Pentecost 2

Acts 2:1-21

A little context: In the first chapter of Acts, Luke (the presumed writer) says he is continuing the story beginning with the ascension of Jesus into heaven and final instructions to the disciples, including the instruction to wait in Jerusalem for the "promise" of God. So they waited, and while they waited, they chose one of those who had been following Jesus to replace Judas among the inner circle of 12 (Matthias)

Then, on the Jewish festival of Pentecost (started as a first fruits festival and, as Judaism became less agrarian, morphed into a festival celebrating the giving of the law on Sinai), at a time when lots of Jewish travelers from around the middle east (it's a little bit of an exaggeration in verse 5 to say that devout Jews were present from every nation, but perhaps every nation with a significant Jewish presence), the promise arrived. Note that this event is among Jews, both those born Jews and "proselytes" (that is, converts), so the deep diversity which would include Gentiles which would later characterize the Christian church is not yet in effect here.

But these Jews and proselytes did all speak different languages. Scholars have debated for years whether the miracle was in the hearing or in the speaking, in other words, did the folk "hear" in their own languages while the disciples spoke Aramaic or did the disciples actually speak the other languages. Quite frankly, does it matter? The miracle was that communication happened not by everyone being made to speak one language, but by the message being delivered in a way that people could hear it as they were.

These travelers didn't have to go to church and learn a new vocabulary to get the message, God ensured that the message would get to them in a way that they could receive it. HMMMM.

A couple of random things about this passage.
1. The Spirit is described as sounding like a "violent" wind. Violent. Not a gentle breeze. Implications for the character of the Spirit here? Also fire, not a neutral nor even always friendly force of nature. There is power here.

2. There is a healthy dose of perplexity in this passage. In verse 6 the crowd is "bewildered," in verse 7 "amazed and astonished," in verse 12 "amazed and perplexed." The questioning and wonderment of the crowd is an opening for the message that is important not to miss.

3. Don't miss the humor here (who says the Bible isn't funny?). Some folk thought the disciples were acting drunk! And Peter responds that they couldn't be drunk cause it's only 9 in the morning!

4. The Joel prophecy. These are powerful and deeply symbolic words which take the events of the life of Jesus beyond Jerusalem and even these cosmopolitan Jews and into the cosmic realm. It also again moves us into inclusive territory. The prophets are not going to be the official court or religious establishment folk, but children, and women (!), and slaves (!!). And everyone who seeks a relationship with God will find not only that relationship, but salvation (here undefined).

5. Our reading ends not even halfway into Peter's sermon, but that ends with the people being so compelled by what they have heard that they ask what they should do. So Peter tells them to repent, to be baptized, and to anticipate themselves receiving the Holy Spirit (this new religion would not have power reserved to the exclusive few, but the mystical power would be available to all, an absolutely radical concept among all religions of the region at that time).