Typology of Pentecost

Typology in Christian theology: the interpretation of some characters and stories in the Old Testament as allegories foreshadowing the New Testament. 


There are a few rich and meaningful typology (and anti-typology) of today's solemnity of pentecost: 

• Pentecost is a term that the Hellenistic Jew gave for Shavuot, the festival of weeks (Exodus 34:22, 23:16 and Numbers 28:26). The 50th day marks the fulfillment of 7 weeks after the Passover celebration. Seven being the perfect number in association with God, multiplication being multipliers, and addition of 1 being the very next step of God's story. According to wikipedia: On Passover, the Jewish people were freed from their enslavement to Pharaoh; on Shavuot they were given the Torah and became a nation committed to serving God.
• In our Christian point of view: Easter commemorates the resurrection of Christ where He conquered death by death and raise up from it to free us from the pangs of death itself. Pentecost commemorates the giving of the Holy Spirit, where we as a Christian became a new being committed to serve Him and His Church. 
• The Pentecost occurred in the Upper room. The same Upper room where Jesus instituted the Eucharist, the same upper room where Jesus washes the feet of the disciples.
• Typologically, the location could not be coincidentally be the same. As Christ fed us with His body and blood, as Christ showed us how to serve others, so too Christ gave us His Spirit to send us forth as His hands and feet in this world in the same room. May we continually go back to that same room, which symbolizes the Church in its unity. 
• What happened? Everybody can listen the good news proclaimed in their mother tongue. It is the anti-typology of what occurred in Babel. As human try to make a name for themselves in Babel which resulted in language confusions, God make the apostles proclaimed the mighty works of God in different languages. 
• The Church begins this day at the Pentecost. As Israelites saw Moses brought down the 10 commandments brings the beginning of a new era in Jewish history, so does Pentecost. As the 12 apostles received the Holy Spirit, Christianity burst into this world with its unique attributes: One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic. One with the Triune God along with the prayers of Mary who gathers in that upper room with the Apostles. Holy, due to us being His and not due to our own sanctity. Catholic (universal), with their proclamation of the might works of God in different languages of its own. Finally, Apostolic, where Peter gets up and proclaims the good news, we will gather and listen to its message. Happy birthday, Church!