Day of Pentecost

Mark 15 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

Jesus Before Pilate

1 Very early in the morning, the chief priests,

with the elders, the teachers of the law and the

whole Sanhedrin, reached a decision. They bound

Jesus, led him away and handed him over to

Pilate.

2 "Are you the king of the Jews?" asked Pilate.
"Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied.

3 The chief priests accused him of many things.

4 So again Pilate asked him, "Aren't you going

to answer? See how many things they are accusing

you of."

5 But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was

amazed.

There is the crucifixtion, then the resurrection

and then... the Day of Pentecost. Is there an

appropriate metaphor?

Another aspect of the unfolding drama of

scriptural revelation is the timing of events.

The chronology of events is the most puzzling

element of all. It's made even more uncertain if

you accept the more recent introduction of an

evolutionary timeframe. If you look at it from

the perspective of billions of years, then the

significance of biblical chronology loses all

relevance. I'd suggest that's the whole point.

For today, I'll set aside the creation vs

evolution conflict, except to point out that it

stands in sharp contrast, one to the other, when

the question of chronolgy is brought into view.

As far as I can tell, the book of Daniel is the

only place in the record of scripture that

attempts to place events into a chronological

framework in an explicit way. Sooner or

laterwe'll have to have a look at the book of

Daniel.

In the context of scripture, there is more to

question the evolutionary chronology than the

subject of origins. In the context of world

history, my take is that, there is a problem with

evolutionary chronology. All you have to do is

take a look at the idea of most recent common

ancestry, and it soon emerges that there is a

significant chronological problem with evolution.
But again, that's for another day.

Look at your calendar and you will see that the

resurrection has been firmly embedded in the way

that we view human history. I'd suggest that

it's not by accident, but that it's in

recognition of the script that's been written and

directed from behind the stage of history.

Evolutionary chronology is only another attempt

to misdirect our attention away from the stage of

human history and it's Providential direction.

In the passage above, Pilate was amazed because

he was looking at the wrong chronology of human

history. He had no idea that the script was

being played out before him on the stage of human

history. Being who he was, he didn't have the

moral will or the political inclination to do

anything other than let events play out. He

wasn't about to convert. He was like the Pharoah

in Egypt, who was having his hand forced into the

accomodation of G-d's will. Pharoah could at

least see the significance of events. Allowing

the hebrews to walk out of Egypt would have

economic consequence. But poor Pilate could only

see a destitute Galilean carpenter-turned-

preacher, standing before him. And not even the

kind of revolutionary that Pilate found the least

bit threatening. How could the poor carpenter's

son ever hope of becoming king of anything? He

didn't even own a sword. You would imagine that

Pilate was not just amazed, but amused by the

accusations of those who were opposing Jesus.

I'd imagine that Pilate is thinking something

along the lines that these guys can't even see

that the poor preacher isn't a political threat

to anyone who holds and excercises power in

Jerusalem. Pilate knew that the deck of power

cards was stacked completely in the favor of

those who served at the pleasure of the Roman

Empire. Jesus was not seen by Pilate as a

legitimate threat to that empire, even though the

others tried their best to make a case for it.

The only one on stage who knew what was going on

as the events unfolded was Jesus. And he wasn't

saying anything. Not at that moment anyway.

As I look around, I have to imagine that at the

moment there are not too many, maybe none, who

fully recognize the significance of current

events. While at the same time, realize that

events are still directed by Providence. Who is

paying attention to the script? All I see is

finger pointing in every direction, the normal

course of events. While the focus of attention

is being brought toward distracting events

scattered across the stage, the script is being

played out at the center, where it appears that

nothing of real significance or interest is

taking place. The real drama is always hidden in

plain sight. After the fact, it may become more

obvious, and maybe not. Daniel specifically

draws our attention to events taking place in

Jerusalem. That's center stage in biblical

prophecy.

Acts 2 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International

Bible Society

Acts 2

The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost

1When the day of Pentecost came, they were all

together in one place. 2Suddenly a sound like the

blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and

filled the whole house where they were sitting.

3They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that

separated and came to rest on each of them. 4All

of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and

began to speak in other tongues[a] as the Spirit

enabled them.
5Now there were staying in Jerusalem G-d-fearing

Jews from every nation under heaven. 6When they

heard this sound, a crowd came together in

bewilderment, because each one heard them

speaking in his own language. 7Utterly amazed,

they asked: "Are not all these men who are

speaking Galileans? 8Then how is it that each of

us hears them in his own native language?

9Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of

Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and

Asia, 10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the

parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome

11(both Jews and converts to Judaism Cretans and

Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God

in our own tongues!" 12Amazed and perplexed, they

asked one another, "What does this mean?"

There's that question again. The same question

that Moses said would be answered by the Passover

celebration. It's the question that naturally

comes to mind when strange or unusual events are

forced upon us. In general, human nature has a

tendency to avoid unfamiliar situations, but when

events range completely outside the bounds of

prior experience, then that begs the question.

We also expect that someone will be able to

answer the question, whether we really want to

know or not. Acts 2 is a good illustration.

The day of Pentecost takes place in the upper

room somewhere in Jerusalem. Jesus had told his

disciples that he would see them after the

resurrection, in Galilee. But since they were

still jews, they went to Jerusalem for the Feast

of Weeks. You would imagine that they were just

hanging out in Galilee in the interim. Maybe

wondering among themselves what, if anything, was

going to come of recent events. Fishing. You

would have to imagine that they knew if they ever

had reason to return to Jerusalem, they would

want to maintain a low profile -- try to blend

into the crowd. It didn't work out that way,

exactly.


Numbers 28:26 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International

Bible Society

Feast of Weeks

26 " 'On the day of firstfruits, when you

present to the LORD an offering of new grain

during the Feast of Weeks, hold a sacred assembly

and do no regular work.


The festival being celebrated in Jerusalem at the

time of these events recorded in Acts 2, was

called the Feast of Weeks, in this passage, the

'day of firstfruits'. The metaphor is clear.

This was the day that the Christian church began

officially. This was the 'harvest' that began

with the dramatic arrival of the Holy Ghost, the

'counselor' whom Jesus spoke about to his

disciples when they last saw him.

At hand, I don't have a reference, so I can't say

for sure what the exact time is between Passover

and Pentecost. But there is a sequence of

festivals that are part of the hebrew tradition

that was given by Moses. I suspect that they all

have a prophetic and a metaphoric significance.

That leaves plenty of ground to cover, miles to

go yet, on the Jesus Bus. All I can say at this

point in time is forget about the evolutionary

chronology and consider the chronology presented

in the book of Daniel and you will see that we

are standing at the threshold of the return of

Jesus.