Acts 2: The Coming of the Spirit of Christ
1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
5 And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. 6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. 7 Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.” 12 So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?”
13 Others mocking said, “They are full of new wine.”
Pentecost was marked from Passover (actually from the Resurrection, waive sheaf offering of firstfruits)- –“The law relative to this feast is found in Leviticus 23:15, Leviticus 23:16, in these words: ‘And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave-offering; seven Sabbaths shall be complete: even unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall ye number fifty days.’" (Adam Clarke)
"It would seem (comp. Acts 1:3) that there was an interval of eight or ten days between the ascension of Christ and this occasion, as he continued to appear to his disciples for forty days, and the day of Pentecost was the fiftieth." (Abbott's Illustrated New Testament)
"Pentecost means 'The Fiftieth,' and another name for Pentecost was 'The Feast of Weeks.' It was so called because it fell on the fiftieth day, a week of weeks, after the Passover. The Passover fell in the middle of April; therefore Pentecost fell at the beginning of June. By that time travelling conditions were at their best. At least as many came to the Feast of Pentecost as came to the Passover. That explains the roll of countries mentioned in this chapter; never was there a more international crowd in Jerusalem than at the time of Pentecost. The Feast itself had two main significances. (i) It had an historical significance. It commemorated the giving of the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai. (ii) It had an agricultural significance. At the Passover the crop's first omer of barley was offered to God; and at Pentecost two loaves were offered in gratitude for the ingathered harvest." (William Barclay)
When the day of Pentecost had fully come… "Literally, was fulfilled." (Geneva study Bible) "The day is, according to the Hebrew mode (see Gesen. Thes. s.v.מלא), conceived as a measure to be filled up (comp. also Acts 9:23; Luke 2:6; Luke 22:9; Luke 22:51, and many similar passages in the N. T. and in the Apocrypha); so long as the day had not yet arrived, but still belonged to the future, the measure was not yet filled, but empty. But as soon as it appeared, the fulfilment, the making the day full, the ΣΥΜΠΛΉΡΩΣΙς (comp. 3 Esdr. 1:58; Daniel 9:2) therewith occurred; by which, without figure, is meant the realization of the day which had not hitherto become a reality." (Meyer's NT Commentary)
They were all with one accord in one place (likely the synagogue based on all those present)… expecting the Promise of the Father and knowing that this Feast of Weeks was a significant high day Sabbath in the Jewish economy of their religion. "This feast was a kind of thanksgiving day, a feast of thanksgiving to God for the bountiful crops that were just beginning to be harvested ('first fruits')...It was celebrated...by the special service of offering the first-fruits of the wheat harvest in the form of two loaves of bread (Leviticus 23:15-21; Numbers 28:26-31)." (Reese p. 43)
“When our Lord manifested Himself to His disciples for the last time before His Ascension into heaven, He reminded them that He had promised to send the Holy Spirit to take His place as their Guide and their Strengthener, and to abide perpetually in their midst. By three symbols, by wind, by fire, by voice, the Spirit declared His Presence.
I. The manifestation by wind.—First of all by wind: ‘There came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind.’ The stirring power of the Spirit was thus symbolised. Wind is a mysterious force, invisible to men and beyond their control, discoverable only by its results, and so a sudden rush of strong wind might fitly symbolise that a Power more than human was moving men in spite of themselves.
II. The manifestation by fire.—Then, secondly, ‘There appeared to them cloven tongues like as of fire.’ Fire is another of the forces of nature, full of significance. Inanimate though it be, it seems mysteriously endowed with a kind of living force, and in Holy Scripture fire is specially spoken of as an agent of cleansing and purification. The fire which appeared to rest on the heads of the disciples indicated the purifying power of the Spirit’s Presence. ‘He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire,’ was the promise and the warning which summed up the Baptist’s message. Not actual fire again, but tongues like as it were of fire, was the symbol which emphasised the purifying power of the Holy Ghost.
