for those involved. Pentecost is a commencement in the same sense that we use the word to describe a graduation. It is simultaneously climax and beginning. It concludes with the assurance that this is not the end but the beginning. Christ is not dead or absent in some far-off spiritual realm. The kingdom he announced is not set aside to some future millennium but enters a new era of fulfillment. His ministry is not concluded but universalized through his new body. Surely this is part of the good news!
“It is difficult to believe that Luke did not intentionally use parallel language when he spoke of the Spirit’s work in preparing the human body of the historical Messiah and in preparing a new human body for the resurrected Lord. According to his account the angel told Mary, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you…’ (Luke 1:35). In Acts 1:8 Jesus told his disciples, ‘You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you….’ In both cases the body of Christ is to be formed through a special work of God’s Spirit. This is obviously incarnational language and strongly suggests the closest kind of association between the ministry of Jesus, which was in a unique way the work of the Spirit (Luke 3:22; 4:1, 18), and the ministry of the church. That the Christ is still present and at work among men in an earthly body is an integral part of the good news.”[i]
Particularly insightful here is Kraus’s observation of the narrative dynamic at play in the way Luke—the author of Luke-Acts—parallels the introduction of his gospel account and that of his second volume (i.e., Acts). By highlighting the work of the Spirit at the beginning of each book, he establishes a clear link between the work of Jesus and the work of the church.
Pentecost in Acts 2 thus signifies that the New Testament church now continues the mission of Jesus as the contemporary body of Jesus—an observation that carries great implications for how we understand both ecclesiology and missiology.
[i] C. Norman Kraus, The Community of the Spirit (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974), 12–13.
