Day of Pentecost - Red
Ascension Sunday
Acts 2:1-21
Psalm 104:24-34, 35b
Romans 8:22-27
John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15
Lectionary Scriptures:
Acts 2:1 The festival of Shavu‘ot arrived, and the believers all gathered together in one place. 2 Suddenly there came a sound from the sky like the roar of a violent wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then they saw what looked like tongues of fire, which separated and came to rest on each one of them. 4 They were all filled with the Ruach HaKodesh and began to talk in different languages, as the Spirit enabled them to speak.
5 Now there were staying in Yerushalayim religious Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd gathered; they were confused, because each one heard the believers speaking in his own language. 7 Totally amazed, they asked, “How is this possible? Aren’t all these people who are speaking from the Galil? 8 How is it that we hear them speaking in our native languages? 9 We are Parthians, Medes, Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Y’hudah, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, 10 Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome; 11 Jews by birth and proselytes; Jews from Crete and from Arabia. . . ! How is it that we hear them speaking in our own languages about the great things God has done?” 12 Amazed and confused, they all went on asking each other, “What can this mean?” 13 But others made fun of them and said, “They’ve just had too much wine!”
14 Then Kefa stood up with the Eleven and raised his voice to address them: “You Judeans, and all of you staying here in Yerushalayim! Let me tell you what this means! Listen carefully to me!
15 “These people ar en’t drunk, as you suppose — it’s only nine in the morning. 16 No, this is what was spoken about through the prophet Yo’el:
17 ‘Adonai says:
“In the Last Days,
I will pour out from my Spirit upon everyone.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
18 Even on my slaves, both men and women,
will I pour out from my Spirit in those days;
and they will prophesy.
19 I will perform miracles in the sky above
and signs on the earth below —
blood, fire and thick smoke.
20 The sun will become dark
and the moon blood
before the great and fearful Day of Adonai comes.
21 And then, whoever calls on the name of Adonai will be saved.”’[a][Footnotes:
Acts 2:21 Joel 3:1–5(2:28–32)]
Psalm 104:24 What variety there is in your works, Adonai!
How many [of them there are]!
In wisdom you have made them all;
the earth is full of your creations.
25 Look at the sea, so great, so wide!
It teems with countless creatures,
living beings, both large and small.
26 The ships are there, sailing to and fro;
Livyatan, which you formed to play there.
27 All of them look to you
to give them their food when they need it.
28 When you give it to them, they gather it;
when you open your hand, they are well satisfied.
29 If you hide your face, they vanish;
if you hold back their breath, they perish
and return to their dust.
30 If you send out your breath, they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.
31 May the glory of Adonai last forever!
May Adonai rejoice in his works!
32 When he looks at the earth, it trembles;
when he touches the mountains, they pour out smoke.
33 I will sing to Adonai as long as I live,
sing praise to my God all my life.
34 May my musings be pleasing to him;
I will rejoice in Adonai.
35 May sinners vanish from the earth
and the wicked be no more!
Bless Adonai, my soul!
Halleluyah!
Romans 8:22 We know that until now, the whole creation has been groaning as with the pains of childbirth; 23 and not only it, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we continue waiting eagerly to be made sons — that is, to have our whole bodies redeemed and set free. 24 It was in this hope that we were saved. But if we see what we hope for, it isn’t hope — after all, who hopes for what he already sees? 25 But if we continue hoping for something we don’t see, then we still wait eagerly for it, with perseverance.
26 Similarly, the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we don’t know how to pray the way we should. But the Spirit himself pleads on our behalf with groanings too deep for words; 27 and the one who searches hearts knows exactly what the Spirit is thinking, because his pleadings for God’s people accord with God’s will.
John 15:26 “When the Counselor comes, whom I will send you from the Father — the Spirit of Truth, who keeps going out from the Father — he will testify on my behalf. 27 And you testify too, because you have been with me from the outset.
John 16:4 But I have told you this, so that when the time comes for it to happen, you will remember that I told you. I didn’t tell you this at first, because I was with you. 5 But now I am going to the One who sent me.
“Not one of you is asking me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 Instead, because I have said these things to you, you are overcome with grief. 7 But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I don’t go away, the comforting Counselor will not come to you. However, if I do go, I will send him to you.
8 “When he comes, he will show that the world is wrong about sin, about righteousness and about judgment — 9 about sin, in that people don’t put their trust in me; 10 about righteousness, in that I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; 11 about judgment, in that the ruler of this world has been judged.
12 “I still have many things to tell you, but you can’t bear them now. 13 However, when the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own initiative but will say only what he hears. He will also announce to you the events of the future. 14 He will glorify me, because he will receive from what is mine and announce it to you. 15 Everything the Father has is mine; this is why I said that he receives from what is mine and will announce it to you.
John Wesley's Notes-Commentary for:
Acts 2:1-21
Verse 2
[2] And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
And suddenly there came a sound from heaven — So will the Son of man come to judgment.
And it filled all the house — That is, all that part of the temple where they were sitting.