III. The manifestation by voice.—And then, once more, ‘They began to speak with tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.’ The second symbol leads fitly into the third, and by this the unifying power of the Spirit’s Presence was signified, for differences of language form the strongest barriers which separate men from each other. The mysterious utterances of the gift of tongues have been, indeed, commonly interpreted in the past as having been made in many foreign languages, but as we read the record again with care we are not led to suppose that this was the case. From St. Paul’s account of the gift of tongues in the Corinthian Church, we are led rather to suppose that these were ecstatic utterances which could only be understood by those who were in spiritual sympathy with the speaker. By all such, whatever their nationality, whatever their own language might be, they were at once understood, and so perfectly understood that the speaker seemed to them to speak the words of their mother tongue. It was more, not less, than the mere power of speaking this or that foreign tongue. It was the power of making utterances which could appeal directly to the heart, and through the heart to the understanding, of men of the most varied tongues. And thus it surmounted the barrier of language altogether, and it drew into common accord men whose languages had hitherto separated them from each other. Thus it was a fitting symbol of the uniting power of the Divine Spirit.”—Dean J. Armitage Robinson.
“Babel’s curse was now removed, — not by a reversing of God’s curse, for God’s curses and blessings are both like the laws of the Medes and Persians which never can be altered; men still spoke the tongues of confusion, but the apostles were able to speak to them all after receiving that miraculous gift of tongues. Thus was fulfilled that promise of Jesus, ‘He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do because I go unto my Father;’ for Christ never spoke with many tongues, nor did he enable his disciples to do so during his life on earth, but when he had gone back to heaven to his Father, and had received gifts for men, they were enabled to do greater works than he had accomplished by his personal ministry here below.” (Spurgeon's Verse Expositions of the Bible)
Acts 2: Peter’s Sermon and the Response
14 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. 15 For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17 ‘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. 18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy. 19 I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath: blood and fire and vapor of smoke. 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. 21 And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ [Joel 2:28–32]
"What could this men?" (Acts 2:12) The Messiah had taken the Message of the Kingdom to the Jews for three and a half years after His baptism. In the middle of the the sixty-second of the seventy weeks of years of Daniel, He was put to death but not for Himself (Dan 9:26). On the day after the first weekly Sabbath after the Passover, He rose from the dead and first ascended to the throne of God. At the same time in the temple, the priest waived the sheaf of the barley crop before Yahweh to be accepted on behalf of the people. (Lev 23:11) During the next 40 days, Jesus appeared to the apostles and many others by many infallible proofs.... and told them to assemble and wait in Jerusalem for the Promise of the Father. Then, He was bodily taken up into the clouds.
And angels promised that he would return in like fashion. But meanwhile, when the day of Pentecost had fully come, this magnificent manifestation of the Spirit by wind, fire, and voice had occurred. Jesus had thus returned by Spirit to enable them to take the Message to the Gentiles. Some mocked (Acts 2:13) but some had ears to hear the message of God.
The prophet Joel had prophesied Judah’s restoration to their land after the Babylonian captivity (Joel 2:23-27), as well as this subsequent message of a pouring out of Jesus’ Spirit at the end of time— during the last year of the final seven week of years of Daniel. According to Daniel, even after the return to their land, various kingdoms of the earth, “should successively rule the nations, and influence the affairs of the Jewish church…” (Henry) until the Coming of Messiah. The fourth and last earthly kingdom was Rome. Nebuchadnezzar saw visions of these kingdoms, but lastly he saw the vision of “a stone cut without hands” which would obliterated all of the the kingdoms of this world. This is an expression "always emphasizing the absence of all human instrumentality and the act of God alone. See Daniel 2:45; Daniel 8:25. Job 34:20. Lamentations 4:6. Compare Acts 7:48; Acts 17:24, Acts 17:25; Acts 19:26. 2 Corinthians 5:1. Ephesians 2:11. Colossians 2:11. Hebrews 9:11, Hebrews 9:21.” (E.W. Bullinger) "The fifth monarchy; the spiritual kingdom of the Lord Jesus, which is to last for ever, and diffuse itself over the whole earth.” (Clarke)
Theses are not drunken as you suppose.. but this is what was spoken of by the prophet Joel, speaking of the spiritual restoration which was at hand in the narrative of Pentecost in the year that Jesus was crucified. “The last verses of Joel two are a very famous prophecy quoted by Peter on the day of Pentecost on which the church was established. (Acts 2:17-21) These events transpired in the ‘the last days’ of the Jewish dispensation. In the church age the Spirit of God would bring blessing upon all flesh, whether Jew or Gentile. The outpouring of the Spirit on that day would be accompanied by miracles upon all flesh. This was proof that the gospel was for all people, whether high or low, rich or poor.
