Acts Lesson 2 – 2:1-15

 

INTRODUCTION: Last week, in Luke 1:1-11, we began this new quarter with a lesson about the time after Jesus' resurrection when He appeared to his apostles over a 40-day period to prepare them for the role they we play in founding God's church. He commanded them to stay in Jerusalem and await the 'promise of the Father,' a metaphor for their empowerment by the Holy Spirit. When they asked Jesus if he was restoring the kingdom of Israel, He informed them that it would happen, not now, but at a time appointed by the Father in the future. Until that time, Jesus informed them that they were to be His 'witnesses' not only in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, but to the remotest parts of the world. As they watched Jesus ascend into the sky, two angels informed them that Jesus had been taken up into heaven and will one day return the same way He came. From this we learned that the Ascension marked the end of the story of Jesus and the beginning of the story of the church. We also learned the same Spirit that empowered the apostles as witnesses, continues to empower believing Christians who continue the work as Jesus' witnesses in this present age.

        This week, in Acts 2:1-15, we'll study the birth of the church, also known as the Day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit's descent on the day of Pentecost inaugurated a new era in God's administration of the human race. Luke carefully made a record of the events of this day to explain the transformations that started with the early church and extends all the way up to the present age.

 

 

 

v. 1a: "When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place." - "Pentecost" means fifty in Greek, and it marks the 50th day after Passover, in late - May or early - June. It was one of three great pilgrimage festivals, with as many as 180,000 attending, about two-thirds of whom came from foreign locations outside of Judea (see map).

v. 1b: "they were all together in one place." - The people who are "together in one place" consisted of the 120 followers of Jesus who met in the upper room reported earlier in Luke 22:12-26.

 

v. 2: "And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting." - God breathed life into man, so he became a living soul (Genesis 2:7), then breathed life into Israel, the first people of God (Ezekiel 37:7-10) and now, at the Pentecost, God breathes life into the new people of God - the church. The sound came from heaven, the place where Jesus had gone; a noise rather than a dynamic force that announced the coming of the Spirit.

 

v. 3: "And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them." - Fire, as well as the sound of wind, symbolized the presence of God. Apparently, the fire came first in one piece, and then separated into individual flames that resembled tongues, and these tongues of fire rested on each believer present. The fire was not a normal fire because it did not burn where it touched.

 

v. 4a: "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance." - Before this time, God set His Spirit selectively and temporarily on chosen individuals for a particular purpose, but now, in the new era that begins with this Pentecost, God gives His Spirit to all who belong to the believing community. Endowed with the Spirit, the first order of business for Peter, the other apostles, and the gathered disciples was proclamation, and they moved out of doors to meet the people where they were; and this proclamation continues as the first order of business for churches today.

v. 4b: "and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance." - In the Pentecost context, "speaking in tongues" refers to the ability speak in foreign languages that the speaker had not previously known, as opposed to the ecstatic speaking in 'unknown' tongues that will be mentioned later in Acts 10:46 and 19:6. In the Pentecost context, this temporary gift made it possible for all of the Jewish pilgrims present to hear and understand the proclamation of the gospel message in their own language. There is no record of the apostles using this gift elsewhere.

 

 

 

v. 5: "Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven." - The term "devout men" meant religious Jews who keep the Law; and the phrase, "from every nation under heaven," tells us they were Jews of the Diaspora who either lived outside of Palestine or in some cases, Jews who had moved back to spend their final years in the land of their fathers.

 

v. 6a: And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language." - Scholars believe this crowd of Jewish pilgrims had heard the wind-like noise (v. 2) and were drawn towards it to investigate what had caused it. The sound apparently originated in the upper room and then followed the disciples as they moved out onto the street. Scholars estimate that this crowd of pilgrims must have numbered in the thousands of people.

v. 6b: "and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language." - When they discovered the source of the sound, they were absolutely taken aback to discover these disciples speaking in their native tongues, even the common languages spoken in the remote regions where they lived.

