POSTER FROM THE LATE 1940’S DEPICTING THE SHAVUOT (FEAST OF PENTECOST) HOLIDAY. ëøæä îñåó ùðåú ä-40 ùì çâ äùáåòåú. Public Domain. WikiCommons.
On the last occasion, I wrote about Easter, when we celebrate Jesus’s resurrection from the dead. While too much can be made of a holiday or feast day (New International Version Bible, 2011, Col 2:16-17), the timing of this particular blog post has encouraged me to study the Bible to derive meaning from another event that occurred two thousand years ago and specifically, seven weeks after the resurrection of Jesus, on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1). What did the apostles already understand about Pentecost, even before the transformational events of that day occurred? Let’s explore the significance of Pentecost as depicted in the Old Testament, seeking to enrich our understanding of the context of Acts 2.
The Firstfruits of Wheat
The name Pentecost literally means “the fiftieth day” (Ferguson, 1993). It is basically the Greek term for the Old Testament Jewish festival referred to as the Feast of Weeks or Feast of Harvest (Ferguson, 1993). Its comparable Jewish term is Shavuot (Moore, 2013). Perhaps not surprisingly, debate existed about when to observe this Feast of Weeks (Ferguson, 1993).
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND
Each spring, sometime between March 22 and April 25, on the Sunday following the vernal equinox of that year (T. R. F., 1999), we observe Easter. Each year in our city, the Easter public holidays (Friday through Monday) provide stressed-out Hong Kongers an annual exercise in stretching four annual leave days into potentially ten consecutive days away (assuming no work on Saturdays). For us this year, taking April 14-17 as annual leave creates an April 12-21 holiday, while taking April 22-25 creates an April 18-27 getaway period of time. Traditional Easter weekend celebrations vary greatly, ranging from sunrise worship services and candlelit vigils to kid-friendly outdoor activities such as Easter egg hunts on a local beach (Sassy Mama, 2025). How did Easter get to be this way today? This blog article will fill in some facts about how Easter has developed over history. Beyond providing facts that you can share with friends while on a holiday hike, this blog article will highlight the importance of the resurrection and examine one account, in Luke 24:1-12, drawing lessons for our spiritual lives today.