Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. The text for our study this morning is taken from our second reading for today, Acts 2:1 – 21. Why Pentecost? Pastor, what do you mean by that? Well, why are we celebrating the festival of Pentecost today? Because that’s what the calendar says? No, behind every holiday is a reason. I’m sure you’re familiar with most holidays on the calendar. Christmas is the celebration of Jesus’ birth. Thanksgiving was instituted by Abraham Lincoln in thanksgiving for a victory for the Union in 1863 but has its roots back in the birth of our nation and the pilgrims. Halloween is short for “All Hallows Eve,” the day before All Saints Day. Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox, or the Sunday after Passover, because Jesus rose from the dead on this day. So why Pentecost? What was the start of this holiday? And why is it important to us today? And does any of this have to do with our second reading for today? Well, these are the questions that I hope to answer for you this morning, so let’s get started.
We start with the context, of course, and Luke tells us that this happened ten days after Jesus ascended into heaven. But what is the context of Pentecost? What is the history of this festival? Well, it’s originally called the festival of weeks, and we are introduced to it back in Leviticus 23:15 – 21. Here’s what it says in Leviticus 23:15 – 16 15’And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. 16Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord. The Greek word for 50 is πεντηκοντα, which we transliterate into English as Pentecost. God had established this festival in the Old Testament, and it’s a harvest festival, a one-day celebration of the grain gathered and thanksgiving for the Lord’s generous giving. But God had always intended it for the day He would gather into His heavenly barn those who would hear the good news of Jesus Christ. And that’s something we’ll see as we continue, so let’s keep going.
Acts 2:1 – 4 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly, there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. So, who was included in “all?” Some people will say that it’s only the 12 apostles. Others thought this was the entire group of the 120 referenced in Acts 1. It doesn’t matter whether it was 2, 12, 72, 120, or more. They were there with one accord, one purpose, to share the Gospel with those who had gathered for the harvest festival. And the Holy Spirit, in a great display of His power as one of the persons in the Trinity, showed up in an extraordinary way and gave a special dispensation to those there at Pentecost. This wasn’t the first time they had received the Holy Spirit, but today was special, a one-time event to pave the way for the Gospel to go out. This is exactly what we see in today’s next section of our reading.
But before we jump in, I want to let you know that God pours out His Holy Spirit on people all the time, just not in tongues of fire. All of you have received a special outpouring of the Spirit. You probably don’t remember it. Because it wasn’t with fire but with water. It was in your Baptism when the water and the word joined together with the Holy Spirit to make you a child of God. It’s a miracle that is even more wonderful and profound than some random tongues of fire that didn’t even convince the crowd that these people were filled with the Holy Spirit. But let’s keep going.
Acts 2:5 – 12 And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.” So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?” Now many people, myself included, have clumsily said that we see the curse of Babel undone here. Well, not undone. Undone is a bad choice of word. Instead, what we see here is the curse of Babel overcome. Babel’s curse is still here, and we all know it. It’s why we must press 2 for English when calling some businesses. But here, it’s overcome, just not how we would expect. We expected that Babel’s curse would be overcome by a simple language that the whole world could learn and use, but it wasn’t. Instead, it was overcome by the Spirit transcending the language barrier and giving the Gospel to all that day who were there. And that’s just like how Jesus defeated sin and death. It’s a completely different way than we would expect. Jesus died on the cross, yet sin and death itself are defeated through that death. And God still works through His Word, transcending the curse of Babel, to save you from sin and death.
And we see the response to this good news here in Acts 2:13 – 15 Others mocking said, “They are full of new wine.” But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.” So, the reaction of some in the crowd was to hear the Gospel and be amazed and curious, while others mocked. This is still the reaction of the world today. Those who have not hardened their hearts listen, while those who have mock. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. That’s from Galatians 6:7. We, too, have to be prepared for the mockery of this world when we share the good news, and be prepared to defend our brothers and sisters in Christ and continue sharing the good news as Peter will do with this last section of our lesson today.
Acts 2:16 – 21 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy. I will show wonders in heaven above And signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved.’ I’ve written entire sermons on Joel’s words here, so I won’t be able to go into great detail and nuance here. Instead, I’m giving you the cliff’s notes version, the takeaway. Prophets weren’t usually the sons and daughters; instead, the young men went to study with the prophet and were known as the “sons of the prophets.” Visions were typically granted to old men, like Daniel’s visions that we’re talking about in Bible study were all in his old age. Dreams were typically given to young men, or at least their interpretation. Think again of Daniel’s early life or of Joseph and his early dreams and how he interpreted the dreams of others. In other words, God is going to turn the world upside down. Everything that we thought we knew, God was going to change. And the event where the world gets turned upside down? It’s the cross. It’s there that everything changed. It’s there that God dies but then rises from the dead. The dead don’t get up on their own, but Jesus did! And now, because of His death and resurrection, death is undone, and salvation is won.
But we still want these signs today. We want the heavens turned to blood, fire, and smoke. We want the tongues of fire to prove that the person preaching to us is actually giving us God’s Word, not his own. And people still make predictions about the end of the world based on the blood moons and all these things, missing the point entirely. The world ended at the cross, and a new world began with Jesus’ resurrection. But that old world is still clinging on desperately, and many would rather live in that world with their hardened hearts, mocking God and laughing at His people. So stand strong, brothers and sisters, for God has planned this out from the beginning. He wanted all those people gathered to hear Peter, and at the end of Peter’s sermon, 3,000 will be baptized. God will continue to give us opportunities to share this good news, and the Spirit will continue to descend on His people. So, come Holy Spirit, strengthen our faith, and give us the courage to proclaim when the opportunities arise. In Your most holy name, Amen. Now the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, guard and keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, Amen.
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