Daily Reflections From Higher Things®

Today’s Reading: Acts 2:1-13 Daily Lectionary: Numbers 24:1-25; Luke 23:1-25 In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Originally Pentecost was simply the celebration of the beginning of the wheat harvest, but eventually the Jews used Pentecost to celebrate God’s appearing on Mt. Sinai to give Israel the Law. When God came to Mt. Sinai, He was within a cloud, a cloud full of lightning and fire. The presence of our God is often associated with fire. When the Holy Spirit was given to the Church on Pentecost, the disciples saw “divided tongues” that had the appearance of fire resting on each of them. The Holy Spirit is God, and the fire was a visual sign of His presence. After God appeared on Sinai, the Israelites built the Tabernacle, which was the original Temple. God’s glorious and fiery presence entered the Tabernacle. When the Spirit descended on Pentecost, He didn’t descend upon a mountain or enter a building. He rested on the followers of Jesus! The Church—the assembly of believers gathered around Word and Sacrame