Pentecost story
The story of Pentecost
Acts 2:1-20 + 38
like the rush of a mighty wind …
by St. Luke, the 1st Christian Physician,
born Greek and Gentile in Antioch, Syria
Kosmos figure, symbol of the world
"When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each.
Amazed and astonished, they asked, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power."
All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean?" But others sneered and said, "They are filled with new wine."
Ministry of the Apostles
(Click icon image for larger view)
But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them:
"Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only 9:00 in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: "In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist. The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved".
38 And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit".
Luke starting to write his Gospel,
an orderly account of what happened
The first church was formed on Pentecost Sunday, 50 days after Easter Sunday. Pent means 5 in Greek. Pentecost is the remembrance of the first direct experience of the emanation of divine power upon ordinary people.
Acts is an orderly account of the founding of the Christian church and the spread of its message to the Roman empire. Its central theme is that the message of Christ was brought to the Gentiles because most Jews rejected God’s promised Messiah. The Romans never moved against Jesus or his followers unless provoked by the Jews,
Acts encourages faith and should lead the reader to certainty about what happened, and what does it all mean?
In Judaism, Pentecost is the rememberance and celebration of Moses receiving the Torah on Mt. Sinai.
Acts 12:7 is referred to in Charles Wesley’s hymn:
And can it be that I should gain:
Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray;
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed thee.
Peter being freed from prison by an angel
This video will tell you how did the apostles die
and where are their remains kept:
According to their death in ascending order:
1. St. JAMES the Greater (45 AD)
– St. James Cathedral in Compostela, Spain
2. St. PHILIP (54 AD)
– Church of the Dodici in Rome, Italy
3. St. MATTHEW (60 AD)
– St. Matthew Cathedral in Messina, Italy
4. St. JAMES the Lesser (63 AD)
– Holy Apostles Basilica in Rome, Italy
5. St. PETER (64 AD)
– St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City
6. St. THOMAS (70 AD)
– St. Thomas Cathedral in Mylapore, India
7. St. BARTHOLOMEW (70 AD)
– St. Bartholomew Church in Rome, Italy
8. St. ANDREW (70 AD)
– Cathedral of Amalfi in Amalfi, Italy
9. St. JUDE Thaddeus (72 AD)
– St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City
10. St. SIMON the Zealot (74 AD) – stabbed with a sword
– St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City
11. St. JOHN (95 AD)
– St. John Basilica in Ephesus, Turkey
12. St. MATHIAS (70 AD)
– St. Mathias Abbey in Trier, Germany