Jesus breathes the Holy Spirit on the disciples on Easter as God the Father breathed on the pile of mud that would be named Adam in Genesis. St. Cyril of Jerusalem said that Jesus action was a kind of “anticipation of what will happen at Pentecost.” In other words, what is given to them now as a power, will be given to them slowly in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit at the feast of Pentecost. It also, reveals Jesus as doing what God does. Keep that in mind while considering the story of Pentecost.“… he breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
Number one, on what day did the first Pentecost occur?“Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in his own language.” Acts 2:1-11
At the baptism of Jesus, the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove. So, why did the Holy Spirit descend upon the apostles in tongues of fire? Pretty obvious. In the Old Testament, the Lord descended upon Israel in fire and gave them the old law. Now in the New Testament, God the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles to give them the new law written, not on stone, but on the tablets of their hearts. In Jeremiah 31:33 it says,“Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire; and the smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain quaked greatly.” Ex. 19:18
The law is written into the consciousness of the Apostles, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit of God. Remember also, our Blessed Lady is in that upper room when all this occurs. She experienced the Holy Spirit as “overshadowing her” on the day she conceived the Lord by the power of the Holy Spirit. Luke 1:26-38. God’s glory, his shekinah, is always represented by this cloud and by fire. Remember the burning bush that Moses encounters? A glory cloud descends on the Temple Solomon built. Cloud and fire are the visible manifestation of the glory of God, the Holy Spirit.“But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days—oracle of the LORD. I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Jer. 31:33