If you want to cause a stir with a small group what do you do? Suppose you belong to some fringe group that wants to make a statement. What’s your strategy? What do you do to make an impact?
Usually, they hijack some big event. That’s an old trick. Why else is there such tight security at the Olympics or Commonwealth Games, or the World Cup, or some Heads of Government meeting? Because some loopy group will try and hijack the great event for their own cause.
Of course, there is another way to cause a stir. You could own the event. You could buy it, and put it on from the beginning and it could be yours. Then it’s not hijacking it, but ‘sponsorship’. Big companies do it. Think of the ‘Telstra , Aussie, Suncorp Stadium’. Or the Vodaphone or Three Test Series.
That’s why the CEO of the sponsor hands out the trophies. And now a word from our sponsors. And they’ve earned their minute speech that they get. Because they’ve paid for the big event.
That’s what Bilbo Baggins does at the beginning of the Lord of the Rings. He throws a massive party for his eleventy-first birthday. He invites everyone. He has spent all his money on the party. So he is allowed to have his little bit of fun with his ring, disappearing and giving everyone something to talk about.
Pentecost was a big event in the Jerusalem calendar. The whole event was put on by God. It was his event.
And God’s Christ, Lord Jesus Christ had just risen and ascended to heaven. Jesus had just received all authority from his father. So it was more than appropriate for him to show how the event was actually all about him. And that’s what the Risen Jesus Christ does, in spectacular style.
From the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry, there had been the promise of the Spirit. John the Baptist had promised that the more powerful coming one would baptise in the Holy Spirit (Luke 3:16; cf 11:13; 12:12). Mind you, the Holy Spirit had been busy all through Luke’s Gospel. He filled John the Baptist from birth (Lk 1:15), together with his mother Elizabeth (Lk 1:41), his Father Zechariah (Lk 1:67), and indeed Jesus (John 4:1). He came upon the Virgin Mary so she could conceive (Lk 1:35), and Simeon (Lk 2:25, cf 26-27), and of course, he come bodily onto Jesus at his baptism (Lk 3:22). Jesus’ earthly ministry was a Spirit led and empowered ministry (Lk 4:14, 18; 10:21).
So the coming of the Holy Spirit is not the entrance of a wholly new and unknown actor. He comes as an old friend in new dress. He is an old friend come to do a new job. He is like Gandalf the Grey who now comes as Gandalf the White. His friends know him straight away. But now he is among them with a new power.
Or imagine you’ve got a legal problem. So you go to the solicitors office. And there is a softly spoken elderly man in slacks and an open neck shirt. He says he is the barrister and sits with you and prepares your case for you. He makes you a cup of tea and shares with you the muffins that he’s made. You think he’s nice, but you wonder whether he will cut it on the day. But on Court Day, he turns up in his robes, and speaking powerfully in court. He’s an old friend in new dress.
So is the coming of the Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost He comes in New Power to bear witness to Jesus Christ. Just before he ascended Jesus reminded them:
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8 NIV)
And so we read Acts Chapter 2 verse 1:
When the day of Pentecost came [or literally, was completely fulfilled], they were all together in one place. (NIV)
Pentecost means ‘fiftieth’. Pentecost was celebrated 50 days after Passover[1]. It was originally a harvest festival, giving thanks to God for the new grain. Because God gives the grain.
But now there is a greater harvest than grain, and a more important first fruit. There is an even greater reason to celebrate and come together. By the day’s end, 3000 will be added to their number (Acts 2:41). And the reason, is the Spirit empowered witness unleashed that day. Verses 2 to 4:
2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. (NIV)
Here is something new, yet not so new. The first time we meet the Holy Spirit in the Bible, he is hovering over the waters, ready to bring his creative power. Just as Jesus Christ is the powerful Word of God, so the Holy Spirit is the powerful, life giving breath of God. It is fitting that his coming in power is marked by a wind-like sound[2].
But this is no wind. The Holy Spirit’s coming only ‘sounds like’ wind, For then a new, strange phenomenon of ‘tongues of fire’ separate on each one. No wind distinguishes in this way. Just as the Holy Spirit rested bodily on Jesus as a dove at his water baptism, so also the same Holy Spirit rested bodily on each of the 120 disciples at their Spirit baptism in their upper room.
Nowhere else is such a manifestation, of the Holy Spirit in tongues of fire, described in Scripture. To say it is a once off in Scripture is simply to state a fact. Even the other events of tongue speaking in Acts don’t have instances of the physical manifestation of tongues of fire. Here is a singularity, a once in an aeon event, something that is not repeated. It is an epoch changing experience in the life of the church.
Nor does the Spirit only come upon the 12. Luke is emphatic that the 120 disciples in Jerusalem were all together, they were all there, and something like tongues of fire came to rest on each of them. Apostle or disciple, men or women, young or old, rich or poor, each receives his or her measure of the Spirit, and each was filled with the Holy Spirit. The same thing said of John the Baptist, Elizabeth, Zechariah, Simeon, is said of the 120. And in fact, Peter will soon make the fullest offer of the same Spirit to his hearers. ‘Repent and be Baptised... and You [too] will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’ All Jesus’ disciples receive the Holy Spirit, as Paul will say much later:
13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body-- whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free-- and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. (1 Corinthians 12:13 NIV)
What does the Spirit thus enable the 120 do? The end of verse 4:
[They] began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them [or more literally, just as the Spirit gave to them to utter].
The Risen Jesus has poured out the Spirit from the Father. This is the promised ‘Baptism of the Spirit’. And the Spirit of Jesus enables them to speak in other language. Literally, the Spirit gives them utterance.
The word for ‘to utter’ is a very unusual word[3]. It is a word that means elevated discourse. Only Luke in the New Testament uses the word. He uses it only three times. Once here, and the same word is also used of Peter in verse 14. Peter when he gets up to speak is given ‘utterance’, or elevated discourse. Likewise, it is used of Paul in chapter 26. There, in the face of the accusation of insanity, Paul says that he utters truthful and sober words.
It is not bable. It is dignified, elevated speech. And what does it look like. In the two examples that we have, it is used of confident, bold, and challenging declarations that Jesus is the Risen Lord and Christ, with proofs from the Old Testament Scripture and declarations of their eyewitness testimony.
In verse 11, the crowd hears the 120 declare the wonders of God. What are the wonders of God? What are the praises of God that the 120 speak?
If Peter and Paul are an example of ‘to utter’, they declare the wonder of Jesus Christ and his resurrection from the dead, which they have seen, in fulfilment of the Old Testament.
Now, we might ask the question, what were the different languages? That’s all tongues means here, different human languages. And Luke tells us in verses 5 to 11.
5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God- fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11( both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs–we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues! ”
Pentecost was a festival. Jerusalem was chock full of pilgrims from across the ancient world. And no longer are these Galileans speaking their native tongue. They speak the languages of those far off lands.
Way back in Genesis 11, humans had one common speech. The all could communicate clearly with each other. But they didn’t obey God and spread over the earth. They wanted to gather and not scatter. Nor did they build the tower of Babel to call on God’s name. They wanted to make a name for themselves. They wanted to storm God’s throne room from their tower in Babel, known as ‘Gateway to the gods’.
So God judged them. That judgment was different languages. God confused their language. Humans were unable to communicate properly or understand each other. The different tongues limited their anti-God agenda.
But it wasn’t as if God was against humans having a great name. In fact, God chose one human, Abraham, and said, ‘I will make your name great’, and ‘all nations of the world will be blessed through you’. (Genesis 12:1-3). And it would be Abraham’s seed, Abraham’s offspring, through which the ‘Serpent crusher’ would come. Through Abraham would come the seed of the woman, Eve, one who would bruise the serpent’s head, but whose heel would be bruised in the process (Genesis 3:15).
Well, from Abraham came Judah, and God promised that Judah would rule. Indeed, the obedience of the nations would be his[4].
