[Tues, 21 May] Acts 2:1-13 (565 words; 1/2)

Here we come to the beginning of the Church with the pouring of the Holy Spirit. Peter will explain to the crowds what all this means in tomorrow's reading, but for today, we concentrate on the moment itself and the initial reaction it from the crowds. As we shall see repeatedly in Acts, some are impressed and persuaded, and others react with contempt and unbelief. It shows that even the most remarkable of events can still be dismissed by those who will not believe; there is no event so amazing, nor argument so compelling, that will conquer the hardened heart (cf. Lk 16:31).

The action begins in a house where the believers are gathered and sitting down, but, although Luke does not make this clear, it moves into a public space, most likely the temple. Perhaps we should imagine that, after the Spirit has fallen, the believers get up and move outside, speaking all the while in the various languages. 

But what has happened? First, there is a sound of violent wind. Then, there is the sight of tongues of fire. Storm and fire are associated with the presence of God in the Old Testament, most notably at Sinai (Ex 19:18-19 cf. 1 Ki 19:11-12). The wind is also associated with the Holy Spirit. When Ezekiel is told to prophesy breath into the valley of corpses, so that, their bones having been clothed with flesh and skin, they will now actually come alive, the breath comes from the four winds (Ezk 37:9). Fire is also associated with judgement and purification. 

Then what? Those upon whom the tongues of fire rest now speak different tongues. This is not the same spiritual gift seen later in the Church, which require a separate gift of interpretation; these are the languages of all those gathered in Jerusalem from around the world. The purpose is to act as a remarkable sign which draws attention to this new act of God. The symbolism is the reversal of the Tower of Babel; where once God in judgement scattered all the peoples, now in another judgement (Jesus' death on the cross) God will gather all the nations together. 

Indeed, Pentecost was an interesting time for God to choose for this moment. It was one of the three major festivals which originally everyone was commanded to attend (Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacles), but it was also the least important. With people dispersed in many lands, annual attendance was impossible for all three. Some who came for Passover would stay on fifty days for Pentecost (Pentecost means 'fifty', though in Hebrew and Aramaic it was known as shavuot, 'weeks'). Therefore there was still a good attendance from many nations. 

But Pentecost, although it celebrated the harvest, had also become associated with the giving of the Law, because it was around this time when the Israelites made it to Mt Sinai after their flight from Egypt (see Ex 19:1). It is significant, then, that this festival came to celebrate what had been God's greatest gift to the Jews (the Law), and then became the time when God gave the promised and much more superior gift of the Spirit (see 2 Cor 3:4-11). 

So, having looked at what happened, what did this whole event mean? This is what Peter will explain in the very first sermon of the new Church and the beginning of the global mission of the Spirit