Verse 3
[3] And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
And there appeared distinct tongues, as of fire — That is, small flames of fire. This is all which the phrase, tongues of fire, means in the language of the seventy. Yet it might intimate God's touching their tongues as it were (together with their hearts) with Divine fire: his giving them such words as were active and penetrating, even as flaming fire.
Verse 4
[4] And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
And they began to speak with other tongues — The miracle was not in the ears of the hearers, (as some have unaccountably supposed,) but in the mouth of the speakers. And this family praising God together, with the tongues of all the world, was an earnest that the whole world should in due time praise God in their various tongues.
As the Spirit gave them utterance — Moses, the type of the law, was of a slow tongue; but the Gospel speaks with a fiery and flaming one.
Verse 5
[5] And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.
And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews — Gathered from all parts by the peculiar providence of God.
Verse 6
[6] Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.
The multitude came together, and were confounded — The motions of their minds were swift and various.
Verse 9
[9] Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in
Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,
Judea — The dialect of which greatly differed from that of Galilee.
Asia — The country strictly so called.
Verse 10
[10] Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,
Roman sojourners — Born at Rome, but now living at Jerusalem. These seem to have come to Jerusalem after those who are above mentioned. All of them were partly Jews by birth, and partly proselytes.
Verse 11
[11] Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.
Cretans — One island seems to be mentioned for all.
The wonderful works of God — Probably those which related to the miracles, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, together with the effusion of his Spirit, as a fulfilment of his promises, and the glorious dispensations of Gospel grace.
Verse 12
[12] And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?
They were all amazed — All the devout men.
Verse 13
[13] Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.
But others mocking — The world begins with mocking, thence proceeds to cavilling,
Acts 4:7; to threats,
4:17; to imprisoning,
Acts 5:18; blows,
5:40; to slaughter,
Acts 7:58. These mockers appear to have been some of the natives of Judea, and inhabitants of Jerusalem, (who understood only the dialect of the country,) by the apostle's immediately directing his discourse to them in the next verse.
They are full of sweet wine — So the
Greek word properly signifies. There was no new wine so early in the year as pentecost. Thus natural men are wont to ascribe supernatural things to mere natural causes; and many times as impudently and unskilfully as in the present case.
Verse 14
[14] But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:
Then Peter standing up — All the gestures, all the words of Peter, show the utmost sobriety; lifted up his voice - With cheerfulness and boldness; and said to them - This discourse has three parts; each of which,
Acts 2:14,22,29, begins with the same appellation, men: only to the last part he prefixes with more familiarity the additional word brethren.
Men of Judea — That is, ye that are born in Judea. St. Peter spoke in Hebrew, which they all understood.
Verse 15
[15] For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
It is but the third hour of the day — That is, nine in the morning. And on the solemn festivals the Jews rarely ate or drank any thing till noon.
Verse 16
[16] But this is that which was spoken by the
prophet Joel;
But this is that which was spoken of by the prophet — But there is another and better way of accounting for this.
Joel 2:28
Verse 17
[17] And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
The times of the Messiah are frequently called the last days, the Gospel being the last dispensation of Divine grace.
I will pour out of my Spirit — Not on the day of pentecost only, upon all flesh - On persons of every age, sex, and rank.
And your young men shall see visions — In young men the outward sense, are most vigorous, and the bodily strength is entire, whereby they are best qualified to sustain the shock which usually attends the visions of God. In old men the internal senses are most vigorous, suited to divine dreams. Not that the old are wholly excluded from the former, nor the young from the latter.
Verse 18
[18] And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
And upon my servants — On those who are literally in a state of servitude.
Verse 19
[19] And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
And I will show prodigies in heaven above, and signs on earth beneath — Great revelations of grace are usually attended with great
judgments on those who reject it.
On earth — Described in this verse. Such signs were those mentioned,
Acts 2:22, before the passion of Christ; which are so mentioned as to include also those at the very time of the passion and resurrection, at the destruction of Jerusalem, and at the end of the world. Terrible indeed were those prodigies in particular which preceded the destruction of Jerusalem: such as the flaming sword hanging over the city, and the fiery comet pointing down upon it for a year; the light that shone upon the temple and the altar in the night, as if it had been noon-day; the opening of the great and heavy gate of the temple without hands; the voice heard from the most holy place, Let us depart hence; the admonition of Jesus the son of Ananus, crying for seven years together, Wo, wo, wo; the vision of contending armies in the air, and of entrenchments thrown up against a city there represented; the terrible thunders and lightnings, and dreadful earthquakes, which every one considered as portending some great evil: all which, through the singular providence of God, are particularly recorded by Josephus.
Blood — War and slaughter.
Fire — Burnings of houses and towns, involving all in clouds of smoke.
Verse 20
[20] The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
The moon shall be turned into blood — A bloody colour: before the day of the Lord - Eminently the last day; though not excluding any other day or season, wherein the Lord shall manifest his glory, in taking vengeance of his adversaries.
Verse 21
[21] And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
But — whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord - This expression implies the whole of religion, and particularly prayer uttered in faith; shall be saved - From all those plagues; from sin and hell.
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