A study on the Icon of Pentecost which not only brings us into the reality of the event being depicted, but also teaches the theology behind the Descent of the Holy Spirit. The descent of the Holy Spirit though a tumultuous event brought about harmony among the Apostles. It is also a call to deification. The theme of the icon is a theme of waiting – for both the redeemed and those in darkness.
With the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Jesus Christ, the time of salvation had arrived and the Divine work of redemption has been completed, the fullness revealed, all gifts bestowed: it belongs to us now to “appropriate” these gifts, to be that which we have become in Christ: participants and citizens of His Kingdom. Through Christ’s descent and Crucifixion, He made the sinful human nature able to become divine and through His ascension, He made it possible for the human nature enter into the presence of God and through the descent of the Holy Spirit, God began to dwell within us.
