Text Reading: Acts
2.1-21
May the words of my
mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable unto you O Lord the
source of our strength and our redeemer. Amen
In this remarkable
passage we read about the great day of Pentecost. Before this event the
disciples’ hope was shattered and broken; they were disappointed at the turn of
events by Jesus’ crucifixion. In vain had they tried to comfort themselves and
it is as if all meaning had ceased. Three days later we are told of the
magnificent event that so changed their lives from tears to laughter, their
sadness to joy, their darkness to light. One event so transformed their lives
they had no choice but to tell others about it, so that others’ lives can also
be transformed by the same truth that so profoundly changed theirs.
A promise
was made to them that Jesus will send them another comforter; that they should wait till the Holy Spirit should come.
Jesus identified Comforter with himself, as He was with his disciples and
walked with them, in the same manner another Comforter, Friend, companion walking along side of them/us, would
be with them even to the end of the age. This is the hope they were waiting for
as the day of Pentecost arrived. In patient trust they had to wait and accept
His words that that would happen.
Pentecost
was the Greek name for the Feast of Weeks. It is the Jewish harvest feast
following Passover. In the Hebrew economy two big rain seasons referred to as
the early rain and the latter rain. The early rain was for the sprouting of the
seeds and they were left to grow through winter. The later rain was where ears
of grain would plumb during spring and harvested.
The
outpouring of the Spirit can be compared to the rain. As I understand it, Jesus
began His ministry in the fall and for 3½ years he was sprouting the seeds of
the gospel during the “former rain.” Furthermore He was teaching His disciples
after His resurrection for another 40 days and before He ascended He told them
to wait for the Holy Spirit to come. The Comforter will come to give them
power. It is very interesting to note as well that Jesus fasted for 40 days
before his ministry where he didn’t teach and eat and after He resurrected He
did eat and teach also for 40 days. Acts 1:3
The
situation of the disciples is very interesting, they just replaced Judas. They
were in the upper room for 10 days, 120 people all gather, men and women, Jews
and proselytes; meaning converts to Judaism. They didn’t know what to expect.
Lev 23:15-16 we read the Jews had to count 7 Sabbaths after Passover which equals
49 days and the day after would be another Sabbath equalling 50 days. That is
our word for Pentecost. Pentecost was celebrating the harvest 50 days after
Passover. Jesus’ crucufixtion coincided with the Jewish Passover. Christ was
the sacrificial lamb that takes away the sins of the world.
God was
going to give the church at this time its very own harvest because Jesus spread
the seed earlier during His ministry i.e. early rain. The important point is
that they couldn’t do the work of God without the power of God. They had to
pray and wait – it is through the Holy Spirit that we experience Christs’
indwelling. They needed the Comforter. God the Son had to go, so that God the
Spirit could come. What is the reason for that? It was to bring witness to
others about this extraordinary event. The outpouring of the Spirit was to prepare
the ‘crop’ before He came.
God wanted
to take a piece of Jesus’ spirit and put it on His people. In some sense we all
need it friends. It is a personal walk with Christ. How was this possible? Acts
1:14 tells us they were united with one
accord, they were putting aside their differences to focus on the word that
they heard and to work out what had happened in their immediate experience.
Acts 2:1 tells us that they were in one
place, they came together. They were gathering to study about what they
received.
God
wanted them to be one. In John 17:12-24 we read: “o
that they may all be one. Just as you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may
they also be one in us, so that the world may believe that you sent me. "I
have given them the glory that you gave me, so that they may be one, just as we
are one .” ISV
The same way
that God the Father, the Son and the Spirit are one. God wants in a sense us to
be one – not only with Him, but with others as well. You know friends, they
only way we can be one is what we need is special glue. God’s special glue of
love is what holds us and binds us together.
What is interesting is that they heard
a sound of wind from heaven and it filled them with the Holy Spirit. It wasn’t
one person’s feeling; it was something outside of them that rested on them. Acts
speak of the divided tongues appearing as fire with them; it was the very
presence of God in their midst.
