God with us

I wonder, when the Spirit came on Old Testament characters like Samson or David, was there noise and flame? That’s what happened when the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost; here’s that event as described in Acts 2:1-4:

“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.”

Probably if there was a loud, wind-like noise and burning fire when Samson was filled with the Spirit, scripture would say so. And Pentecost was different; this was when the Spirit came and stayed for good. Jesus’ disciples, and Christians today, have permanently what Old Testament heroes only got occasionally. The Spirit is always with us.

This is a gift of Jesus, promised to his disciples when he was still on earth, and that suggests that in some way we need first to know Jesus before we can understand, or maybe even handle, the presence of the Holy Spirit. Or maybe people didn’t need the Spirit as much before Jesus; Jesus revealed so much about God in his life and by his teaching that possibly the ongoing presence of the Spirit became necessary for Christians to digest and understand it all.

One thing seems to be constant, though: when the Spirit comes, it brings with it amazing powers. Samson tore out city gates and toppled statues, while the disciples spoke in tongues. Later Christians would manifest other spiritual gifts. And all of us are enabled to see and understand a spiritual side to life that’s invisible, or at least badly understood, by anyone else.

God entered into a relationship with his people from the beginning, openly at first as he walked with Adam and then selectively, with men like Moses and Abraham, after the fall. Jesus came generations later and lived among humans for several decades before taking up his Lordship of the Universe. And then the third figure of the Trinity arrived at Pentecost. In this way, the promise of Isaiah’s prophecy, fulfilled at Christmas, came to full fruition at Pentecost.

Now God is truly with us, completely and always and in all of his persons.