NKJV 365 Day Reading PlanSample

The Feast of Pentecost also sanctified the time and life of Israel as a sign pointing to the coming of the Holy Spirit and the harvesting of the Church. It was precisely seven full Sabbaths (forty-nine days) plus one day after Pascha and marked the completion of the grain harvest. Here, the offering was not a sheaf of grain, but rather baked loaves, signifying the Church.

Thus, Pentecost also sanctifies the time and life of the Church each year, but not as a sign. For Christ is the sheaf, the firstfruit. The loaves are the many from the harvest, those from Christ and in Christ— in the Church. In Jn 12:24 Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.” This grain is the Church, harvested by the Holy Spirit. Hence, the ancient Feast of Pentecost prophetically prefigures the birth of the Church through Christ and the Holy Spirit.

At the same time, it also signifies the beginning of the end of the age. On the Day of Pentecost, fifty days after the Resurrection of Christ, the apostle Peter quoted the prophet Joel to explain what was taking place, “‘It shall come to pass in the last days, says God, / That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh” (Acts 2:17). The gifts of the Spirit for the age of God’s kingdom are given to the people of God while still living in this age, as a foretaste of the world to come.

Taken from The Orthodox Study Bible