Joel used several figurative expressions to describe the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. He said there would be wonders in the sky above and on the earth below. There will be blood and fire and clouds of smoke. The sun will turn dark, and the moon will be as blood before that great and terrible day of the Lord comes. Many unusual physical things did take place in connection with the crucifixion of Jesus. Also these expressions were common in the Old Testament when prophets were predicting the fall of nations. The fall of Babylon was pictured with the words, ‘For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.’ (Isaiah 13:10) These words described to the Jewish mind in a very vivid way the ending of the Jewish system and the beginning of the Christian system.
Joel closed this section with the words, ‘whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered.’ Observe the statement ‘shall be saved’ in Acts 2:21. ‘And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Any that wish to enjoy the remission of past sins must call on the name of the Lord by obeying the gospel plan of salvation. In no other way is one promised pardon.” (Charles Box's Commentaries on Selected Books of the Bible)
22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know— 23 Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; 24 whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. 25 For David says concerning Him: ‘I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. 26 Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; moreover my flesh also will rest in hope. 27 For You will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. 28 You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in Your presence.’ [Ps 16:8–11] 29 Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, 31 he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. 33 Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear. 34 For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, sit at My right hand, 35 till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”’[Ps 110:1] 36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
David stayed in the grave but Jesus lived a perfect life, not deserving death and thus God made Him both Lord and Christ (36)— “Lord over all the creatures, beyond what the first Adam was; and Christ, King over all the people of God, to rule in them, and reign for them; for to this purpose he was the Christ, or the Anointed of God, declared by God to be so, and owned for such by all that believed in him." (Matthew Poole) ”Previously He was indeed likewise Lord and Messiah, but in the form of a servant; and it was after laying aside that form that He became such in complete reality..." (Meyer) for He lived a perfectly obedient life, but was crucified- not for His own sins, but for the sins of the world. “Christ is said to be 'made [Lord and Christ]’ because he was advanced to that dignity, and therefore it is not spoken with reference to his nature, but with reference to his position and high dignity." (Geneva Study Bible)
37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” 38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you AND TO YOUR CHILDREN, AND TO ALL WHO ARE AFAR OFF, AS MANY AS THE LORD OUR GOD WILL CALL.” 40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.”
These Jews that were scattered heard the Message and it became a world-wide ministry to people of all nations enabled by His Spirit. “The apostle exhorted them to repent of their sins, and openly to avow their belief in Jesus as the Messiah, by being baptized in his name. Thus professing their faith in Him, they would receive remission of their sins, and partake of the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew Henry) "As long as this verse remains in the sacred New Testament, the terms of admission into Christ's kingdom shall continue to be understood as faith…, repentance and baptism unto the remission of sins. The cavils and controversies of the post-Reformation period have not altered in the slightest particular what is so evident here." (Coffman Commentary)
Acts 2: Model Church
40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” 41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.
42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. 44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, 45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.
46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
"About three thousand souls were added, who repented and were baptized. Then we behold them in blessed fellowship. Doctrine stands first. It is the prominent thing. They continued steadfastly in the Apostle’s doctrine. In the doctrine of the Apostles they were in fellowship together, and that fellowship was expressed in 'the breaking of bread.' It was not a common meal, but the carrying out of the request the Lord had made in the night He was betrayed, when He instituted what we call 'the Lord’s supper.' Prayer is also mentioned. They had all things in common. They were like a great family, which in reality they were through the Grace of God.
And how happy they were! They had Christ, and that was enough. No system of theology, creeds, set of forms or any such thing, with which historical Christianity abounds--'Nothing but Christ.' They received their food with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. Joy and singleness of heart are two great characteristics of the true believer." (Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible)
"Having favor with all the people.- A truly good man will ordinarily be respected and beloved by the community. His firm principle will command respect, and his kindness and sympathy secure affection. It is a mistake to suppose that a Christian who is faithful must necessarily and always be the object of popular dislike." (Abbott's Illustrated New Testament)
"Join’d by the unction from above, In mystic fellowship of love.
Meek, simple followers of the Lamb, They lived, and spake, and thought the same. They joyfully conspired to raise Their ceaseless sacrifice of praise.
With grace abundantly endued, A pure, believing multitude; Wash’d in the Lamb’s all-cleansing blood Anointed kings and priests to God!
Ye different sects, who all declare, Lo, here is Christ! and Christ is there! Your stronger proofs divinely give, And show me where the Christians live."
(Ancient Hymn from Benson Commentary)
"The handful of corn grew on the tops of the mountains of Judea; and they of the city flourished like grass of the earth. Psalms 72:16. A glorious church, the model of every future age." (Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments)