Pentecost: The Spirit Empowers Christ's People

INTRO: Yanomamo*** Eu também falo um pouco de português. Pero definitivamente hablo español mejor. And English is without a doubt my most educated language. It’s the language in which I don’t feel tethered with a child’s vocabulary.

Since I learned to speak these languages conversationally as a child, I don’t remember it being difficult. But I still had to learn them, and put in the work to figure out how to say what it was that I needed to get across. Those of you who have studied languages as adults can attest to how challenging it can be.

In many parts of the world people speak 2 or 3 (sometimes more) languages just to be able to get around. That’s what it would have been like for people in first-century Palestine.

But they would have had to learn the languages, but that’s not what happens when the Holy Spirit comes upon Jesus’ followers at Pentecost. Let’s read the event together.

Acts 2:1–13 ESV

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. 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 was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”

The moral of the story is, you probably aren’t truly filled with the Spirit unless you do strange things that people mistake for being drunk at 9am. But seriously…

What is it that we should take away from this as believers today? This is not an event that we can replicate, not should we. So I believe Luke’s intention is to give an accurate historical account, yes, but also to portray a vivid description so that you can immerse yourself in the event… to walk away astonished… but not amazed only, but also to respond in worship and with resolve. (We should respond with praise to God and commitment to rely on the Spirit’s work.)

First, let’s allow Luke to immerse us in the…

Sights and Sounds of the Spirit’s Coming (vv. 1-4)

As is so typical of Luke in his historical narrative, he places the episode in a clear setting: It takes place at Pentecost and while they are all together in one place.

Pentecost (which means “fiftieth” in Greek) was one of the three great Jewish feasts celebrated in Jerusalem according to God’s command (Feast of Tabernacles, Passover, Pentecost). It came just 50 days after the first Sabbath after Passover, and was known as the Feast of Weeks or Feast of Firstfruits/Harvest.

It isn’t perfectly clear if there is an intended significance for the Spirit’s coming with the festival of Pentecost. Part of the problem comes in scholarly disagreement concerning the meaning of the feast from the OT to the first century. If there is a connection in the feast to the giving of the Mosaic covenant at Sinai, then the significance might be the correlation of confirming the new covenant in Christ by the coming of the Spirit. If the connection is more toward the offering of firstfruits of the harvest, then the significance could be the Holy Spirit’s coming as a kind of firstfruits of the believer’s inheritance. Since Luke does not stress the meaning, but only the timing, perhaps we shouldn’t speculate too much either.

What is significant, to be sure, is that it was a busy festival in Jerusalem and helped launch the church in a big way from the beginning.

We’re not surprised to find them all together because we know that they’ve been obediently waiting as they were told, spending much time in prayer and doing a little planning in accordance with Scripture. (They decided to replace Judas to round out the twelve, and the Lord chose [by lot] Matthias.) The place is likely the same large upper room of a house where they have been meeting while they wait. And they were sitting… not doing anything in particular to conjure the Spirit’s coming. Just sitting and waiting… praying and planning.

To help the reader understand what uniquely took place on this day, Luke describes the audible and visible signs that accompanied this supernatural event. There could be no question that this was the fulfillment of Christ’s promise of the Spirit’s coming.

First there came a sound from heaven… not that it was a wind, but a sound like a mighty rushing wind (perhaps some of you have been indoors in a serious windstorm and can imagine the sound… but instead of it coming from outside, the sound filled the house… without any actual wind —> Luke doesn’t make much of it here, but in the NT wind is associated with the Holy Spirit, both in the name pneuma (meaning “spirit, breath, wind”) and in the way he works (think of Jesus’ description to Nicodemus in John 3.)

John 3:8 ESV

The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Secondly, there was a visible symbol - something LIKE tongues of fire appeared and distributed among them (Again, not that is was fire, but that was the best description they could come up with… and Luke recorded it in the way it was reported to him. Maybe these looked somewhat like a flame from a candle or a lantern… like a “tongue” of fire)

And this visible phenomenon rested on each one of them, no doubt to show that the Holy Spirit was indeed being distributed to every disciple present, each individual member of the believing community. (It seems this visible aspect was something only those in the room at the time would have seen… bc later the only reaction from crowds is to the languages) —> Again Luke doesn’t press it at all, but fire in the OT was sometimes associated with not only judgement but also with the presence of God. (burning bush to Moses, pillar of fire to lead the Israelites by night, etc.)

