Sunday, May 23, 2010

Pentecost and Listening to Scripture in Other Languages

Today is Pentecost.

What is Pentecost? An answer from StPaulKingsville ...
Ten days after Jesus ascended into heaven, the twelve apostles, Jesus' mother and family, and many other of His disciples gathered together in Jerusalem for the Jewish harvest festival that was celebrated on the fiftieth day of Passover. While they were indoors praying, a sound like that of a rushing wind filled the house and tongues of fire descended and rested over each of their heads. This was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on human flesh promised by God through the prophet Joel (Joel 2:28-29). The disciples were suddenly empowered to proclaim the gospel of the risen Christ. They went out into the streets of Jerusalem and began preaching to the crowds gathered for the festival. Not only did the disciples preach with boldness and vigor, but by a miracle of the Holy Spirit they spoke in the native languages of the people present, many who had come from all corners of the Roman Empire. This created a sensation. The apostle Peter seized the moment and addressed the crowd, preaching to them about Jesus' death and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins. The result was that about three thousand converts were baptized that day. (You can read the Biblical account of Pentecost in Acts 2:1-41).
SIL Jack in South Carolina is proficient in speaking Spanish.  He will be reciting the verse John 3:16 (KJV) for his congregation today at Epiphany Lutheran in Spanish:
Juan 3 (Nueva Versión Internacional)16 »Porque tanto amó Dios al mundo, que dio a su Hijo *unigénito, para que todo el que cree en él no se pierda, sino que tenga vida eterna.17 Dios no envió a su Hijo al mundo para condenar al mundo, sino para salvarlo por medio de él.
He says that other speakers will read the same scripture in languages of English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Arabic, Latin, Greek and possibly Japanese. Jack say it will  "give the effect of the people hearing the Apostles each in their own language which would be unknown to those who don't speak that language".

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