Acts 2.1-13 + John 14.23-31
The Feast of Pentecost
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Before Christ ascended into heaven to be seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty, He told His disciples, “John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now” (Ac 1:5). John the Baptist, while still living, had preached, “I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Lk 3:16). The Lord fulfilled His promise on the day of Pentecost, which occurred fifty days after Christ’s resurrection. When the disciples are gathered together, a sound comes from heaven, like a rushing, mighty wind. It fills the whole place where they are sitting. Tongues as of fire appear over each one of their heads, and each one began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
This baptism with fire and the Holy Spirit wasn’t a second baptism, a better baptism, or the completion of their own baptisms which they had received from John. John and Jesus called it a baptism metaphorically, because, like baptism, which is the pouring of water over one’s head, the Holy Spirit was richly poured out upon the disciples. Their heads are sprinkled, as it were, with tongues as of fire, resting on each of them, an outward manifestation of God the Holy Spirit. Hadn’t God told Israel, “The Lord your God is a consuming fire” (Dt. 4:24)? Hadn’t He told Jeremiah, “Is not My word like a fire?” (Je 23:29). Christ sends the Helper, the Holy Spirit, upon them so that they might testify of Christ in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth (Ac 1:8).
They speak boldly in these new tongues, inspired by the Holy Spirit, because there were dwelling Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. Perhaps some were there for the feast of Passover and now Pentecost. Perhaps some had moved to Jerusalem permanently so they could enjoy their golden years in the holy city. Regardless, these devout Jews from every nation under head heard the familiar sounds of their native tongue. Confused as to why they would be hearing their own languages, they come together in the city and find the source: Galileans, not natives of their home countries. “We hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God,” they say as they marvel. “Whatever could this mean?” some ask. Others, filled with unbelief, imagine the apostles to be full of new wine, even though it wasn’t the season for new wine.
And that’s where today’s gospel ends. But it is good for us to go beyond, because these opening verses of Acts 2. Peter raises his voice and addresses the gathering crowd. He says, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel” (Ac 2:14–16). He addresses the naysayers first. It’s only 9am. They aren’t filled with wine. They are filled with the Holy Spirit. The Lord has fulfilled His word spoken by the prophet Joel:
“And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy. I will show wonders in heaven above And signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved” (Ac 2:17–21).
They are the sons and daughters of Israel who shall prophesy. They are the menservants and maidservants upon whom God has poured out His Holy Spirit. This is the beginning of the New Testament period. Joel sees the entire New Testament period compressed, because the wonders in heaven above And signs in the earth beneath, will occur in that period, but only at the end of it, before the great and awesome day of the Lord, the day on which Christ returns to judge the quick and the dead. Until that day arrives, “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved.”
But there is still to work to be done. These devout Jews from every nation under heaven are not yet ready to call on the name of the Lord for salvation. They imagine they salvation is already theirs. Peter goes on to preach Christ—His death and resurrection—according to the Scriptures, and then brings the full force of the law’s condemnation down on them when he says, “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” The one whom they rejected and reviled has been exalted. Jesus is Lord—that is, God. He is Christ, that is, the Messiah. God raised Him from the dead. God the Father seated Him at His right hand, so that all authority in heaven and on earth are His, and it is He who has poured out the Holy Spirit on the disciples that very day. And these Jews killed Him, rejecting their God and Messiah.
Luke records that upon hearing this, they were cut to the heart. The men, realizing what they had done fifty-three days before when they had called for Jesus’ crucifixion, ask, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” How do we get out from underneath God’s wrath? How do we have a gracious God after what we’ve done? The prophet Joel had already told them, “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved.” Peter tells them how to do just that. “Repent,” he says, “And let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call” (Ac 2:36–39). The Law is preached so that men come to know their sin and mourn it so that that gospel may then rush in and offer God’s forgiveness for the penitent.
The gospel that Peter preaches is baptism! Not the metaphorical baptism which Jesus promised to the disciples—tongues of fire and new tongues in their mouth—but the washing with water and God’s word that Christ has commanded. Be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ as He Himself had taught, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Mt. 28:19). This baptism was for the remission of sins, not to symbolize God’s forgiveness and washing away of sins, not to signify that God would at some point wash away their sins, but to actually wash their sins away. This is why the same Peter writes in first epistle that baptism now saves us, not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God (1 Pe 3:21). In Holy Baptism, God gives us a good conscience, because it forgives all sins, washing sinners with water and His word of promise.
This baptism also gives the gift of the Holy Spirit, Peter tells them. All who are baptized receive the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit gives all who believe and are baptized His gifts, not the special, visible gifts like tongues of fire and tongues of foreign languages, but as Jesus said, “He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you” (Jn 16:14). The Holy Spirit forgives sins in holy baptism, adopts children for God the Father, and creates new hearts which begin to love God and keep Jesus’ word, so that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, in whom a person is baptized, will dwell in the hearts of everyone who is baptized, for the promise is for them, their children, and all people.
Including you. The apostles’ preaching, which began on this day nearly two thousand years ago with the baptism of fire and the Holy Spirit, continues through the preaching of God’s word. It still leads, not to new tongues in the mouth and tongues of fire overhead, but to baptism of water combined with God’s word which saves you. For in those waters you have the forgiveness of all your sins. You have the adoption as sons and heirs of God. You have the Holy Spirit, as well as the Father and the Son who make their home with you. You have a new heart which loves God and keeps Christ’s word. You have the peace of Jesus, which knows that God gladly forgives your sins as often as you repent them and flee to Him to for mercy, and which knows that all things work together for your good. The baptism of fire and the Spirit which was poured out on the apostles has led you to the baptism of water combined with God’s word, in which you have all God’s blessings, and their witness leads you back to your baptism each day, that you may live in those promises which God gave you. Amen.
May the peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
