First Fruits of the New Covenant

But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. -John 16:13

Fifty days after the Resurrection, the Jews from different nations were gathering in large numbers in Jerusalem to celebrate the Jewish Feast Shavuot. The festival was a thanksgiving for the first fruits of the harvest , and was also a commemoration of the handing over of the Ten Commandments to Moses directly from the Most High God on Mount Sinai. One wonders why God chose that festival day  to fulfil the Saviour’s promise to send the Helper, the Spirit of Truth, who would tell the world about Jesus.

As we prepare to celebrate the Pentecost, we still fall short of an ideal description of the Holy Spirit, or even a perfect understanding of the deeply spiritual experience that results from  an infilling of the Spirit. The Bible refers to the Holy Spirit right in the beginning of Genesis, as the Spirit of God hovering over the water. From then on, we hear of God’s promises to send His  Spirit on the people through prophets like Isaiah and Ezekial and Joel. Throughout the Old and New Testament we see the Holy Spirit empowering people with His Counsel, with spiritual courage that destroys every form of human  fear, and with the divine capacity to be ‘born again’ in spirit and in truth.

There are a few instances described in the New Testament that may help us understand the deep spiritual connection we have with the Holy Spirit. The first is the Annunciation when we get a comprehensive title for the Holy Spirit from Angel Gabriel as he explains the virgin birth to Mary—“The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you”.

The Holy Spirit is the manifestation of the power of the Most High God and  is one among the Holy Trinity.  It is this Holy Spirit  power that resulted in God’s Word becoming flesh to dwell among us. Jesus came to deliver God’s  New Covenant to the people, not on a stone tablet but inscribed on the hearts of the people as was the Will of the Father- Jer 31:33. During the three years of Jesus’ public ministry, many of those who heard His Word followed Him, but few were able to comprehend what he meant. Even the learned teacher Nicodemus could not understand what Jesus meant when He said that believers must be born again in the spirit. It was left to the Holy Spirit to open the hearts of the people to understand the full import of what Jesus spoke to them.  In John 16 Jesus clearly spelt out the role of the Holy Spirit in helping people to internalize God’s Word and walk in His path.

“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.  But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. John 16:12-14

The Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ  followed. The apostles went into hiding. Peter betrayed Him thrice. The eleven remained in locked rooms, afraid of the violent mobs. Jesus continued to give them courage , asking them to pray for the Holy Spirit.

 On the day of the Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended powerfully on the apostles amidst violent winds and tongues of fire.  Peter faced the crowd as a changed man. Fearlessly He accused the Jews of  killing the Messiah and called for repentance. The number of followers increased rapidly under the influence of Peter’s power-packed  message.

The believers formed a community that was truly born again in spirit and in truth. The New Covenant defined their way of life. They sold their possessions and shared everything commonly, praising God and spreading God’s Word. Jesus had led the people out of the slavery of sin and eternal damnation through His death on the Cross, but it was the Holy Spirit who awakened God’s Spirit within them to experience and share God’s love within their fast growing community.

Just as the Jewish festival of Shavuot celebrated the handing over of God’s Law , so too the feast of the Pentecost celebrates the New Covenant that is inscribed within our hearts. As we prepare ourselves to receive the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, may we be blessed with the experience of being born again of the Spirit and offer to God, the first fruits of a harvest that God has kept in readiness for us to work on.