I don’t know who came up with this
phrase, but the Holy Spirit is sometimes called “the shy member of the Trinity.”
And it’s true that the Spirit doesn’t usually grab center stage but stands in
the wings and points to Christ. “He will glorify me,” Jesus said of the
Spirit, “because he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”1
So maybe the Holy Spirit does seem a bit like that shy person at a party who
sits quietly and tries to avoid attention. But there’s more to it than that.
In the Old Testament the Spirit of
God seizes people and leads them to do wild and unexpected things — to lead God’s
people in battle against oppressors or to prophesy. When Samson had been bound
with ropes and the Philistine enemies came against him, “the spirit of the LORD
rushed upon him, and the ropes that were on his arms became like flax that has
caught fire, and his bonds melted off his hands,”2 and he slayed his
attackers. After Saul was anointed king by Samuel, “a band of prophets met him,
and he fell into a prophetic frenzy along with them.”3
Our text is about the Day of
Pentecost, when crowds of Jews from all over the known world were gathered in
Jerusalem. Jesus’ disciples, who a few weeks before hadn’t had the courage to
stay with him when he was arrested, are there too. Suddenly there’s a rushing
wind and, with the fire of the Spirit upon them, the apostles start shouting
the good news about Jesus in different languages. Apparently, their behavior
makes some of those in the crowd think that these men are drunk. Then Peter the
fisherman, with no training in rhetoric or elocution, stands up and preaches a
sermon that brings a few thousand people to Christ.
The surprising Spirit
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