Acts 2. 1-21 Pentecost
Pentecost – Acts 2. 1-21
28 May – written by Malcolm Raby
FOR STARTERS:
Q. What comes to your mind when the Holy Spirit is mentioned?
A little background information:
“Without the Holy Spirit, Christian discipleship would be inconceivable, even impossible. There can be no life without the life-giver, no understanding without the Spirit of truth, no fellowship without the unity of the Spirit, no Christlikeness of character apart from his fruit, and no effective witness without his power. As a body without breath is a corpse, so the church without the Spirit is dead.” (John Stott)
John Stott says we can look at the Day of Pentecost in at least 4 ways:
The final act of the saving ministry of Jesus before the Parousia (Jesus’ return). In this sense the Day of Pentecost is unrepeatable, just like Jesus’ birth, death, resurrection and ascension.
It gave the apostles the special gifts they needed for their special role of being Christ’s primary and authoritative witnesses.
The inauguration of the new era of the Spirit. Because of the Day of Pentecost, the fullness of the Spirit is available to all Christians.
It is the first “revival” – an unusual visitation of God in which a whole community becomes aware of his overpowering presence.
Originally Pentecost was the middle of three annual Jewish harvest festivals (Deuteronomy 16.16) and was called either the “Feast of Harvest” (Exodus 23.16) because it celebrated the completion of the grain harvest, or the “Feast of Weeks” or “Pentecost” because it took place 50 days after the Passover, which was when the grain harvest began (Exodus 34.22). By the time of Jesus it was also observed as the anniversary of the giving of the law at Mount Sinai which, it was claimed, happened 50 days after the Exodus.
READ Acts 2 verses 1-13 - The exact location is unclear, what is important is that they were all together.
Q. What was the significance of the three phenomena?
Q. What do you make of the crowd’s reaction?
Q. How do you make sense of the third phenomenon (glossolalia)?
“Speaking in tongues” has, sadly, been a cause of much division among Christians. On the extremes, one side claims you are not a real Christian if you don’t speak in tongues; on the other side are those who say that was how God worked then, but not today – and not in my church! Where do you stand on this?
All Christians are “born again” and what really matters is that the FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT is evident and growing in our lives (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control). If this fruit is seen in our lives, then God’s Spirit is very much at work.
Q. Would you agree with this comment?
READ Acts 2 verses 14-21
Speeches are very significant in Acts – 8 by Peter, 1 each by Stephen and James, 9 by Paul – covering some 25% of the whole text.
Q. Are they accurate records of what was said?
Q. Why do you think Peter quoted from the prophet Joel?
There was an amazing response to Peter’s appeal (41).
Q. How do you account for this, and could it happen today in Ashtead?
Some 3,000 “repented and believed” and were then baptized. They must also have received forgiveness and the Spirit though it is interesting to note that there is no mention of any supernatural signs.
PRAYERS:
Pentecost is often used as an opportunity to encourage Christians to reaffirm their commitment to Christ. If it is appropriate, you might like to use the following liturgy:
As we celebrate Pentecost, I call upon you to live out what you proclaim:
Empowered by the Holy Spirit, will you dare to walk into God’s future, trusting him to be your guide?
By the Spirit’s power, we will.
Will you dare to embrace each other and grow in love?
By the Spirit’s power, we will.
Will you dare to pray for each other until your hearts beat with the longings of God?
By the Spirit’s power, we will.
Will you dare to carry the light of Christ into the world’s dark places?
By the Spirit’s power, we will.
(If you use this liturgy it will be worth referring back to it from time to time in the coming months)
FURTHER NOTES PROVIDED SPECIFICALLY FOR LEADERS BUT AVAILABLE TO ALL:
(These additional notes are not intended as the “correct answers” but as a guide to help in the study)
What was the significance of the three phenomena?
A sound, a sight and a strange speech. They seemed like natural phenomena yet were supernatural in origin and in character. The noise was not wind but it sounded like it; the sight was not fire but it resembled it; the speech was in languages which were in some way “other”. Not surprisingly some people thought they were drunk. (12)
It is reasonable to conclude these signs represented a new era of the work of the Holy Spirit. The NOISE may have symbolized POWER (Acts 1.8); the sight like FIRE may have symbolized PURITY (Isaiah 6.6-7); the SPEECH in other languages may have symbolized the UNIVERSALITY of the Church.
What do you make of the crowd’s reaction?
The idea of “every nation” is not to be taken literally. Luke was speaking of his own horizon and would have been thinking of the Graeco-Roman world round the Mediterranean where Jews were living. People heard the believers speaking in their own native language yet were known to be Galileans (7) who had a reputation for being somewhat uncultured. Perhaps it is not too surprising that some thought they must be drunk (13).
How do you make sense of the third phenomenon (glossolalia)?
The believers were not drunk, a point Peter was keen to make (15). Jews would have been fasting at this time until the morning services were over. Nor was it a case of the believers having lost control – the fruit of the Spirit is self-control (Galatians 5.23) not the loss of it. Nor was it that some thought the believers spoke in other languages when they did not (6, 8, 11). Nor was it a case of “incoherent utterance” – what seemed like languages was simply “a flood of unintelligible sounds in no known language”. It was a supernatural ability to speak in recognizable languages – languages which the believers had never learned.
There is much debate about this topic and many differing views among Christians – and quite likely within your own group! Make sure the discussion does not lose the significance of this occasion – “A new unity of the Spirit transcending racial, national and linguistic barriers” (John Stott). It was a deliberate reversal of the curse of Babel where human languages were confused and nations scattered.
Speeches are very significant in Acts – 8 by Peter, 1 each by Stephen and James, 9 by Paul – covering some 25% of the whole text.
Are they accurate records of what was said?
Clearly they are not verbatim accounts of what was said on every occasion. For example, Peter’s Pentecost sermon would have lasted little more than three minutes yet … verse 40. And Luke was not personally present on every occasion so he must have been giving a reliable summary.
The theologian F F Bruce has written: “Taken all in all, each speech suits the speaker, the audience, and the circumstances of delivery; and this … gives good ground … for believing these speeches to be, not inventions of the historian, but condensed accounts of speeches actually made, and therefore valuable and independent sources for the history and theology of the primitive Church.”
Why do you think Peter quoted from the prophet Joel?
This event was a fulfilment of Joel’s prophecy that God would pour out his Spirit on all flesh. Peter believed the “last days” had now come in the person of Jesus, the one who saves from sin and judgement all who call on his name (21).
We are now in that Messianic era, between the two comings of Christ, and one in which the abundance of the Spirit is “poured out” (a thunderstorm rather than a shower!). And the Spirit is available to all believers.