On this Sunday we will observe the Feast of Pentecost, the third of seven annual Sabbaths in God’s Holy Day calender and the second of the three major festival seasons during the year.

We all know what happened on this day. This disciples of Jesus Christ were assembled and God poured out His holy spirit upon them. The "miracle of Pentecost" as recorded in Acts 2 is the story of what happened on this feast day 1980 years ago.

Did you ever wonder what might have happened if some of the disciples had not been in Jerusalem on that day of Pentecost? What if they had gone home for a short trip to look after things in Galilee? After all, a number of them were from the same area where Jesus grew up.

Shortly after His resurrection Jesus had told His disciples: "Behold, I send the promise of my father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high" (Luke 24:49). Jesus told them to stay in Jerusalem until they would receive promised comforter – the holy spirit – that He had talked about with them on the last evening of His human life. The Bible does not record Jesus telling His disciples exactly when this would happen. He just said to stay in Jerusalem until it did.

Even on the day of His ascension to heaven He did not tell them, but instead just spoke in a general way: "And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the father, which, He said, you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the holy spirit not many days from now."

Jesus could have said that they only needed to wait another ten days, but He didn’t. He just said to wait. And they did.

So we don’t know what would have happened if some of them had been in Galilee on that day. It’s a hypothetical question, because they were all in Jerusalem, where Jesus told them to be.

An often overlooked example of an important principle in Christian life: God gives His holy spirit to those who obey Him (Acts 5:32).

With these thoughts I wish us all a rewarding Sabbath!