June 4th, 2022

This Sunday is Pentecost. We moved forward from the season of Easter. But we are NOT moving away from Jesus.

In a way, the main text could be considered to be Acts 2. And this ends up being one of the most difficult readings, not in the sense of understanding—although that may certainly happen—but in the sense of simply READING it. Several of these countries are hard to pronounce!

Below are all the nations or people groups that are mentioned, as they are given in the text [Acts 2:9-11; a somewhat literal translation here and with what follows], with a phonetic spelling after the ones that are the most difficult to pronounce:

Parthians [PARTH-ee-uhnz] and Medes [meedz] and Elamites [EE-leh-mights] and those living in the Mesopotamia [mess-uh-puh-TAY-mee-uh], both Judea [joo-DEE-uh] and Cappadocia [kap-uh-DOH-shee-uh], Pontus [PON-tuhs] and the Asia, Phrygia [FRIJ-ee-uh] and Pamphylia [pam-FILL-ee-uh], Egypt and the regions of the Libya, the against Cyrene [sye-REE-nee], and the temporarily residing Romans, both Jews and proselytes [PRAH-suh-lights], Cretans [KREE-tuhns] and Arabians….

This is not an order from which we can get a lot of information, but generally speaking, it moves from east to west, and Rome is in the west. And that is where St. Paul is eventually headed.

Someone may point out that since there are more than twelve countries listed, the gift of speaking in tongues was given to more than simply the twelve apostles. Now I am sure that, if this miracle was a gift of the Holy Spirit anyway, one apostle could speak in YET ANOTHER language that he did not know after he was done with the first one, since he was simply speaking ‘the great deeds of God’ (Acts 2:11), and that may have taken just a very short time.

The number of people speaking in tongues could have been as high as one hundred and twenty, and all the languages were simply not listed here. Imagine trying to read through all of them! This number is mentioned earlier within the book of Acts (1:15). These two numbers, twelve and one hundred and twenty, are numbers that are given within this text or are nearby. And both numbers point back to the one who started this whole thing, with twelve brothers in the Old Testament and twelve apostles in the New. This is a God thing.

With this event, Christianity is definitely being spoken in favor of. The responses given in the text for this event are notable (Acts 2:6-12). The Jews who were ‘devout men from every nation of those under the heaven’ became a multitude that came together. First, they were ‘confounded’. Then they are described as ‘amazed’ and ‘marveled’. Then it says that ALL were ‘amazed’—it IS the same word as before—but this time, they are also ‘troubled’. And the question that is given is this: ‘What wishes this to be?’

After that question of a ramification, it is then that the negative opinion is also given, that these people are drunk. It is interesting that there seems to be no middle ground.
The ramifications of Pentecost are significant. A gracious God continues to work miracles in hidden ways so that the wonderful gifts of Jesus are received. ‘What wishes this to be?’ What is Pentecost? It is about a gracious God who wishes his gifts of Jesus to be given.