The Holy Spirit on Pentecost
Here are the first nine times Luke refers to the work of the Holy Spirit after the resurrection of Jesus.
Consider the scriptures regarding the work of the Holy Spirit
It does not require an expositional savant to understand that all nine references point to the prophetic, inspiring, and/or miraculous power of the Spirit. Just read the following list:
Luke 24:49 – And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.
Acts 1:2 – [U]ntil the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.
Acts 1:5 – [F]or John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
Acts 1:8 – But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
Acts 1:16 – Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.
Acts 2:4 – And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Acts 2:17 -And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams . . .
Acts 2:18 – [E]ven on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
Acts 2:33 – Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.
Under normal expositional principles when 9 references are all the same, one should expect for the 10th to have the same meaning. It would require some incredible textual changes to insert a new meaning into the passage. Surely, there would be some emphatic statement from God to let the inquiring Bible student to know that the 10th reference was not only different than the preceding nine, but that going forward the phrase used in the 10th reference would positively and completely exclude the author’s established meaning from the first nine. If Luke were going pivot so strongly in the middle of a continuous context, he owes his reader some explanation. By the way, he does not provide any such notice.
For the record, here is the 10th reference from Luke after the resurrection, which I am told has and cannot have any connection to the first nine:
And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38)