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Encounter the Word. Acts 2:1- 13 The Coming of the Holy Spirit. A close reading for literary features. What are some of the literary features of this passage?. Before you read this passage…. think back. Luke has already told his readers that Jesus would send the Spirit. (Look up Acts 1:8).
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Encounter the Word Acts 2:1- 13 The Coming of the Holy Spirit A close reading for literary features
What are some of the literary features of this passage? • Before you read this passage…. think back. Luke has already told his readers that Jesus would send the Spirit. (Look up Acts 1:8). • Whatever happens now is going to fulfil a promise! Now read what he tells us…. • NOW..read the passage. Focus on the way Luke has written about the Spirit. Underline how Luke describes the Spirit.
What are some of the literary features of this passage? • Here is what I found….. • Luke says that suddenly there came a ‘sound like the rush of a violent wind….and tongues as of fire’
What are some of the literary features of this passage? • The Spirit, promised in Luke’s Gospel, has now arrived! Luke uses two similes: the sound of a violent wind and tongues as of fire to describe the Spirit. • Both of these descriptions of the Spirit would have been recognised by Luke’s audience, who were used to the divine presence of God being symbolised as a miracle of nature that could be heard and seen.
What are some of the literary features of this passage? • Did you find other references to the Spirit? Here is another one I found….. • Luke tells us that people are ‘filled with the Holy Spirit…’
What are some of the literary features of this passage? Does this phrase sound familiar? I need you to do some research….. Take 15 minutes and read the first 3 chapters of Luke’s Gospel, OR any chapter of his book, Acts. Count how many times Luke mentions the Holy Spirit. Go!
What are some of the literary features of this passage? Did you find lots of them? Luke is obsessed with the Holy Spirit – he loves her! (When Jesus spoke of the Spirit he would have said ‘ruach’, a feminine word.) Luke mentions the Spirit more times than any other Gospel writer. In passages he copies from Mark’s Gospel he adds the Spirit, and every one of his important characters are said to be ‘filled with the Spirit.’
What are some of the literary features of this passage? Luke’s writing leads us to ask two questions about the Spirit 1. What is the Spirit like? 2. Why does Luke mention the Spirit so often?
What are some of the literary features of this passage? • What is the Spirit like? • If the Spirit is like a violent wind…..and like tongues of fire…what is the Spirit like? • Your teacher may give you a worksheet to complete to explore what the Spirit is like.
What are some of the literary features of this passage? Why does Luke mention the Spirit so often? Why would Luke want to show that the Spirit was everywhere: doing things, leading people, prompting action, ‘filling’ everyone? What does the presence of the Spirit show? In groups, see if you can think of why Luke might do this. What is he trying to say?
What are some of the literary features of this passage? Here is what I think. Luke is writing to tell his community that Jesus was the Messiah – God in human form. By having the Spirit throughout his work Luke shows that God is there at every step: leading, guiding, making it all happen. What better proof could you have for God’s delight at what is happening than the presence of God’s Spirit! Is that what you thought?
And finally, YOUR TURN! The story of the coming of the Holy Spirit had most probably been one Luke’s community had been telling for some years before he finally wrote it down. Drawing meaning….
Drawing meaning…. • What might this story have helped the growing church believe… • about God? (don’t forget Jesus and the Spirit are God!) • about people? • about life? • What might it help us believe now?