In v. 4, then, there is another audible sign, but this time not only as as confirmation to Christ’s followers but also for drawing attention to the message (it would lead to opportunity for evangelism). - The Spirit miraculously gave them utterance in other languages that the speaker had not known and seems to himself or herself STILL not actually know [if we compare to 1 Cor 12-14].

We know that tongues in v. 4, glossai, is intended to mean languages because in the context it is plainly connected with vv. 6&8, both using dialektos, language, and then the word tongues is used again in v. 11 to mean the same thing… known languages.

Can you imagine praising God in a language that you do not know, such that the hearer who speaks the dialect coming out of your mouth has to tell you (in this case in Aramaic or Greek) what it is that you are saying? Missionaries go now and spend anywhere from 6 months (for a trade language) to 5 years becoming proficient in a language. … But the disciples here instantaneously speak languages that they do not even know.

This supernatural phenomenon of speaking languages unknown to the speaker, which the believers referred to as “tongues,” would be listed in other NT writings among gifts of the Spirit as well. the event here definitely indicates that what the disciples speak are known languages understood by the native speakers.

While it would take time that we don’t have today, I think that makes the most sense of explaining the spiritual gift as well, especially considering Paul’s treatment of tongues in 1 Cor 12-14. That should make for a fun discussion for your small group or family gathering tonight or this week.

Before we leave these first four verses, it’s critical to note that the purpose for the tongues phenomenon is that it draws attention so that Peter can then proclaim the gospel, which he does in a common language. Secondly, though, it is evidence to these disciples of the unique empowerment in the Spirit to launch the witnessing that Jesus promised in Acts 1:8, and later then (two more times in Acts - Ac 10:46 and Ac 19:6) as evidence to the believers that other groups are united with them in Christ: the first is evidence that Gentiles are receiving the same Spirit by believing in Jesus, and the second is much later when Paul finds that some of John the Baptist’s disciples have not yet believed in Christ but were only baptized by John. In both cases the new groups of believers speak in tongues as well. All other times that new people are saved, there is no mention of them speaking in tongues.

Ok, so after the setting, and the sights and sounds of the Spirit’s coming on all the believers in power, Luke turns his attention to the reaction from the crowds. We see that they are…

Baffled by the Languages Phenomenon (vv. 5-13)

Many “devout” Jews (meaning those doing their best to follow God’s prescriptions in the law of Moses), especially the male leaders of households, would have journeyed from all over the known world at the time to be in Jerusalem… some staying over from Passover (or returning if they lived closer) for Pentecost. Luke will also tell us where all they are from in vv. 9-11, certainly representing in his mind the whole known world, or “every nation under heaven.”

In v. 6 the crowd gathers and the bewilderment begins - Some assume here that the crowd is drawn by the first sound (like a mighty rushing wind), which might be correct. Based on the context of everything that follows (including Peter’s preaching and the extremely large numbers of people… some 3,000 responding to the gospel), I think it is likely the disciples not only emerge from the upper room where this took place but also make their way over to the outer courts of the temple. So the crowds may have been drawn by the first sound or by the languages being spoken, or likely both, and all the commotion surrounding these things.

But the people are bewildered/confused because they are greeted by hearing these Galileans (7) speak the native languages where they are from (and not speaking in Aramaic or Greek, which most of them would have had in common, to some degree). Both vv. 6&8 emphasize that the numerous languages being spoken are not these common ones, but rather the native tongues, the local languages spoken in the places where these people were born.

As we said from v. 4, this is a miracle of speech and not one of hearing. The crowd’s reaction emphasizes the fact that they knew these were simple men and women, who were from Galilee, and there could be no logical explanation for them speaking these various languages.

In vv. 9-11 Luke gives us all the peoples and places represented by these languages who are present in Jerusalem and who hear this miracle and no doubt hear Peter preach. The list covers much of the known first-century Roman world, of course particularly areas where there would have been Jewish communities.

The list makes its way from east to west, mixing peoples with places. There appears to be a list of four out east, headed by Parthia bc it was the greatest power remaining in that region that had not fallen to Roman rule. Then the middle section seems grouped in twos by places, snaking east to west and north to south. The final section is headed by Rome bc it is of course the great power and in west and over much of the region… Rome seems to have had a large Jewish contingent that had been active in proselytizing (that is bringing Gentiles fully into Judaism). Cretans were from the central island in the Mediterranean below Greece, and Arabs were perhaps from the furthest south in the Arabian Peninsula.

