Community Bible Study -- Acts Text of Presentation, Lesson 2, Acts 2:1-41 Click Here to see Lesson 2 Photos . . . Click Here to return to Acts Home Page

The Holy Spirit Comes on the Apostles

Last week’s lesson covered Jesus’ ascension to heaven – soon after His promise that “in a few days” His disciples will receive the Holy Spirit (1:5). Afterward, His followers chose a replacement apostle for Judas, but otherwise they just stayed in Jerusalem . . . and prayed . . . and waited for the Holy Spirit. In tonight’s lesson, Jesus’ promise is fulfilled as the Holy Spirit comes upon these believers in an event which is considered the birth of the Christian church. It happened on the Jewish festival of Pentecost: 50 days after Passover, and about a week after Jesus’ ascension to heaven.

We Christians act as if Pentecost is our own special day; but it’s one of three Jewish religious festivals – including Passover and Tabernacles – so important that Jews from all over the world are supposed to come to Jerusalem to participate. During these festivals, Jerusalem’s population increased tenfold; streets and shops were jammed. Homes overflowed with relatives, and tents covered the Mount of Olives. 

These visitors are devout Jews – celebrating Pentecost by bringing gifts to God from the first fruits of their harvest and by praising God for His gift of the law. They believe in Jewish prophesy and expect the Messiah . . . and those who accept the calculations of many rabbis expect Him to come about this time. Most of these visitors were also here for Passover, and know how Jesus was greeted as Messiah on Palm Sunday – but then was betrayed and crucified; Jesus’ story was the hottest news in town (Lk 24:18, Ac 1:19). They were excited when Jesus presented himself as Messiah on Palm Sunday – and disheartened now that he’s been crucified, and Pilate and Caiaphas are still in charge as governor and high priest.

As Acts 2 opens, Jesus’ 120 remaining followers are all gathered together at about 9 am  . . . traditionally in the Upper Room on Mount Zion, near the nice homes and estates in the Upper City of Jerusalem. Bear in mind: the business day begins at sunrise, and in the hot Middle East, people get their work done early while it’s cool. It’s May or June now, so at 9 am Jerusalem is bustling.

Without warning, a sound like “a violent wind from heaven” fills the Upper Room. Tongues of fire appear, come to rest on each disciple, fill them with the Holy Spirit, and cause them to “speak in other tongues” (2:4).

The sound is heard by the devout Jewish pilgrims in the streets – who naturally run toward the sound to see what’s happening. Apparently Jesus’ followers come out into the streets, because the pilgrims hear them speaking “in other tongues.”

Let’s be excruciatingly correct. What is called “speaking in tongues” today is jabber. It’s considered a spiritual gift, but in 1 Corinthians 14 Paul emphasizes the need for interpretation. It wasn’t like that on Pentecost. The believers were talking foreign languages they couldn’t understand. Jesus’ followers are all Galileans – who speak Aramaic, biblical Hebrew, and a little Greek – but visitors from around the world heard them speaking their own languages: people from Rome heard them speaking in Latin . . . people from Egypt heard them speaking Egyptian . . . and people from Persia heard them speaking Persian, etc.

But not everyone reacts this way. Some of the onlookers apparently aren’t able to comprehend what the disciples are saying and accuse them of being drunk!

So – empowered by the Holy Spirit – Peter stands up and speaks to the crowd. I laugh at the way he starts:  “These guys aren’t drunk; it’s only 9 am!” This comment makes little sense today. We probably know people who stay out drinking all night, and stumble home as dawn is breaking . . . or show up for work drunk – and this is not limited to blue collar workers! But devout Jews celebrating Pentecost would not be drunk at 9 am . . . they would still be fasting; some scholars say they wouldn’t break fast until at least 10!

Having established their sobriety, Peter attributes his colleagues’ strange behavior to fulfillment of a prophesy of Joel. It’s clear Peter knows his audience is devout Jews! A reference to Joel would mean nothing to Gentiles, but devout Jews like these pilgrims have studied Jewish scripture in their synagogues from childhood, and can quote Jewish law and prophesy at the drop of a hat. The prophet Joel is not a “big name” prophet, but Peter’s hearers immediately recognize that Peter is quoting Messianic prophesy. They believe Joel that the Holy Spirit will be poured out wholesale in the “last days” of the Messiah, before the great “Day of the Lord.” They have witnessed all Jesus’ followers – men and women – prophesy. They can’t argue with Peter. They get the message!