The question
also naturally arises didn’t Jesus breath on them the Holy Spirit earlier? Yes!
The problem was that their faith had died; the church in a sense had to
experience its own resurrection. Sometimes the Spirit comes like a fire,
sometimes like wind. We read that tongues of Fire rested on all the individuals
present.
You see
friends we cannot do the work of God without the presence of God. During those
ten days they had to learn to rely on God and depend on Him. In that silence
their faith was formed and moulded. They were made ready to accept the next
part of what God wanted them to do. Life can throw us many curves and the
disciples had to learn this the hard way too but trusting and walking with the
Lord they realized that life is to be lived in dependence on God. Resting on
their own, authority, their own words, their own efforts, their own strength
they would not be able to do what God had wanted them to do. They had to learn
to trust God in meekness and lean on God.
God picked
the best timing on this Jewish holiday. Going to Jerusalem was one of the most
amazing pilgrimages that a Jew could make, at least once in their life. As we
read in Acts 2:9-10, there were Jews from all over the Roman world speaking
many different languages gathering here at Jerusalem. God was bringing people
to this one place where He was about to perform a work. Peter stood up and
raised His voice. Pentecost set the stage for Peter’s sermon, a sermon unlike
anything they ever heard. The Jews came in pilgrimage and for years they were
expecting the Messiah to come. These
were not any Jews; they were devout
Jews from all corners of the Roman world. They had come for the Messiah.
Peter
says in Acts 2:22 “You men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of
Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs,
which God did by him in the midst of you, as you yourselves also know: Act 2:23 Him,
being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have
taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.” KJV
Friends can
you imagine these words on those first hearers? These words knocked them off
their feet, it knocked them of their pedestal with a cricket bat. It shook them
to the very core. The Messiah they had come for and awaited was crucified a few
weeks ago. People’s hearts were being changed, they were convicted; they were
invited to make a decision. God was bringing them in so that He could send them
out.
Notice that
also this is the reason for the outpouring of the Spirit and I do think this
trip a lot of people up. Notice in verse 4 we read “they began to speak in other languages” and in verse 5 it says “each one was hearing the them (the
disciples) in their own language”. Notice it doesn’t say they heard
babbling. They heard the wonders of the gospel story in their own language.
Pentecost opened the door for the gospel to spread, each person heard from the
same mouth in their own native language Peters’ words. This is the true miracle
of Pentecost and I believe they were speaking in known foreign languages that
they didn’t know before. There were others that mocked, these people were most
likely leaders or part of the crowd at Jesus’ crucifixion, that now mocked when
they heard different languages being uttered by the apostles mouths, it sounded
like gibberish to them. (they were late to the party.) The miracle of Pentecost
was that God wanted to carry the gospel message of the good news of Jesus
crucifixtion and resurrection to the whole world. (God wants us to go higher in
love)
You know
friends God can do amazing this in our lives if we allow Him to. Pentecost was
the invitation to harvest. God invites all of us to make a decision to follow
Him, wherever it leads. The Jews went back home, to their communities all over
the world to bring that unique story to all their relatives and families. In
Acts 2:21 we read: “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord
shall be saved.” KJV As
they tried in those early moments to understand the message of Jesus little did
they know that God was preparing their hearts in order to receive Him and go on
this epic mission.
How are we
preparing our hearts to receive God? No matter our station in life, our rank,
age or ability we are all called to respond to Gods loving grace. This is not
something we can keep to ourselves, others may mock but we are called to do it,
to bear it and carry the torch forward. One last thing: The feast of First
Fruits was part of the Feast of Weeks. The ancient Jews had to bring the best
of their produce as an offering to the Lord. You know friends the disciples and
the Jews and all the hearers present there at Jerusalem were the first fruits
in many ways, they were the part of the magnificent growth that resounded
through the centuries until today.
This is the
story that so transformed them, it is their story, their conviction, their
confession and it is ours. Where do you stand friends? Let us go forward in the
knowledge, love, peace and power that God freely grants those through the Holy
Spirit who ask Him and believe on His name to equip us for His good work. Amen.
P.T. Jacobs
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