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2.38 Billion Christians Worldwide
Pentecost: Birthday of the Christian Church. Today, there are 250 million Christians living in the US. It is the most prevalent religion around the world. In fact, there are 2.38.billion Christians globally. That is one third of the world’s total population. Christianity originally started when Jesus walked the earth some 2000 years ago. So how did it happen that so many people have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior over time and Christianity continues with such fervor? Well, the answer may surprise you…It all goes back to Pentecost, which is what many consider to be the ‘birthday of the Christian church.’
Christians all over the world celebrate a holy day called Pentecost each year. Pentecost is celebrated 50 days after Easter, the resurrection of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. On Pentecost Day, we commemorate when Jesus returned to the Apostles as He had promised, and literally breathed new life into his Church. By doing so, He brought the Holy Spirit of God to Christians everywhere. Some say this series of events that we call Pentecost, as recorded in the following scripture passages, and some others Bible passages, marks the actual birth, “the birth-day” of the Christian Church. So let’s take a closer look.
Prior to Jesus bringing the Holy Spirit directly to the disciples on what is now called Pentecost, a Christian holy day, that feast day was actually a long standing Jewish holiday. It was a Jewish celebration called the ‘Feast of the Harvest,’ that occurred each year during the early weeks of the first or early harvest in May or June.
Before Jesus died and rose again, He foretold Pentecost, telling the Apostles He would return and bring them the Holy Spirit in His place to guide them. He told his followers that He would leave behind an ‘Advocate’ to teach them in the way they should go in His absence. And that He did!
So let’s take a look at what scripture has to say about Pentecost, and the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles:
“Jesus said to his disciples:
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
And I will ask the Father,
and he will give you another Advocate [The Holy Spirit]to be with you always.
“Whoever loves me will keep my word,
and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.
Those who do not love me do not keep my words; yet the word you hear is not mine but that of the Father who sent me.
“I have told you this while I am with you. The Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.”
John 14:15-26
“On the evening of that first day of the week,
when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,
for fear of the Jews,
Jesus came and stood in their midst
and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
“Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained.”
John 20:19-23
“When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled,
they were all in one place together.
And suddenly there came from the sky
a noise like a strong driving wind,
and it filled the entire house in which they were.
Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire
which parted and came to rest on each one of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak in different tongues,
as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.
“Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven
staying in Jerusalem. At this sound, they gathered in a large crowd,
but they were confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language.
They were astounded, and in amazement they asked, “Are not all these people who are speaking Galileans? Then how does each of us hear them in his native language?”
Acts 2:1-11
In these scriptures we see that Jesus was preparing and equipping the Apostles to go out and spread the Good News of the Gospel far and wide. In these Bible passages, it is revealed how Pentecost changed the world forever, through the power of the Holy Spirit. And once Jesus breathed on the Apostles, infusing new life and power into their ministries, the Holy Spirit promptly came upon them, and they became an unstoppable force world-wide. Thousands of people in the region of Judea became Christians through their witness before the Apostles ventured out as missionaries in far-away lands.
Soon after Pentecost, the disciples were on fire for Jesus and went out as missionaries, traveling long distances. They endured much adversity, persecution, even prison, to preach the Gospel of Christ both near and far. Hence Christianity spread around the world through their teaching, witnessing, baptizing, and performing miracles in Jesus’ name. And that is how Christianity spread around the world after Pentecost, through the power of the Holy Spirit, and has been going strong changing lives ever since
Copyright 2022 | Adele M. Gill
Photo Credit: Megan Malkus / St John the Evangelist Church, Hydes, MD
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