Peter presses home his point.  Reading Acts 2:22:

Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know (Acts 2:22).

Peter is saying: “You people, devout Jews, know Jesus of Nazareth had all the attributes of the Messiah.” And they do. Like in Matt 11 and Luke 7: when John the Baptist asked Jesus if He was the Messiah, He could have answered, “Sure” . . . but instead He said, “Hey, cousin, judge for yourself: don’t you see that I fulfill Messianic prophesy . . . ?”

Peter continues (and I paraphrase):  “You people know very well that Jesus’ death – including the form of His death and the suffering He went through – was part of God’s plan, predicted by prophesy.  And so was His resurrection.”

As proof that Jesus’ resurrection proves he is Messiah, Peter invokes a powerful visual aid. Everyone in the audience knows the tomb of Jesus was empty on Easter . . . yet quite close to where Peter is standing now is a tomb believed to contain the remains of King David; the picture is on the web site. Peter quotes prophesy from Psalm 16 – a psalm of David – about the resurrection of God’s “holy one” (Ps 16:10): the Messiah. Then Peter says: “You know King David’s tomb is right here; Psalm 16 is talking about the resurrection of David’s descendant, the Messiah.”

Then Peter drives home his point:  “All of you – you devout Jews – know what I’m saying is true.  You don’t really believe the Roman guards went to sleep, and we disciples stole Jesus’ body, as the Jewish chief priests are telling you.  If the Roman guards went to sleep, they would have been crucified!  And if we disciples tried to steal Jesus’ body from the Roman guards, we would have been crucified! There is only one answer, Jesus really rose from the dead, He is the Messiah, and now sits in heaven as King of Kings.”

Peter concludes with another Messianic psalm of David, Psalm 110 . . . the same psalm Jesus quoted to the Pharisees to prove the Messiah is greater than King David, even though He is his descendant (Lu 20:42). Then he says: “Therefore let all Israel be assured . . . God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and (Messiah)” (Act 2:36).

Peter’s logic is convincing. 3000 devout Jews believe, repent, and commit themselves to Jesus – then and there – and are baptized in His name. We Christians think we invented baptism, but it was a Jewish practice so widespread in the 1^st century that “mikve” baptismal baths are prominent in all excavations of Jewish settlements. One purpose of a Jewish baptism was a commitment to follow the teachings of a particular rabbi – which is what these 3000 Jews are committing to do.

And “the rest of the story” is that 3000 Jewish Christians go home: to Turkey and Rome and Egypt and Iraq and Persia and Libya.  And what do we suppose they talk about in their synagogues: about Jesus the Messiah and the coming of the Holy Spirit. And some years later a Jew named Paul or another Christian missionary comes through town . . . and the rest is history.

In closing, let’s look at verse 40:

(Peter) warned them; and he pleaded with them, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation" (Acts 2:40)

Among the Jews, a generation is 40 years. The Israelites who escaped slavery in Egypt wandered 40 years in the desert . . . until a generation with a slave mentality died. History shows that in AD 70 – about 40 years after Jesus’ resurrection – the Romans totally destroyed Jerusalem and the temple . . . killing or enslaving all the Jews who were there at the time. This was the “corrupt generation” that crucified Jesus – those who didn’t repent and believe in God’s Messiah, as these 3000 are doing now.

Next week’s lesson shows the effects of the Holy Spirit on believers. They are able to do great miracles – such as Peter’s healing of a cripple over 40 years old . . . something thought impossible because of the man’s age. Believers are confident enough to venture out of hiding and boldly proclaim Jesus as Messiah – and citing the miracle as evidence of the power of the resurrected Jesus. This inevitably brings them into conflict with the Jewish authorities: the Sanhedrin . . . who try to put a stop to this “Jesus nonsense.” But the “unschooled” apostles – with no “university” religious education but filled with the Holy Spirit – stand up and hold their own with the scholars in the Sanhedrin. This leaves the Sanhedrin on the horns of a dilemma: what to do with a group of rebellious Jews, who the people believe are doing miracles through the power of God. We’ll see how they handle this – or mishandle it.