N. T. Wright on the meaning of Pentecost in Acts
- Matt O'Reilly
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
I recently picked up a copy of N. T. Wright's new book, The Challenge of Acts (Zondervan 2024). As usual, Wright's prose is witty and engaging, and his reflections on Acts invite you to look at a familiar book of the Bible from something of a fresh angle.
Along these lines, Wright's comments around the coming of Holy Spirit at Pentecost in Acts 2 stand out. He notes that we often read the Pentecost narrative in terms of our own experience. Of course, that varies from one theological tradition to another. Whether we're thinking of the Spirit's role in the giving of gifts or the work of the Spirit in our continued sanctification, our tendency can be to think of our own individual and subjective participation in the Spirit. In contrast, Wright wants to draw our attention to the objective meaning of Pentecost.
To be clear, I'm not suggesting the subjective experience of the Spirit is not in focus or should be framed over and against the objective reality of Pentecost. In fact, I think Wright sets the contrast a bit too hard in the opening pages of chapter 2.
Nevertheless, Wright's focus on the objective signficance of the Spirit's coming as it relates to a larger biblical theology is worth our attention. He's keen to remind us that Pentecost and the coming of the Spirit represents the "long-awaited fulfillment of Israel's hopes" (24). It represents the return of God to the newly rebuilt temple. This is why Peter cites the Old Testament so extensively in his Pentecost sermon. It's where the whole story was always going. This is the "consolation of Israel" for which Simeon waited (Luke 2:25). It marks the beginning of the restoration of "the kingdom to Israel" about which the disciples have recently inquired (Acts 1:6). It is the first act of the newly ascended and installed king of the cosmos--the presence of his Spirit within his temple-people empowering them to bring the joy of his kingdom to the ends of the earth.
I certainly don't want to denigrate or dismiss the importance of our subjective experience of the Spirt, but I do appreciate Wright drawing our attention to the objective theological importance of Pentecost.
The subjective experiences are grounded in and emerge from the objective realities. We do well to attend to both.
Dr. Matt O'Reilly is Lead Pastor of Christ Church Birmingham in Alabama, Director of Research at Wesley Biblical Seminary, and a Senior Fellow of the Center for Pastor Theologians. A two-time recipeint of the Stott Award for Pastoral Engagement, he is author of Free to Be Holy and Paul and the Resurrected Body.
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