What is Pentecost?

Short answer

Pentecost was the Jewish Feast of Weeks, kept fifty days after Passover. On that feast, soon after Jesus rose and ascended, the Holy Spirit came upon His disciples in Jerusalem, Peter preached Christ, and about three thousand people believed. Christians remember the day as the beginning of the church.

The word Pentecost comes from the Greek for “fiftieth.” In the Bible it names two things that belong together: an Old Testament harvest feast, and the day in Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit came upon the first followers of Jesus. To understand the second, it helps to start with the first.

A harvest feast fifty days after Passover

God gave Israel a feast to be counted from the Passover season.

And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.
Lev 23:15–16 · King James Version (1769)

Seven full weeks were counted from the day the first sheaf of the harvest was offered, and the feast fell on the fiftieth day. That is why it is also called the Feast of Weeks (Deuteronomy 16:10). Jamieson, Fausset and Brown explain that it was the second of Israel’s three great yearly festivals: Passover marked the barley harvest, and Pentecost celebrated the gathering of the wheat. Albert Barnes notes that two loaves made from the new grain were offered to God as firstfruits (Leviticus 23:17). Later Jewish tradition also linked the day with the giving of the Law at Sinai, as Adam Clarke points out.

John MacArthur sees a picture in this. Pentecost was the feast of firstfruits, and on that day the Spirit came as the first installment of what God has promised His people. The believers gathered that day became the firstfruits of a great harvest still to come.

The promise of the Spirit

On the night before His death, Jesus prepared His disciples for His departure with a promise.

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
John 14:16–17 · King James Version (1769)

MacArthur explains that “another” means another of the same kind: someone like Jesus Himself, who would take His place and carry on His work. The word translated “Comforter” describes one called to stand alongside and help. William MacDonald adds that in the Old Testament the Spirit came upon people for a time, but now He would remain with believers forever. The New Geneva Study Bible makes a careful point here: this does not mean the Spirit was absent from God’s people before, only that His coming at Pentecost fulfilled a specific promise.

After His resurrection Jesus told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they received power from on high, so that they could be His witnesses to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:4–5, Acts 1:8).

What happened on the day of Pentecost

When the day of the feast came, the believers were gathered together.

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Acts 2:1–4 · King James Version (1769)

Barnes thinks “all” probably includes the roughly 120 believers mentioned a chapter earlier (Acts 1:15). Luke is careful with his words: there was a sound like a rushing wind and tongues like fire. MacDonald points out that these were signs that could be heard and seen. MacArthur notes that wind often pictures the Spirit in Scripture (John 3:8), while fire is a familiar sign of God’s presence, as at the burning bush (Exodus 3:2).

Because of the feast, Jerusalem was full of Jewish pilgrims from many lands. Barnes observes that God gave the Spirit at the very moment when the largest crowd could hear the gospel and carry it home. Luke lists the nations present, and each group heard the believers speaking in its own language about the wonderful works of God (Acts 2:5–11). Some were amazed, while others mocked and said the disciples were drunk (Acts 2:12–13).

Then Peter stood up. MacDonald remarks that the man who had denied his Lord a few weeks earlier now spoke with the boldness of a lion. It was only nine in the morning, Peter said, far too early for anyone to be drunk. What they saw was what the prophet Joel had foretold.

But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of 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:
Acts 2:16–17 · King James Version (1769)

MacArthur explains that “the last days” describes the whole age that began with Christ’s first coming and runs to His return. Peter went on to preach Jesus: crucified by men, raised by God, exalted to God’s right hand, and now the One who had poured out the Spirit (Acts 2:22–36). The listeners were deeply shaken.

Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
Acts 2:37–39 · King James Version (1769)

MacArthur notes that the word for “pricked” means pierced: the crowd suddenly understood that they had rejected their Messiah. Repentance, he explains, is a real turning from sin to God. The New Geneva Study Bible points out that the gift Peter promised was the Holy Spirit Himself, together with forgiveness, and that “all that are afar off” reaches beyond Israel to the Gentiles. The result was remarkable.

Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
Acts 2:41 · King James Version (1769)

What Pentecost means for Christians

Pentecost shows that Jesus kept His word. The Spirit He promised came, and He now lives in everyone who belongs to Christ (Romans 8:9). MacDonald calls Pentecost the birth of the church: from that day believers were joined into one body.

It also shows the reach of the gospel. On that day people from many nations heard one message about Jesus in their own languages, and Peter’s promise was for all who are far off. Clarke draws a contrast with Sinai: there God gave His Law, and at Pentecost He sent His Spirit so that the new life of the gospel would take hold in His people.

Finally, Pentecost shows where the Spirit’s power is aimed. He did not come to put the disciples on display but to make them witnesses to Christ. The same Spirit produces His fruit in believers today, as Paul describes in What is the fruit of the Spirit?. In many churches Pentecost is still celebrated seven weeks after Easter as a reminder that the risen Lord has not left His people alone.