Just prior to Our Lord’s Ascension, the disciples ask Him about the coming of the Messianic Kingdom; “Lord, will you at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel?” He responds rather cryptically, saying “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samar′ia and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:7-8). Many people read this answer as a non-answer, a dismissal of sorts because the Apostles were asking the wrong question. It is usually followed up by a comment as to just how clueless the Apostles still were even after spending their 40-day bonus round with Our Lord. But it is not the Apostles that were clueless, but us.
Notice first, that the Apostles were expecting Jesus to restore the kingdom to Israel. Having had “their minds opened to understand the Scriptures,” (Luke 24:45) the Apostles understood that the Christ would restore the kingdom to Israel. Their question is not if, but when. This is no dodge or redirection, but about the most direct answer He can give. The restoration of the kingdom to Israel will occur when they “receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” that is, on Pentecost.
The Meaning of Pentecost
For us to grasp this, we need to first understand the meaning of the Jewish feast of Pentecost. Fifty days after the first Passover, the People of Israel “came into the wilderness of Sinai” (Ex 19:1). It was there that Moses ascended Mt Sinai and brought the Torah to the people. This giving of the law that governs Israel marks the birth of Israel as a People. The Feast of Weeks, as it was known, was instituted to mark this event and was one of the three great Jewish feasts, when “all males shall appear in the sight of almighty God” (Ex 34:23). This feast was also known by its Greek name, Pentecost. This is what St. Luke was referring to when he mentions that the disciples were all gathered in one place “When the day of Pentecost had come” this is the feast that he is referring to” (Luke 2:1).
The Feast of Weeks was also the Feast of Reaping (c.f. Deut 16:9-11) to offer to God the first fruits of the Wheat Harvest. This helps to explain the abundant harvest of the 3000 souls that the Apostles reaped on that day, 50 days after the Divine grain of wheat became standing grain (c.f. Deut 16:9). The harvest of 3000 souls also ties back to those who, while God was giving Moses the Law, worshipped the Golden Calf and were punished by death (Exodus 32:28).
Pentecost then is the “time the Father has fixed” for the restoration of the kingdom to Israel. This restoration occurs when the Jewish Feast of Weeks finds its fulfillment in the Christian Pentecost. Jesus, the New Moses, ascended to Mount Zion, and God gives the New Law. This New Law is not written on stone, but on our hearts by the Finger of God’s Right Hand (i.e. the Holy Spirit, c.f. Veni Creator Spiritus). Just as in the giving of the Law to Moses, it is accompanied by a mighty wind and flashes of fire (c.f. Ex 19:18 and Acts 2:2-3).
Because the Jews were obligated by Divine precept to travel to Jerusalem for the Feast of Weeks, “there were devout Jews from every nation” (Acts 2:5) to show the universality of the restored Kingdom. But it also has unity as reflected by the fact that all present heard Peter in their own tongue. God undoes the disunity that was created at Babel by uniting all mankind under the Tower of Peter, the house built upon the Rock. This restored Kingdom then bears four marks: Unity, Holiness, Catholicity, and Apostolicity.
Therefore, Just as the People of Israel found its birth at Sinai on the 50th day after Passover, the People of the New Israel finds its birth on Pentecost, on the 50th day after the new Passover. Our Lord restored the Kingdom to Israel on that day, the same day that we celebrate the birth of the Church. This link created by Our Lord in his response to the Apostles’ question between the Ascension and Pentecost helps to maintain the inseparable link between Israel and the Church. The new Israel formed from a remnant of the Israel of Old (c.f. Is 10:20-22) will be gathered together by the Messiah. All such promises made to Israel are taken up and fulfilled in the Church. This connection also maintains the necessity that the Church be both universal (catholic) and united from within a visible structure.