Pentecost is a Christian religious celebration that commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles of Jesus Christ, fifty days after Easter.
Currently, Pentecost is celebrated mainly by the Catholic and Orthodox Church, however, both celebrate on different dates. In 2021, the Day of Pentecost will be celebrated on May 23, for example.
As a rule, Pentecost is celebrated 50 days after Easter Sunday, date established as the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
For Christians, Pentecost is one of the most important dates on the Liturgical Calendar, along with Easter and Christmas.
The term "Pentecost" originated from the Greek pentēkostḗ, which means “fiftieth”, in reference to the 50 days that follow Easter.
In the Old Testament of the Christian Holy Bible, Pentecost was a celebration made exclusively by the Jews, right after the last harvest of the year, in a way of giving thanks for the food provided by God.
It was also known as a celebration of the law of God. This celebration took place specifically on the first Passover after the people of Israel came out of slavery in Egypt and received the Ten Commandments sent by God.
However, in the Old Testament, the Day of Pentecost is mentioned with other names, such as: Feast of the Harvest or Sega (Exodus 23:16), Feast of Weeks (Deuteronomy 34.22) and Day of the First Fruits (Numbers 28.26).
At the New Testament, the commemoration of Pentecost is mentioned in the book of the Acts of the Apostles 2, an episode that narrates the moment in which Christ's apostles received the gifts of the Holy Spirit shortly after Jesus ascended into heaven.
“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all gathered in the same place. Suddenly a noise came from heaven, as if a rushing wind was blowing, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them a kind of tongues of fire that parted and landed on each one of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in tongues, as the Holy Spirit gave them to speak." (Acts of the Apostles 2:1-4)
Pentecost for the Jews
The origin of the feast of Pentecost is actually based on an ancient Hebrew tradition, called Shavuoth, and that means “Weeks”.
For the Jews, Pentecost was a celebration of thanksgiving to God for the harvest, in addition to honoring the memory of the day Moses received the Tablets with the Holy Laws, known as Torah.
Unlike Christian Pentecost, Jewish Pentecost lasted seven days and started from Pesah (Feast of the Liberation of Egypt).
With the passage of time, the meaning of the celebration of Pentecost among the Jews ceased to focus on thanks for the harvest, focusing exclusively on the feasts of the creation of the Torah (which would be the Ten Commandments, for Christians).
See also the meaning:
- Pentecostal church
- Lent
- revival
- Maranatha
- Easter
- Christian Easter