His Arrival

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLE

HIS ARRIVAL

Acts 20:13-16

13 We went on ahead to the ship and sailed for Assos, where we were going to take Paul aboard. He had made this arrangement because he was going there on foot. 14 When he met us at Assos, we took him aboard and went on to Mitylene. 15 The next day we set sail from there and arrived off Kios. The day after that we crossed over to Samos, and on the following day arrived at Miletus. 16 Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in the province of Asia, for he was in a hurry to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of Pentecost.

NIV

Once again, it appears that we have nothing more than a travel log, except for the desire by Paul to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of Pentecost. Why did he want to be in Jerusalem for the day of Pentecost? That was a special day in Jewish tradition, known as the week of harvest or the feast of weeks. For Christians, it is fifty days after the resurrection, but for the Jews, it is the beginning of the first wheat harvest, which occurs fifty days after the barley harvest. However, it does not appear that Paul wanted to be in Jerusalem for the Feast of Weeks, but rather for the day of Pentecost, which must have centered on the arrival of the Holy Spirit. Although everything is about Jesus, and Paul preached Jesus, he also spoke of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We believers talk about Jesus because he is our salvation. We accept the work Jesus did on our behalf, going to the cross, taking all our sins upon himself, paying the penalty for us, so that we are forgiven, declared holy and blameless in the eyes of God. Through Jesus, we have eternal life, as he promised that although this body will die, we will live. Jesus also promised to send the Holy Spirit, and that happened on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem. Therefore, we live in Jesus, and the Holy Spirit lives in us. Of course, we had to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and in some sense, we must also accept the Holy Spirit. Jesus sent him, but he told his disciples to wait for the gift from the Father, the promised Holy Spirit. Jesus told them and us that although we get baptized in water, we will be baptized with the Holy Spirit and will receive power when the Spirit comes upon us. Paul knew all about that power and wanted to spend time with the apostles in Jerusalem to celebrate Pentecost. We celebrate Jesus, but let us also celebrate the Holy Spirit on the day of his arrival in our lives.