Slices
Prepare
How have you experienced the Holy Spirit in your life so far? Dwell for a few moments on the most precious of these.
Bible passage
The Holy Spirit comes at Pentecost
2 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: ‘Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs – we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!’ 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, ‘What does this mean?’
13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, ‘They have had too much wine.’
Explore
A group of united disciples and a gathering of Jews for the harvest festival – this is the setting for the Holy Spirit’s outpouring. Luke reaches for the legacy-rich symbols of wind and fire to picture for us the power, purity and very presence of God in the person of the Holy Spirit. Do you notice how the flame-like appearance separates to hover over the head of each disciple, and how the fire rests rather than ravages (v 3)? ‘Our God is a consuming fire’ (Hebrews 12:29), yet so personal and gentle in pouring his gifts and presence upon us.
Moving from filled to overflowing in a moment, the family of Jesus-followers is supernaturally enabled to speak of the wonders of God. Each is given a different expression – how beautiful that the Holy Spirit meets and ministers through each of us uniquely! Beyond natural comprehension and ability, bewildering (even offensive) to the international crowd of onlookers, the promised Spirit is the power they have been waiting for. The presence of God poured out personally and for all, mighty and yet gentle, perplexing and yet praise-inspiring in equal part – this gift is the power in which we, too, are to continue.
Respond
How has the Holy Spirit enabled you to express the wonders of God? Thank him and ask for an opportunity to do so this week.
Deeper Bible study
Lord, teach us of the meaning of Pentecost and touch our lives with its power.
This story begins in a house and ends in a public space with a large, multinational crowd witnessing the fruit of the outpouring of the Spirit of God. As at other annual festivals, the city of Jerusalem was heaving with pilgrims who poured in from both east and west, as the list of nations in verses 9–11 makes clear. Luke informs us that those present were all ‘God-fearing Jews’ (v 5), members of the diaspora scattered across the known world. The miracle of Pentecost prompts two questions from those who felt its impact: how could they hear ‘the wonders of God’ declared in their own languages (vs 5–11)? And ‘What does this mean?’ (v 12).
It has often been noticed that this story has significant parallels with the account of the building of the Tower of Babel.1 Indeed, some suggest that what happened at Pentecost was the reversal of the confusion of tongues and the commencement of the reuniting of the scattered nations now enabled to hear the good news. However, Pentecost did not reverse the linguistic diversity which resulted from human arrogance at Babel, but by enabling the members of the audience to hear the message in their own native language (v 8) it affirmed local cultures and vernacular languages as vehicles for the global spread of the gospel. As to the second question, concerning the meaning of this event, it is that all peoples on earth may now be able to say, ‘God speaks my language’. Justo Gonzalez observes that the Holy Spirit might have enabled the crowd to understand the Aramaic spoken by the disciples, but instead gave them the gift of hearing about Jesus in their mother tongues. Whereas ‘Babel was a monument to human pride, the church is called to be a monument to the humiliation of any who seek to make their language or culture dominant.’2
Thank God for a church with more than a thousand tongues ‘to sing my great Redeemer’s praise’.3
1 Gen 11 2 Justo Gonzalez, Acts: The Gospel of the Spirit, Orbis Books, 2001, p39 3 Charles Wesley, 1707–88, ‘O for a thousand tongues to sing’
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: 2 Kings 1–3; 2 Corinthians 2
Pray for Scripture Union
Please pray for Faith Guides who work tirelessly to share the good news of Jesus with the next generation. Give thanks to God for Roger and all the years of faithful service he has given (and continues to give) in sharing Jesus with children and young people, and journeying with them as they grow in their knowledge of God’s love.