All of these Jews in diaspora (dispersed to live in these various locales, and proselytes to Judaism), had come, likely for both Passover and Pentecost… They are hearing the disciples speak in their own tongues native to the region they are from.

What they hear in their own language is the Spirit-empowered believers telling of the mighty works of God (or the great deeds that God has done). Undoubtedly what they are saying in particular is the way in which God has intervened mightily among us through the Lord Jesus Christ. We will see that such is exactly what Peter will go on to explain in depth in the first Christian sermon preached at Pentecost.

We learn in vv. 12-13 that everyone has the natural reaction of being both amazed and confused, but then what follows are two different reactions to that astonishment and perplexity. Some response with sincere questioning, “what does this mean?” These are the ones who know that this miracle is not easily explained away, so they seek an answer. But others respond with a mockery that makes up an explanation that doesn’t really provide an answer but allows them to shrug it off as drunkenness.

That explanation is ludicrous for various reasons: As Peter will explain, it’s relatively early in the morning. It also was considered improper and obnoxious and sinful in Jewish Palestine to be drunk, so to accuse this whole group of being drunk is laughable. Most predominantly though, being drunk gives no explanation whatsoever for the miracle of these Galileans suddenly speaking various languages.

Even in our day, in spite of all claims to the intellectual reasonableness of scoffing at the existence and revelation of God, and although it shames many into submission and causes others to doubt, such mockery remains quite ludicrous indeed.

What is the explanation, as Luke makes clear? The Holy Spirit had come in power at Pentecost to fulfill the promise of the Lord Jesus. This miracles of speaking other languages was a confirmation to the followers of Jesus as well as a sign to grab the attention of outsiders so that they might listen to the gospel of the mighty work of God through Jesus.

What should we take away from this text today?

Our Response: Application

First, perhaps the most obvious thing we should not miss in this text, and can apply to ourselves, is that this is the clear fulfillment of Christ’s promise to send the Helper, God the Holy Spirit, to be with and in God’s people (all true followers of Christ who confess that he is Lord and believe in their hearts that God raised him from the dead).

How seriously do we take the Spirit’s work in us? It is the Spirit who regenerates and seals us in Christ, who gives us assurance of our standing in Christ, and who convicts us of sin. It is the Spirit of God who gives gifts for building Christ’s church, and the Spirit who guides us and empowers us.

Are you leaning on the work of the Spirit in you… to shape you into the image of Christ and to use you to build up the church and to testify to the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ? (We lack courage only when we trust in ourselves instead of in the Lord’s work through the Spirit he has given us.)

Secondly, we must do the hard work of seeking to “rightly handle the word of truth” (2 Tim 2:15) in comparing this episode of all the disciples speaking in tongues with Paul’s explanation of how the gift of tongues should and should not be used in the regular assembly of believers in 1 Cor 12-14. The gift is either the same as this experience, speaking languages that require an interpreter for everyone present who is a non-native speaker of the tongue being spoken, or it must be something else: an ecstatic language that no one understands except God and the interpreter. In the process of determining which we think is correct, we must account for the difficulties to our own position, as well as humbly consider that there may be others with the same goal who are reaching a different conclusion. However, still others (a great many in our day, unfortunately) are perpetuating the exact abuses the Apostle Paul seeks to correct in his letter to the Corinthian church.

Finally, in our gospel proclamation, there will be mockers. There always have been and there will always be scoffers. But God himself will separate the saved from the scoffing (the wheat from the weeds, the good fish from the bad, the sheep from the goats). It is our calling in Christ to sow the seed, to cast the net of the gospel, to go out and beckon them to come into the feast of the kingdom, proclaiming the mighty works of God in all things, and especially in the Lord Jesus Christ… to everyone we can reach.

Lord, give us eyes to see those we can already reach with the Gospel. Lord, give us faith to believe that we have the Holy Spirit, and that he works through us. And Lord, give us hearts to go and to send out from us those who will expand the reach of the gospel to people who little or no exposure to the truth of the Jesus’ salvation for mankind.

[closing song]

COMMUNION

[benediction]

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