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When Is Pentecost? And How Does It Relate to God’s Kingdom?

For many liturgical and other church traditions, Pentecost Sunday happens 50 days after Easter, and it celebrates the beginning of the Church. Remember that at this point in the story, Jesus has already resurrected after his brutal crucifixion, and he’s been reconnecting with his messengers (the apostles) to give instructions for their upcoming mission.

Luke says that, after resurrecting, Jesus was appearing to the apostles and “speaking of things concerning the Kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3). That would surely light them up with hopeful excitement. For centuries, God had been promising to one day end harmful human empires by establishing his own empire with us—by fully integrating his way of life in Heaven with our way of life on Earth.

With Heaven and Earth completely united, evil has nowhere left to linger. Establishing the Kingdom of God means ending evil, which happens not through violent force or coercive threats but through loving-kindness and patient forgiveness. It's a world compelled by love instead of fear.

Thrilled at this good news, these apostles are ready to roll! But Jesus echoes the prophet Isaiah and tells them to stay in Jerusalem. He wants them to wait for the time when they “will be baptized with the Holy Spirit,” echoing the prophet Isaiah (cf. Isa. 32:15) and adding that this will happen soon (Acts 1:4-6). But they’ve got questions.

The apostles ask, “Is this the time you are restoring the Kingdom to Israel?” and Jesus tells them that the timeline details are “not for you to know” (Acts 1:7). They are bummed and confused, but Jesus assures them that this Holy Spirit baptism will empower them to be his witnesses throughout the world—everywhere and eventually to everyone (Acts 1:8).

This is the beginning of a new world. The old world creates enemies and divides people, falsely claiming that some are loveable and others are throwaways, but not so in the Kingdom of God! In God’s empire, all people mutually love one another without partiality (cf. Acts 10:34-43; Rom. 2:11).