CHAPTER 2

Acts chapter 2 and verses 1 through 4:


When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.


Pentecost was a Jewish festival that was held fifty days after the Feast of Unleavened Bread. So the historical time line that Luke sets up for us is that the events described in this passage occurred approximately ten days after Jesus’ ascension. The group of about 120 people was in one place on one accord at one time. Luke then described a sound that came from heaven like that of a violent wind—a sound that filled the entire house. He also described divided tongues of some kind, resembling fire, that appeared together among the group, and then disbursed so that one tongue of whatever it was rested on each member of the group.

At this point, everyone in the upstairs room was filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different, but distinct and real languages that people who spoke those languages could understand. In short, they did not engage in the practice of glossolalia—making unintelligible sounds and calling that activity speaking in tongues—but exercised the brand new gift from God that allowed them to speak real, intelligible languages that they had never studied or learned. Verses 5 through 13:


Now there were devout Jews from every nation from under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, 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 Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power. All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”


The first thing that we must acknowledge here is that there is a change of scene and scenery. When the Holy Spirit was poured out on the apostles and all who were with them, they were located in an upstairs room. According to this passage, however, a huge crowd was drawn to the apostles because of the sound of their speaking in languages known by the various racial and ethnic groups who were either Jews from birth or converts to Judaism. So the encounter by the apostles with this vast crowd of people must have occurred in some other, outdoor arena.

Again, the necessity of the apostles’ speaking intelligible languages is born out in this passage. What amazed the diverse racial and ethnic crowd of Jews and converts to Judaism was that they heard the apostles and the other folk gathered with them speaking about the mighty deeds of God in their native languages. The crowd was aware that the speakers of their languages were native Galileans whose accents betrayed them as neither well-traveled nor well-educated. This combination of the perceived parochialism and ignorance of the apostles baffled the crowd, but got their attention.

Accordingly, some people in the crowd were asking each other what this apparent miracle could possibly mean, while others in the crowd suggested that the men doing the talking in languages were drunk. However, the real significance of this event was that it was driven by the Holy Spirit and was a continuation of the ministry of Jesus, Son of God, through his apostles. Verses 14 through 21:


But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: ‘In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist. The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’


That there is no mention of Peter’s addressing the crowd from a window or balcony of the upstairs room where the original outpouring of the Holy Spirit occurred, is our second clue that this passage occurred in a location very different from an upstairs room. This scene has all the markings of an event held in a public place large enough to accommodate a very large group of people. Peter, who was standing with the other apostles, had to raise his voice in order to address the crowd. It is interesting to note that when he spoke to them, he responded to those sneerers and jeerers in the crowd who had accused the apostles of being drunk on new wine. Peter refuted their assessment by arguing that it was only nine o’clock in the morning—much too early for anybody to get drunk.