Shavuot / Pentecost use for 2023

Deep Calls to Deep: Riches from our Jewish Roots 7h · It's hard to imagine what the disciples and others felt like when they came together for Shavuot just a little over 7 weeks after the Passover seder (what we call the Last Supper) the night before Jesus was crucified. You can be sure they knew how many days He lived among them after He was resurrected ~ because they were all counting the days, as commanded by God in their Torah (in Leviticus 23 and Deuteronomy 16) ~ the days from Passover Sabbath to Shavuot. Shavuot ~ their celebration of the Torah given to them by God on Mt. Sinai all those years ago. It had been only 10 days since Jesus' ascension, and now the bewildered disciples gathered in Jerusalem ~ with the others who have all made the pilgrimage to the Temple with offerings and sacrifices, to meet together before their God. It was one of the 3 most important "appointed times" of their faith, and their hearts must have been so ready to gather with others who had seen Him, and worship God together with those whose hearts were also aflame. The Greeks called this day "Pentecost" ~ meaning 50th. You see, 7 weeks were counted from Passover's Sabbath. Then the next day was Shavuot - the 50th day. And so the day began..... Acts 2:1 ~ “When the day of Pentecost [Shavuot] had come, they were all together in one place.” The day the Ten Commandments and Torah were given to the Jewish people, amidst fire and smoke and storms on the mountain, the world changed. The people who had been slaves were now a holy nation, with God leading them in intricate detail in the ways of life, and promising to go before them with His Presence. You can see why Shavuot was such an important festival to the Jewish people. And this new day, the first celebration of Shavuot since Jesus' left them, promising to send His Holy Spirit to guide them, Shavuot was transformed and all was made new.... For this day, after they gathered, the Presence of God descended on them in much the same way, with an assembled group, and with the sound of a strong wind and what looked to be tongues of fire, and signs and wonders among them! Pentecost celebrates that the veil has been torn that separated God from mankind, torn by God from top to bottom, and that God has indeed sent His Spirit to live in the hearts of all who believe. His Living Presence now inside them! Both Shavuot and Pentecost changed the world. Both are remembered by the fire ~ throughout the Bible, a symbol of the Presence of God. The one holiday shared by Jews and Christ-followers even today, the birth of the Jewish nation and the birth of the Church on the same day, with centuries between. (A holiday that would still be on the same day every year, if we weren't using a new calendar.) A day of fire, the Presence of the God of the Universe among us. What an earth-shifting day, this same day of the calendar, separated by centuries, but so much the same. The Law (literally "the Instructions") and the Law fulfilled.... The Presence of God inside our hearts!