What Does This Mean?
In Acts, the activity of the Spirit is essential to the life and growth of the early Church. It was inaugurated by the outpouring of the Spirit on Pentecost, and the young faith spread quickly from Judea to Samaria, Syria, Asia Minor, Greece, and finally, to the heart of the Roman Empire. Jesus commanded the disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they received the Spirit to equip them to become his witnesses to “the uttermost parts of the earth.”
The young Assembly waited in prayer until the Day
of Pentecost had “fully come”
and the Spirit arrived “like a rushing mighty wind,” an impressive event
accompanied by visual and audible effects. Many Jewish pilgrims who were in the
city that day “saw and heard” the commotion, confounding a crowd of “about
three thousand” men since “every man heard them speaking in his own language” - (Acts 2:4-13).
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| [Photo by Mario Dobelmann on Unsplash] |
The passage lists fifteen nations from the Near East and Mediterranean areas. The arrival of the Spirit was observed by Jews and proselytes from many nations, not just Judea. Moreover, this list anticipates the implementation of the command by Jesus to preach the Gospel “to the uttermost parts of the earth.”
These pilgrims were consternated because “each man heard them speaking in his
own language.” What impressed them was the sound of Galileans “speaking in
our own languages.”
Peter would later that day describe the event as the “promise of the Holy Spirit, which you see and hear.” This suggests they also saw and heard the other effects of the Spirit’s presence, the “sound of a rushing mighty wind” and “tongues like fire."
The crowd
heard the disciple “speaking in our tongues the mighty works of God.” Clearly,
the men who observed these things understood what the disciples were saying. There
is no mention of “interpreters” or the “Gift of Interpretation.”
That would defeat the purpose of these manifestations as evidence of the
Spirit’s arrival.
The Jewish
pilgrims were struck that Peter and his compatriots were “Galileans.”
In popular thought, Galilee was a backwater territory, not only of the Roman
Empire but also of Judea. To label anyone a “Galilean” was tantamount to saying
he was poorly educated and little more than a “country bumpkin.”
LANGUAGES
This is
the only instance in the New Testament where the exercise of the “Gift of Tongues”
is described as a known language. Elsewhere, believers are inspired by the
Spirit to speak in “unknown tongues.” Though speaking in tongues
does occur again in the Book of Acts, the “tongues” are never again
described as a known language - (Acts 10:44-48, 19:1-6, 1 Corinthians 13:1,
14:1-9).
- (Acts 2:12-13) - “And they were all amazed, and were perplexed, saying one to another - What does this mean!? - But others, mocking, said: They are filled with new wine.”
The crowd’s reaction sets the stage for Peter’s sermon.
He began by citing the prophecy from the Book of Joel that promised the
outpouring of the Spirit “in the Last Days.”
The experiential
aspect of the event must not be downplayed. What they “saw and heard”
made deep and lasting impressions- (Joel 2:28).
The reality
of what the disciples AND the crowd of pilgrims experienced undergirds
the theological themes of the Book of Acts. The reality of the Spirit’s
presence inaugurated the Church and launched it on its global
mission.
Moreover, the description of the pilgrims’ reaction to what they “saw
and heard” loses its point if these experiences were not profound, visible, and audible. The arrival of the Spirit was a very real, historical, and world-changing event.
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