And from Judah came King David, to whom God said, ‘You are my Son’ (Psalm 2). God promised David an eternal dynasty and a Son who would reign on his throne forever[5]. And King David called this coming Son ‘My Lord’ and King and priest forever in the order of Melchizedek (Psalm 110).
And David’s Son Solomon drew people from the ends of the earth. They came to hear his wisdom, like the Queen of Sheba. And it seemed that Israel would become a blessing by drawing the nations to them. Like a great big magnet or vacuum cleaner, with the irresistible force of the attraction of living under God’s rule with God’s abundant blessing. Drawing the nations in to Israel to share in God’s blessing.
But then everything went pear-shaped, or so it seemed. Solomon was a failure and disobedient. Because of unfaithfulness and sin and wickedness, the Kingdom was split, the Northern Kingdom was destroyed in 722BC, and the Southern Kingdom was exiled starting from 608BC. This is just what God promised Israel as the punishment for sin. Deuteronomy 28:63-4:
You will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess. 64 Then the LORD will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. (NIV)
And for the next 600 years, Jews were scattered to the four corners of the world. Just as the nations were divided and scattered from Babel, so the Jews were scattered among the nations, from one end of the earth to the other. They were deported to the North East beyond the river, and from there they were scattered to modern day Iraq and Iran. Others fled to Egypt in the South, and still further into Africa.
Then Alexander the Great conquered the world. And as a result Jews were further scattered, through Asia Minor and Greece. So there were Jews all through modern day Turkey. Then at the time of Jesus, the Roman empire was the great power. So Jews also found their way to Rome[6]. The Jews had been dispersed. It is called ‘the diaspora’, the dispersion.
But God would bring good out of this dispersion or diaspora. For now many Jews had different mother tongues. They were citizens of strange lands. They spoke the language of the land of their birth. Many could not speak the language of the Hebrews. It only takes one generation. Just as I cannot speak my mother’s language of Maltese, they couldn’t speak the language of the Jews.
But many still feared the God of their fathers. And so they returned to Jerusalem for their ancestral festivals.
And the risen Christ knew this. During his earthly ministry he used the festivals to preach the kingdom. And now the Risen Jesus was going to take the opportunity of the harvest festival to commence his worldwide mission. After all, it’s Jesus’ festival. He is the sponsor. Jesus Christ has been feeding the world ever since he made it. So really, Peter’s Preaching at Pentecost was simply a ‘A Word from Our Sponsor, the Lord Jesus Christ’.
The risen Christ enabled the 120 to speak different languages. The 120 Galileans were miraculously enabled to speak the languages of the diaspora Jewry. Moreover, Jesus filled them with the Spirit so they could prophecy. And the subject of their prophecy was... him. Just as Jesus said the Old Testament was all about him, so the Spirit of Jesus spoke all about him.
How do I know? That’s what Peter did!
Jesus had taught that the harvest was plentiful but the workers are few. At the beginning of the day of Pentecost, there were 120 disciples in Jerusalem. But by the end of the day of Pentecost, there will be 3000 new missionaries.
Most of the 3000 who repented, believed and were baptised were visiting Jerusalem. They would have to go home at some point, returning to their homes in the four corners of the earth. And what would they take with them? The gospel, the news about the Risen Jesus Christ.
Before Paul got to Rome, the gospel got their first. Neither Peter nor Paul planted the church at Rome. Others did. How? The day of Pentecost.
Because this mission during the intermission is not primarily about what Peter did or what Paul did. They are servants and fellow workers. Rather, it is about what the risen Christ was doing.
For the Jews of the world were the firstfruits of the harvest, the gathering in of the fruit of the earth. The gospel is for the Jew first, then the Greek. And here we see in Acts 2 God’s concern for the Jews of the world.
But through the Jews, the gospel would indeed go to the nations. The dispersion of the Jews was the judgment of God, yes. But that judgment would be turned into blessings to the nations.
