Tongues on Pentecost

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost was marked by audible and visual signs that caused much consternation. When the Spirit was poured out on Pentecost, all 120 disciples were “gathered together with one intent,” and all were “filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

Moreover, what appeared to be “tongues of fire” came to rest on each disciple, and men observing the event heard what sounded like a “rushing mighty wind” when the Spirit arrived. Three supernatural manifestations accompanied the event: one visual and two audible. The stress is on how these signs affected the crowd of Jewish pilgrims gathered near the Temple.

[Photo by Jon Del Rivero on Unsplash]

This is confirmed by Peter when he explains what the crowd had just witnessed - “Being, therefore, by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured forth this, which you see and hear” – (Acts 2:33).

As the editor of Acts, Luke wants us to understand this was an epochal event that signified the commencement of a new era. He does this by informing us that these events occurred when the “Day of Pentecost was being filled full.” This term represents a Greek infinitive that means to fill something completely, to fill it to the brim to the point of overflowing.

Peter links the events to Joel’s prophecy that “in the last days, God will pour out His Spirit.” What occurred on Pentecost marked the start of the “last days,” the age of fulfillment and the era of the Spirit. This was no routine annual feast day, but the fulfillment of all that the Levitical feast foreshadowed.

In his sermon, Peter does not address the manifestation of the “tongues of fire,” but their appearance does recall the words of John the Baptist when he declared that the “Coming One” will “baptize you in spirit and fire.” At the start of Acts, Jesus charged his disciples to “tarry in Jerusalem” until they received the Spirit and reminded them that “John baptized in water, but you shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit in not many days” – (Luke 3:16, Acts 1:5).

However, it appears the crowd was most affected by hearing the disciples “speaking in tongues.” This group was composed of Jewish pilgrims from many countries who were in the city for the Feast of Pentecost, “devout men from every nation under heaven.” They were amazed because each pilgrim heard the disciples “speaking praises to God in his own language.”

OTHER TONGUES

Under the direction of the Spirit, the 120 disciples were speaking in known human languages, but this does not mean the Spirit-inspired “tongues” were used to translate the gospel message or Peter’s sermon to the crowd. Nothing in the passage indicates this.

Greek was spoken commonly in the Eastern Roman Empire and was the de facto language of commerce. Many of the men present certainly did understand Greek, and Luke presents us with Peter giving his sermon in Greek.

Nothing in the passages suggests that other disciples were interpreting his words for him with their newly acquired gift of “tongues,” and speaking in Greek would have been the best and most logical option for Peter to communicate with the largest number of people gathered around him.

What impressed the pilgrims was not the disciples’ supernatural ability to translate languages, but the fact that each man heard the “Galileans” magnifying the “mighty works of God in his own tongue.”

In popular thought, Galilee was a backwater province populated by poorly educated Jews and a good number of Gentiles. How could such men and women know how to praise God in so many different languages?

Why God chose to use “tongues” as evidence of the Spirit’s presence is not explained here, nor does the Book of Acts provide the Divine rationale behind this gift, though it certainly made a lasting impression. Over three thousand of the pilgrims were baptized following Peter’s sermon.

Luke may intend for us to recall the prophecy from the book of Isaiah - “For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a little. Nay, but by men of strange lips and with another tongue will he speak to this people.” The Apostles Paul made this connection years later in his first letter to the Corinthians - “In the law, it is written, By men of strange tongues and by the lips of strangers will I speak unto this people; and not even thus will they hear me, saith the Lord. Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to the unbelieving” – (Isaiah 28:10-13, 1 Corinthians 14:21).

However, neither Peter in his sermon nor Luke in his narrative makes this scriptural connection, so the point should not be pressed here. Regardless, the sight of poorly educated Galileans speaking in known foreign tongues certainly did impress the Jewish pilgrims in the immediate vicinity, and many took it as a supernatural sign.

Pentecost was a unique and inaugural event. This was the initial outpouring of the Spirit on the New Covenant Community being formed by and around Jesus of Nazareth. The Church as a divinely appointed reality was born that day.

It is no surprise, then, that such a pivotal event in Salvation History would be characterized by supernatural manifestations, and we must not forget that three “signs” accompanied the Spirit’s arrival – “speaking in tongues,” a “sound like a mighty rushing wind,” and “tongues of fire.” One “sign” must not be stressed to the point of excluding the others.

Whether these events form the pattern for what occurs every time someone receives the Gift of the Spirit remains to be seen in the Book of Acts. Regardless, these three “signs” certainly did confirm that Jesus had poured out the Spirit on his Assembly as he promised:

• “It is not yours to know times or seasons which the Father has put in his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses, both in Jerusalem and all Judaea and Samaria and as far as the uttermost part of the Earth.”

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SEE ALSO:

• Wait in Jerusalem - (Jesus commanded his disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they received the Spirit, empowering them to be his witnesses on the earth- Acts 1:1-11)

• The Full Number - (Between the Ascension and the outpouring of the Spirit, the Apostles prayed and appointed Matthias to complete their number - Acts 1:12-26)

• Pentecost - (On the Day of Pentecost, the time of fulfillment arrived when Jesus bestowed the Gift of the Spirit on his Body, the Church – Acts 2:1-4)

• Langues à la Pentecôte - (L'effusion de l'Esprit Saint à la Pentecôte a été marquée par des signes audibles et visuels qui ont causé beaucoup de consternation)