“I told you that John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit” [Acts 1:5, NRSV].
[L] Descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, by El Greco; [R] Descent of the Holy Spirit on Jesus at his baptism: Battesimo-di-Cristo-by-Piero-della-Francesco-1450
The evangelist Luke has a treasure trove of messages he wants to convey. His very first message in the Acts of the Apostles is that Jesus – who suffered, died, rose again, and ascended into heaven – lives on in his Church.
Luke worked on two big frameworks in his two-piece contribution to the New Testament. In the Gospel, he begins in Jerusalem and ends in Jerusalem. That’s the story of Jesus. In Acts, he begins in Jerusalem and ends in Rome. In it, he traces the acts of great men who brought the Good News from Jerusalem, continuing where Jesus had left off at his death, to the ends of the earth.
From the start in his second piece, Luke writes of Jesus’ parting word to the apostles: “While he was staying with them he told them not to go away from Jerusalem but, to wait for the Father’s promise, ‘which I told you about,’ he said, for I told you that John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit before many days have passed” (Acts 1:4-5).
We are told of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter. With its Latin source, fortis means brave. The Holy Spirit as Comforter fills men and women with courage, fortitude and strength. Now this is important for us all, because for Christians to be baptized in water is understood in theology as to receive the fire of Holy Spirit, in other words to undergo Pentecost. To be baptized, ever since the ancient theology written by Tertullian of the second century – one of the very first lay theologians of the Church – is to become a soldier for Christ, to courageously live, defend and spread the faith.
Philip Yancey, in Disappointment with God, writes: “The very titles given to the Spirit – Intercessor, Helper, Counselor, Comforter – imply there will be problem.” This is very interesting indeed.
Beginning with the first “big” Pentecost, and subsequently at every “small” Pentecost which happens at each baptism, believers who receive the Holy Spirit are to become witnesses to Jesus Christ “both in Judea and in Samaria and to the farthest bounds of the earth” (Acts1:6-8). The problem is, in Greek the word for “witness” and the word for “martyr” are the same – martus. A Christian witness was someone who was constantly ready to become a martyr. Persecution was rife; a Christian life was a life at risk, unless one was willing give up in the face of danger. To be a witness meant to be loyal to Christ the King, no matter the cost. Truly, God knew there would be problems. Christians needed the Spirit – the Intercessor, Helper, Counselor, Comforter! Our spiritual ancestors were Spirit-inspired, and Spirit-comforted Christ-followers.
Today, we continue to celebrate the Pentecost, remembering the very first Pentecostal event in Jerusalem, and celebrating small “Pentecostal” in every baptism. The times have changed; so have our culture and our circumstances. But the words remain the same. The theology is unchanged. We are still called to be witnesses. We will have problems. We need the Holy Spirit, as the ancients did.
Copyright © Dr. Jeffrey & Angie Goh, June 2022. All rights reserved.
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