The Day of Pentecost: Part I - The Event

The Event of Pentecost

Jews from fifteen different nations came together in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, each speaking with their own language. Then, when a group among them began declaring God’s mighty works in these fifteen languages, a crowd developed of amazed and confused listeners. What the group were saying the crowd could understand well enough; what they couldn’t understand was why they could understand them. (Acts 2:5-12)

Jesus promised to send God’s Spirit (Acts 1:4-5) before being taken up into heaven (Acts 1:11), commanding his followers to stay in Jerusalem until they had received him. When on the day of Pentecost the 120 followers were all filled with the Holy Spirit three signs were given from heaven to demonstrate beyond any doubt their reception of Jesus’ baptism with the Spirit (Acts 2:2-4): wind signifying the creative work of the Spirit, as it had done at the creation of the world; fire signifying the saving work of God, as it had done at Mount Sinai; and the Spirit enabled declaration of God’s wonders in the languages (tongues) of the nations of the world.

What did the sign of tongues show? What is the significance of the Spirit enabled utterances of the first Christians? This is the first part of an article in which we'll talk about the Pentecost Sermon, where the Apostle Peter answers this very question.

Confusion over Pentecost

With the proliferation of the worldwide Pentecostal movement in the last few decades, this chapter in the New Testament, Acts 2, has become the most misunderstood passage in the Bible within 21st century Christianity. It's not hard to understand why; the events described in Acts 2 were met with misunderstanding when they occurred. In fact, Acts 2 is a record of the Apostle Peter’s explanation of the events of that day because of the ignorance that surrounded him: “Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?"” (Acts 2:12) And so Peter stood to answer this very question: “let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say” (Acts 2:14).

Old Testament Prophecy: Promises of the Spirit

Peter began his explanation by quoting the Old Testament prophet Joel (Acts 2:17-21). His claim was that the events of the day were what Joel had prophesied about (v. 16). Naturally he follows his quotation with his own explanation of the events in terms of Joel’s prophecy. He doesn’t give Joel’s prophecy as the answer; he gives a gospel sermon that explains the Old Testament prophecy as the answer. His sermon in Acts 2:22-36 is a declaration of the meaning of what the crowd had just witnessed, for he says about Jesus in Acts 2:33, “he has poured out what you now see and hear.” His sermon was not an evangelistic add-on: His sermon is the apostolic interpretation of the events of Pentecost; it is God’s own version of events; it is the Spirit himself speaking about what his own activity signifies.

The only way to understand the Spirit

Even though this was a genuine work of the Spirit, it could not simply be understood by observing it, or even experiencing it. The only way to interpret it correctly was to listen to the apostolic explanation of the OT prophetic expectation. Peter’s sermon in Acts 2:22-36 demonstrates the fact that the events of Pentecost can only be understood with a New Testament comprehension of the promises of the Old Testament prophets, such as Joel. Much to their suprise, Peter explained that Pentecost was not primarily about the Spirit, but about Jesus of Nazareth, whom they crucified: "Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear." (Acts 2:33).

In Part 2 of this article we'll be talking about Peter's explanation of Joel's prophecy and the events of his day. (Acts 2:14-32)

More on this topic

The day of Pentecost: Part II - The Promise

Baptism in the Spirit: The Apostles' experience

The day of Pentecost: Part III - The meaning | joe towns: christian discussion on Pentecost Sunday, charisma, pentecostal and charismatic beliefs, the Bible and Jesus; including the origin and history of pentecostalism, baptism in the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, gifts and miracles, divine healing and word of faith, prosperity and wealth, praise and worship, guidance and hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit.