As Christians celebrate Pentecost Day, they are also reminded of their own history when God poured out His Spirit upon all mankind, writes Reverend Vakaroto Ngaro of Ekalesia Avarua.

The same ritual had become an annual celebration to commemorate the birth of the church. Many signs and wonders were done among the people and they were all with one accord.

In Acts 4:30, we read that these early Christians prayed that God would continue to do signs and wonders through the name of Your Holy Servant Jesus. This shows that this prayer was answered, and these remarkable signs and wonders continued.

We are not told what these signs and wonders were. Presumably they were like what we see in other places in Acts and in the Gospels – healings, deliverance from demonic powers, unusual blessings. Often, the fact that God’s people are together all with one accord is a greater display of the power of the Holy Spirit than any particular sign or wonder. Our selfish hearts and stubborn minds can be harder to move than any mountain. Seemingly, God chose to do these miraculous works through the hands of the apostles and not mainly through others. Yet God wisely chooses which hands will bring a miracle.

He had a purpose in doing it through the hands of the apostles. The second temple was a massive compound, with extensive colonnades and covered areas. No doubt, the early Christians gathered together in a particular area of the temple complex, in an area open to all. The community of Christians had a marvelous reputation for integrity, and everybody knew it was a serious thing to be a follower of Jesus. An Ananias and Sapphira incident would reduce the level of casual commitment. Yet, the church kept growing. Though people knew it was a serious thing to be a Christian, the Spirit of God kept moving with power. The mention of multitudes of both men and women is Luke’s way of reminding us that the cleansing of the church connected with Ananias and Sapphira did no lasting damage.

People were so convinced of the reality and power of what the Christians believed, they thought they could be healed by the mere touch of Peter’s shared.

Our text does not specifically say people were healed by Peter’s shadow; it merely tells us people thought it would, and they took action based on this belief. We don’t know for certain if people were actually healed when the shadow of Peter passed over them. Assuming people were healed, apparently, even the shadow of Peter became a point of contact where people released faith in Jesus as healer. It seems that people well understood what Peter said in Acts 3:12 – 16.  It may sound crazy that one could be healed by the touch of a shadow, but we know a touch of Jesus’ clothing healed a woman. There wasn’t anything magical in the garment, but it was a way that her faith was released. In the same, there was no power in Peter’s shadow itself, but there was power when a person believed in Jesus to heal them, and the passing of Peter’s shadow may have helped some to believe. However God chose to bring the healing, there is no doubt that a remarkable work of healing was present. We shouldn’t miss the connection between the purity preserved in the first part of the chapter with the death of Ananias and the fear of God among the Christians and the power displayed here. God blessed a pure church with spiritual power. This is the first mention of the work extending beyond Jerusalem. People came there instead of the apostles going to them. This was exciting, but not exactly according to the command of Jesus. He told the disciples to go out to Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth Acts 1:8. The apostles didn’t leave Jerusalem until they were forced to by persecution.