 

v. 7a: "They were amazed and astonished, saying, Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans?" - The identification of the speakers as "Galileans" refers to the fact that the Jews of Jerusalem and Judea generally regarded Galileans as country bumpkins who were definitely not the kind of people you would normally expect to be schooled in a multitude of foreign languages.

 

v. 8: "And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born? - Hearing these Galileans speaking their native tongues was such a mind-boggling development that it allowed the disciples to completely achieve their undivided attention as they proclaimed the gospel message.

 

vv. 9-11b: Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs" - See map. This encompassed most of the known world in this time of history. "Jews" were ethnic Hebrews and "proselytes" were Gentiles who had adopted Judaism and submitted to all the rites, including circumcision in the case of males.

v. 11b: "-we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God." - Some scholars note that Pentecost temporarily reversed the curse of the Babel story, where God confused the language of all earth (Gen. 11:9). The term "mighty deeds of God" indicates that the message was shaped to appeal to the insights of Israelites, the original people of God.

 

v. 12: "And they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, "What does this mean?" - This verse indicates that the response to the message, it lest initially, was varied. While the pilgrims understand the languages they are hearing, they do not fully comprehend the message it brings. Yet, they keep listening with the hope that understanding will come.

 

v. 13: "But others were mocking and saying, "They are full of sweet wine." - This reminds that there are always negative people in any gathered crowd. In this instance, the mockers intended to discount the disciples' testimony by accusing them of being drunk. "Sweet wine" apparently had a higher alcoholic content than regular wine.

 

 

 

v. 14a: "But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them:" - Peter, "taking his stand with the eleven," tells us that there are again twelve apostles, the perfect number. The vacancy left by Judas had been filled. One of the qualifications was that the candidate be a witness of the resurrection of Jesus. When the eleven apostles unanimously narrowed consideration down to two qualified men, they drew lots, which resulted in the selection of Matthias as the twelfth (see Acts 1:20-26). Since it was done by lot, it signified that God had actually made the final choice.

v. 14b: "Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words. - Earlier, at Caesarea Philippi, Jesus had promised to give peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 16:19). Here in verse 14, addressing the "Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem," we see him using the keys to open the door to the Jews as later, in Chapter 10, he will also open it to the Gentiles.

 

v. 15: "For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day;" - Answering the allegation of drunkenness, he counters with the statement that it was "only the third hour of the day," which is 9:00 AM in Hebrew time; in other words, a time of the day when even drunkards were still sober. Moreover, religious Jews gathered for the ceremonies of the Temple or synagogue on a feast day like Pentecost, abstained from eating or drinking anything until 10:00 AM (Scholars agree this would have been a very convincing argument in those days to the Jews present.)

 

 

1. On the day of Pentecost the coming of the Holy Spirit launched a new era in God's administration of the human race. It ushered in a church age of salvation by grace alone which completely superseded the Old Covenant requirement of seeking forgiveness of sin by submitting to works of the Law.

 

2. On the day of Pentecost, the Spirit-led disciples' first order of business was proclamation. When the disciples received the Holy Spirit, their first order of business was to go out to meet the people where they were and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. The essence of their proclamation can be summarized in John 3:16: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."

 

3. On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit became available to all who believed. Any person who believed the disciples' proclamation that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who died on a cross as a sacrifice for their sins received the gift of the Holy Spirit and was 'marked' as a child of God (i.e., eternally saved). While the proclamation at Pentecost was directed at Jewish pilgrims, God already had a plan to extend His grace to Gentiles throughout the entire world (see Acts 11:1-18).

 

4. On the day of Pentecost, God supernaturally equipped the disciples to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to all the people within their hearing. The temporary ability of the disciples to proclaim the Gospel message in various foreign languages represented God at work to equip believers so they could effectively proclaim the gospel message. And in a similar way, God still uses the Holy Spirit to prepare believing Christians to be empowered witnesses for Jesus Christ in this present age.