Scripture: Acts 2:1-14 MSG
2 1-4 When the Feast of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Without warning there was a sound like a strong wind, gale force—no one could tell where it came from. It filled the whole building. Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks, and they started speaking in a number of different languages as the Spirit prompted them.
5-11 There were many Jews staying in Jerusalem just then, devout pilgrims from all over the world. When they heard the sound, they came on the run. Then when they heard, one after another, their own mother tongues being spoken, they were blown away. They couldn’t for the life of them figure out what was going on, and kept saying, “Aren’t these all Galileans? How come we’re hearing them talk in our various mother tongues?
Parthians, Medes, and Elamites; Visitors from Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene; Immigrants from Rome, both Jews and proselytes; Even Cretans and Arabs!
“They’re speaking our languages, describing God’s mighty works!”
12 Their heads were spinning; they couldn’t make head or tail of any of it. They talked back and forth, confused: “What’s going on here?”
13 Others joked, “They’re drunk on cheap wine.”
Peter Speaks Up 14-21 That’s when Peter stood up and, backed by the other eleven, spoke out with bold urgency: “Fellow Jews, all of you who are visiting Jerusalem, listen carefully and get this story straight.”
Transcript
Fellow Jews, who are visiting Jerusalem from all over, listen carefully, and get this story straight. My name is Simon, but you can call me Peter, since that’s the nickname Jesus gave me. You remember Jesus, don’t you? He was that man you crucified just 50 days ago. He had a sign above his head saying, “Jesus of Nazareth, The King of the Jews.”
And yet here you are, to celebrate the Feast of Weeks, with your first fruits of the wheat harvest. You have your two loaves of leavened bread: one in each hand, and are waiting in line for the temple priest, to offer them to God as a wave offering. Well, I ask you this? Why give your offerings to the temple priest, when you could have presented them directly to God? That’s right, the man you crucified, Jesus, is the Son of God, our High Prest, our King, our Messiah, and our Savior!
Well, don’t feel bad, friends. I was personally chosen by Jesus. He said follow me, and I will make you a fisher of men. I walked alongside Him, had deep conversations with Him, and witnessed His many miracles, and yet I still denied knowing Him, three times before you crucified Him. You see, I lacked the ability, I lacked the boldness, and I lacked the power of the Holy Spirit. But that all changed… just moments ago.
While you were waiting in line, we followers of Jesus, gathered to pray and wait, like Jesus told us to do. Then it happened, gale force wind came out of nowhere. I tell you, if your beards were not connected to your face, they would of flew away in the wind. Each of you gave up your place in line, and rushed over here to witness this event. That itself is a miracle. Giving up your place in line.
But the real miracle, is that we started to praise God in different languages. And yet, each of you heard us praising God in your own native language. Rather than recognize this as a gift from God? You think were drunk although it’s only 9 AM. Don’t you recall Joel’s prophecy? Let me quote it to you. “I will pour out my Spirit upon all people and your sons and daughters will pro·phe·sy.” (Joel 2:28 NLT)?
Friends, what you’ve seen, was God’s second gift to mankind. God’s first gift was Jesus Christ, who you crucified! Now you are witnessing His second gift, the Holy Spirit. That’s right! Our God loves you so much, that even after what you did to His son, he gave us another gift. You see, after Jesus was crucified, we followers of Jesus were lost, defeated, we wondered if the last 3 years were wasted time. We asked ourselves how could our Messiah die? He was supposed to conquer the world and save us from the Roman Empire. That was it! We had no one else to follow. We had no one else to lead. So, we parted ways, reflecting on all that happened, and the lost hope we had in Jesus.
But then, just 3 days later, Jesus appeared to Mary Mag·da·lene. Of all people, didn’t Jesus remember I was His first apostle? Mary ran over, and told us the good news. Jesus has risen from the dead. However, we didn’t believe her. We felt as you did with us, she was drunk to overcome her sadness. However, over the next 40 days, Jesus made it very clear to us that he was indeed alive! He appeared to us over 13 separate times. We saw the scars on his hands and feet. We touched his wounds. Jesus was alive and well, risen from the dead.
In fact, the last time Jesus appeared to us, there was over 500 of us gathered around him. We asked Jesus, when He was going to restore the kingdom to Israel? Talk about another gale force wind. Imagine the silence when Jesus said, “it is not for you to know the day or hour when this will happen.” However, rest assured that it will happen. And if that heartbreak wasn’t enough, he followed this up by saying that He was leaving to prepare a place for us. What? But that’s when Jesus provided us with some much-needed Pastoral Care. He said to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”. He said to wait for God’s second gift: the Holy Spirit. He said to obey everything I have commanded of you.
Friends, think this through. We just witnessed the living God defeat death, and rather than have us immediately go out and tell the entire world, He said wait! And now I understand why! Jesus knew that we needed a supernatural power. The power of God Himself. I denied Jesus 3 times because I lacked the power. I couldn’t walk on water because I lacked the power. But look at me now friends. Do you see me denying Jesus now? Do you see me sinking now? The Holy Spirit has entered our hearts, and given us the power, to proclaim the gospel to those of you that would consider it foolish. So, what do you say, am I still drunk?
Are you listening to this? Really listening? Everything that happened was foretold. Jesus was handed over to the Roman authorities, because that was God’s plan. Jesus was beaten, tortured, yet didn’t say one word, because that was God’s plan. Jesus was nailed to a cross, and put to death, because that was God’s plan. This fulfilled the prophecy in Isaiah “But the Lord has caused the wickedness of us all: our sin, our injustice, and our wrongdoing, to fall on Jesus instead of us.” We’re all like sheep who have wandered off and gotten lost. We’ve all done our own thing, gone our own way. Yet, God piled all our sins, everything we’ve done wrong, on Jesus. And because of His love for us, God raised Jesus from the dead, to bring an end to the chains of death.
Am I hearing correctly? You to my left are asking me what should we do? And you to my right are also asking me what should we do? Well, before I answer this, I want to remind you of the Parable of the Sower. Jesus said there are four types of soil that represent different responses to hearing the Word of God. Three types of soil represent those who hear the Word of God but do not fully embrace or act upon the message they hear. Only one type of soil will bear fruit and have a lasting impact. Good soil represents those who hear the Word of God, understands the Word of God, and acts upon the Word of God. Friends, you must make a choice, of what kind of soil you want to be.
If you want to be good soil, a follower of Jesus, have your sins washed away in the blood of Christ, and have everlasting life, follow these three steps! First, you must repent from your sinful nature. Change your old way of thinking. Turn from your sinful ways. Accept and follow Jesus as your Messiah, your Savior. Second, be baptized, in the name of Jesus Christ. Be spiritually buried, just like Jesus was physically buried. And be spiritually raised from the dead, and the former power that sin had in your life. Third, you must carry on the mission of Jesus, with the boldness and power of the Holy Spirit. Start in your local area, and expand into the ends of the earth, as the Spirit leads you.
Jesus wasn’t here on earth for just a visitation, but a habitation! Jesus didn’t want to just visit His people, but to live, and remain with them. Today, we started out as 120 followers of Jesus Christ, who received the Holy Spirit. Yet, through the power of the Holy Spirit, 3000 of you heard my message in your own language, gave yourself to Jesus, and was baptized.
