Day 408 Bible Only Podcast

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In the previous chapter of Acts, Luke introduces us to the primitive church preparing to share the good news of the resurrection according to the instructions Christ gave them. In this chapter, we meet them, a dozen families or so. Thanks to seeing Jesus ascend to heaven they are full of faith, devoted to one another, and organized. They were well situated over the coming years to meet many Jews -- and converts to Judaism -- and tell them the Good News. Any visitor to them would have to be fluent in Hebrew. That meant Judeans would hear the gospel first, next maybe some folks in Samaria who were devoted enough to come to Jerusalem, then maybe Jews from further away, and so on. Over generations synagogues might appear with a rabbi from the “school of Jesus.”

This, most likely, is how the disciples understood Jesus' plan for them ... a solid plan for steady growth. The Holy Spirit; however, would have no time for solid plans for steady growth. We now know, with the lens of history, that Jerusalem had only a couple of decades before the Romans would lay siege to the city, the temple would be burned to the ground, and its artifacts would be looted and carted away, never to be restored. Christ did not rise from the dead for his students to be lost in the ruins of history. The Gospel was to go out immediately, the folks visiting Jerusalem for the Feast of First Fruits were to be the Gospel's first fruits, and language barriers were not to be an excuse.

In Acts Chapter 2, the Holy Spirit accelerates God's plan for the nations. So, how to move prayerful disciples from their shaded courtyard … into the harvest?

• Step 1: descend like fire. Nothing says "exit the building" like flames over everyone's head.
• Step 2: enable each man and woman to speak praises in different languages of men.

Say you find yourself singing a Psalm in Phrygian, and your family and friends whose heads are on fire can't understand you, you’re going to rush out of the building and find a stranger who does.

And consider the stranger's perspective. You're halfway through weeks of pilgrimage. Hebrew is your fourth language after Latin and Greek and - if you're from nearby -- Aramaic. But, there's also your first language ... in the ancient world it would be known only to you and the people you grew up with. You probably haven't heard it since you left your village. For weeks, you've taken the trouble to sing and speak in your best Hebrew, almost forgetting the sound of your first language. Then, in the crowded streets of this Holy City, you are drawn to familiar words in an unfamiliar voice … perhaps it’s a Psalm you were reciting to perfect your Hebrew. But here, some local is saying the same thing as if he or she had been born and raised on the same street as you! A pilgrim from a different country is listening to another local. And when you ask him, sure enough he is hearing a Psalm in his own tongue. These humble-looking Israelites, whose Galilean accents (when they spoke Hebrew) couldn’t be missed, now have your attention first thing in the morning.

And what about natives of Jerusalem? Obviously, if you believed in Christ's resurrection, you would admire these miraculous speakers. But, if you were a Pharisee, Saduccee, or Zealot, you would see your hold on the throng slipping. The best you could do is toss out a slur, "Drunk Galileans." But, in your heart, your idea of who Messiah should be and what He should do is slipping away. Your feeble retort is overshadowed by God's beautiful praise in foreign tongues. You might have heard Jesus' parable of the master's feast, whose initial guests spurned his invitations, so he extended invites to strangers instead. If so, this would be a very scary morning. Because the sound you hear is keys to the Kingdom of Heaven offered to foreigners.

The 12 apostles rise above the conflicting words and thoughts, and Peter starts his first full day of evangelism. He directly addresses the locals. First with dry humor -- nobody drinks before 9 in the morning. Then with prophetic scripture. He refers to Joel in two parts: The first, explains the outpouring of the Spirit everyone is hearing. The second warns that the great and terrible day of the Lord is not far off. Peter then spells out the theology of the Messiah, truth of the resurrection, and the need for all who wish to be saved to call on the Lord. It has its effect. Those local Jews, for whom all of Jesus' parables were coming to life, ask Peter what their next move should be. Peter replies, "Repent and be baptized ..." and continues his preaching to anyone who would hear. By the end of the day, a church of hundreds had become a community 3000 strong and growing.

The Holy Spirit moved mightily that day. And apostles stepped up. But, as we go forward in our readings, we will see that God is not finished. Three thousand sounds large, but Jerusalem was no small city. The opposition to this new sect is soon to begin. These days of nurturing at the apostles’ feet is to prepare them for days of turmoil. Stay tuned.