Acts 2:5-13

Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs--we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!" Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?"

 

Some, however, made fun of them and said, "They have had too much wine."

 

When God poured out the Holy Spirit on the disciples and they began to speak in other human languages, it made quite a stir. The reason we know that the disciples were speaking in different human languages is the response we see here: People who spoke all different languages heard the wonders of God in their native tongues! And they asked, “What does this mean?” At the same time, though, some responded in mockery – even to as amazing a sign of God’s wondrous power as they were seeing.

 

But what did this mean? Peter is about to explain what it means, and while we will cover that in more detail, the gist of the matter is that this is the fulfillment of prophecy, the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, and that this prophecy is attached to the promise that “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

 

The Holy Spirit’s coming is not just some really, really cool thing God did to make His people able to do cool things, like talk in other languages. No, the Holy Spirit’s coming has a deep, profound purpose – the same purpose as Jesus’ coming to die and rise again. The Holy Spirit came so that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. He came so that God’s disciples would proclaim God’s words of salvation to all mankind. This event proved, just by the number of languages spoken at one time while the disciples announced God’s wonders, that the Holy Spirit had come to announce God’s wonders broadly, throughout the earth. The good news of salvation was not limited to Hebrew-speakers. The good news of salvation is for men of every language. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. So call on Him!

 

Father, thank You. I am not a Jew. I don’t speak Hebrew or Aramaic (though I’m trying to learn those languages). But before I cared about speaking the language of the Jews, You spoke to me through my parents and other Christians by the power of the Holy Spirit. And you did not speak to me in Hebrew, so that I could not understand You. You spoke to me in English to make it plain to me that I will be saved as I call on the Lord. Thank You for sending Your Holy Spirit to speak through Your disciples in my language, and in all the languages of the earth so that people from every language may have the opportunity to call on You and be saved. You are so good!