PENTECOST

Tomorrow we will celebrate Pentecost. Among Christians, it derives its name and date from Easter plus 49 days or the fiftieth day, and it is the time we associate with the magnificent outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Jesus’ apostles and other believers in Jerusalem. There is much to be said about this amazing day.

Looking back into the Old Testament, my friend and trusted blog advisor, Michael Canale, had the important observation that, with Pentecost, the confusion of tongues at the Tower of Babel was reversed, as the Holy Spirit-filled believers in Jerusalem were speaking in foreign languages and unifying communication once again. Under the power of the Holy Spirit, he said, the disciples were miraculously speaking with foreigners in their own languages.

It is difficult to fully appreciate this day without the backstory of Pentecost. Before we celebrate, it is critical to reflect a bit and put it in its equally fascinating context. In doing so, we will highlight Pentecost’s superstar, Peter, who, under the power of the Holy Spirit, brought 3,000 souls to Jesus on this day. Why was this fisherman turned disciple turned denier of Jesus so effective an evangelist that day? As we said, there is a backstory, and it is truly a theological page turner.

As an earlier blog set forth, Peter was the disciple of Jesus who , alone, recognized him as the Messiah when he inquired of the twelve, “Who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15-16) While he did fall asleep at a crucial moment, he was, nevertheless, in the inner circle of disciples whom Jesus took aside to be wth him as he prayed in Gethsemane. (Matthew 26:37)  However, as earlier noted, Peter did exactly what Jesus predicted he would do, in that, three times, he denied that he even knew Jesus after Jesus was taken into custody before his crucifixion. It was after this stunning betrayal of his Lord, that Jesus, now resurrected and spending time with his disciples, approached Peter to talk. In one of the most dramatic and illuminating conversations in all of Scripture, Jesus, by the words he used, set the stage for Peter’s sermon on Pentecost and, in the process, revealed for all time how Jesus forgives and accepts believers who have severely veered off his intended path for them.

This iconic dialogue takes place shortly before Jesus ascended from Earth
returning to his Father in Heaven:

“When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?’ (meaning the other disciples)
Yes, Lord, he said, ‘You know I love you.’
Jesus said, ‘Feed my lambs.” (John 21:15)

In order for us to grasp the deep content of this part of the exchange between Jesus and Peter, it is necessary to examine the Greek words for love used by each of them. Jesus‘ use of the word love is agape in Greek. It means sacrificial, unconditional love. Peter, in answering Jesus, is employing quite another Greek word, that of phileo or brotherly friendship. Put bluntly, the two of them, thus far in their talk, were speaking of completely different planes of love. What happens as their conversation goes on?

Again, Jesus said, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
Jesus’ word for love is agape.
Peter said, ‘Yes, Lord, you know that I love you…’
Once again, Peter’s word for love is phileo. The disconnect between the two had continued as Jesus said, “take care of my sheep.”
(John 21:16)

The dialogue then reached its denouement:

“Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
This time, Jesus uses not agape but the word Peter had been speaking – phileo. Strikingly, Jesus accepts Peter’s degree of love, his lesser non-agape love. He accepts Peter where he is, not where Jesus had hoped he would be. With all of us, this represents the open arms of Jesus, welcoming us where we are, where we are doing the best that we can at the time.

The conversation continues:

“Peter was hurt because Jesus asked the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ He said, ‘Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

Peter, for the third time, reiterated his use of the lesser love, brotherly love – phileo.

“Jesus said, ‘Feed my sheep.” (John 21:17)

Bible scholar, Daniel Esparza in an Aleteia article, astutely observes that three times Peter had denied Jesus, and, in a mirror’s image, three times Jesus calls him to feed his sheep, to evangelize for him to those who do not know him. Peter’s reinstatement is thus complete.

And now, to Pentecost –

Before his ascension, Jesus told his disciples that something momentous was coming – he predicted Pentecost:

“It is better for you that I leave. If I don’t leave, the Friend (the Holy Spirit) won’t come. But if I go, I’ll send him to you…When the Friend comes, the Spirit of the Truth, he will take you by the hand and guide you into all truth there is.” (John 16:10,12 The Message)

Fast forward to Jerusalem where the apostles of Jesus have been waiting…:

“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly, a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from Heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” (Acts 2:1-4) The reversal of the Tower of Babel, Michael spoke of, was beginning. Confusion in speech was replaced with clarity.

Within a short time, Peter addressed the amazed crowd as a compelling and persuasive evangelist, not a fallen betrayer of Jesus but, instead, as his articulate advocate, brilliant in his verbiage, gifted in his delivery. Thousands of souls were won as the Holy Spirit filled him. He still does so in our time as we celebrate this day of the Church and of our souls – with the empowerment of our Friend, the Holy Spirit, we are ourselves the Peters of our age, winsome and effective for the Lord Jesus.

Postscript:
In the end, Peter came to love Jesus in the agape sense of the word. He went to the cross himself, and, with sacrificial and unconditional love, tradition says that he asked to be crucified upside down so as not to place himself in the realm of the greatness of his Lord and Savior, Jesus.