You scatter things to throw them out. That’s what you do when you sweep ash out of your log fire. But you also fertilise at the same time. You scatter salt to throw it out, but also to season food.
And now the scattered Jews who trust in the Risen Jesus Christ will season the world. For the Pentecost pilgrims would return home. And the gospel would go with them.
Well, we too are scattered in the world. We gather here today, when we meet together. But most of the time, we are strangers in the world, scattered throughout the world (cf 1 Peter 1:1; James 1:1).
And tomorrow will come, and you will go back to your daily grind. And I suppose much of your life is lived among non-Christians. Perhaps at home, perhaps at work, at school, TAFE or university. Or it is lived wrestling with the brokenness and difficulties of this world.
And we Christians not many. The number who seriously confess Christ is small. You know this.
But God has put us where we are to be salt and light for those around us. We are the missionaries to our homes, our place of work or study, our community. Jesus called his disciples the salt of the earth and the light of the world.
Our lives cannot be hidden, for good or ill. What we are comes out. But the Risen Jesus warns us against being tasteless, insipid, and not distinctive. Salt no longer salty must be thrown out and trampled. Instead, he commands us ‘let our light shine before men’.
Dear brothers in sisters, the Risen Christ has put us on display. He wants the world to see our good deeds to the praise of our Father. We are to live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse us of doing wrong, they may see our good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
And what does this effect?
Everything. How we treat and talk about our government. How we submit to those in authority over us – police, parents, teachers, boss. How we love other Christians. How we suffer unjustly – at work or at home. How we endure unjust suffering just as Jesus endured it. How we don’t pay back when we are wronged.
How wives are to be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, How husbands are to be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life. How children are to obey their parents, and father’s not exasperate their children.
The sorts of thoughts we dwell on, the words we use, what we do with our time and money.
And what is the benefit of living this way? We are doing it for the glory of God. We are looking forward to the day when the Risen Jesus returns. When he comes back, and then once again we will see what Pentecost prefigured.
For the languages spoken on Pentecost prefigured what eternity will be like. Where people from every tribe and nation and people group and LANGUAGE will worship and praise the Risen Jesus Christ[7]. For in heaven, just as on Pentecost, the different tongues of the world will join together to again praise Jesus’ name. Every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. So let’s live for that now, during our scattering amongst the people.
[1] Pentecost, aka the ‘Feast of Weeks’ (Lev 23:15-21). 7 weeks after the Sabbath on which the sheaf of the first fruits was waved, on the 50th day, the grain offering of new grain was made to the LORD. In Lev 23, the relationship between the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Unleavened bread that followed the Passover is not stipulated. However, by NT times, the 50 days were calculated from the feast of the Passover: Peterson, Acts: Pillar, 131. Just as Jesus reinterpreted the Passover to signify the New Covenant in his blood, so Pentecost is re-interpreted by the event of the coming of the Spirit.
[2] The wind is symbolic of the creative breath of God (cf Ez 37:9-10; Jn 3:8).
[3] avpofqe,ggomai I declare, utter, pronounce, used of dignified and elevated discourse; compare Acts 2:14; 26:25
[4] Genesis 49:8-12: "Judah, your brothers will praise you; your hand will be on the neck of your enemies; your father's sons will bow down to you. 9 You are a lion's cub, O Judah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness-- who dares to rouse him? 10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs {10 Or until Shiloh comes; or until he comes to whom tribute belongs} and the obedience of the nations is his. 11 He will tether his donkey to a vine, his colt to the choicest branch; he will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes. 12 His eyes will be darker than wine, his teeth whiter than milk. {12 Or will be dull from wine, his teeth white from milk} (NIV)
[5] 2 Samuel 7:12-17: "When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with the rod of men, with floggings inflicted by men. 15 But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; {16 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts you} your throne will be established forever.'" (NIV)
[6] So much so that when the Jews at the time of Jesus heard him say, ‘You will look for me and will not find me’ they thought Jesus meant that he might go and teach the Jews living among the Greeks (John 7:35)
[7]Cf Rev 5:9-10; 7:9