Act 2: 1-21, Offered to the Minehill Presbyterian Church of Minehill, NJ on May 24, 2026
Mel Prestamo, Elder PCUSA
There is a lot happening in this second chapter of Acts – and I think it is important for us to look at it in a step-by-step fashion so that we can see how the Holy Spirit is revealing to us the wider scope of God’s plan for Shalom. Because this isn’t solely a story about Apostles speaking in tongues. No. This is a story of how God’s Holy Spirit is at work in Creation and how that work (the work of the church of Jesus Christ) begins to come into focus in Luke’s Book of Acts.
The first thing for us to realize is that with the arrival of the Holy Spirit comes the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise that an Advocate, a Counselor, a Guide, a Protector would come to his followers. In this story of the first Pentecost of our Christian Witness, we see the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise that his followers would not be left alone. In John 14:16, Jesus tells His disciples, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to help you and be with you forever — the Spirit of Truth.”
Now, why do I use the phrase “The Fist Pentecost of Our Christian Witness. Well, I say that because it wasn’t the first Pentecost. Pentecost – meaning ‘fiftieth’ – was a Jewish Harvest Festival which at the time of Jesus had no religious significance. Jews were simply celebrating the bringing in of the wheat harvest.
But for we Christians, for us, it has the religious significance that it was the beginning of our witnessing to the world who the Jesus Christ was and is. So, for us, it was the first Pentecost of our Christian Witness.
Let’s get back to Jesus’ promise in John when Jesus promises an Advocate. There’s a lot in that verse. But for today, I want you to key in on the last part of the verse – “…that the Advocate would be with you forever…” That’s going to be a theme that I will touch on throughout my message today.
But first, let’s look at the event and how things happened. Let’s look at how Luke describes the arrival of the Holy Spirit. It comes like a “mighty” wind that then settles as tongues of fire over the heads of each of Jesus’ followers who are gathered together in this “one place.”
There’s a lot of imagery here going back to the Exodus story, of Moses and Israel’s journey through the dessert. I don’t want to spend a lot of time here, but I do want you to recall how God’s presence with Israel in the desert is described. It is as smoke during the day and fire by night.
God’s presence [described as Fire] is an important visual for us to keep in mind when we listen to how Luke describes the arrival of God’s Holy Spirit.
Luke tells us that the God’s Holy Spirit comes rushing in as a mighty wind and settles upon each one in the assembly as tongues of fire. This is the Baptism by the Spirit that Jesus spoke of. In Acts 1:5, Jesus says to his disciples, “John baptized with water but in a few days, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
Next in verse four, Luke tells us that “The Holy Spirit took control of everyone…”
“Took control.” That is a powerful description.
What is Luke trying to tell us about this special “Baptism” by the Holy Spirit. It is different from the Baptism by water that John had been doing in the dessert.
John was baptizing with water. What the Spirit is doing with Jesus’ followers who had been hiding in seclusion (in the darkness of that one place) was the samething that God was doing when God guided Israel through the dessert. The Holy Spirit was moving Jesus’ followers out of the darkness of their fears forward into the Light.
Let’s look at how this happens.
Once the Holy Spirit comes, Luke tells us that it took control of everyone. It then pushes Jesus’ followers out into the city to give witness to what they knew about the Jesus. That he was the Christ, the Messiah, the One sent by God.
But something unusual happened. They were heard to be speaking the native languages of the people attracted to them so that anyone listening could hear and understand.
What Luke tells us is that by this special Baptism of the Holy Spirit the Ministry of Jesus’ new church began. And it began with a cacophony of noise – a mighty wind and then a beautiful symphony of sound – all these different languages being interwoven together.
Each of those followers gathered together for that Pentecost festival received the Holy Spirit and that Spirit filled them, took control of them and moved them out into the city to begin the Ministry of the Church of Jesus Christ.
OK. Item number three. It is about the sound of this “mighty” wind.
Verse 5 tells us: “Many Jews from every country in the world were living in Jerusalem.” I read the regions that Luke lists. And if we were to plot them on an ancient map, we would find that Luke lists them in order – from the East, the North, then the South, and then finally the West.
And then in verse 6 we learn, “And – when – they [these many Jews] – heard this noise…” this mighty wind … they were drawn to it.
Do you get the picture here? The sound of the Holy Spirit’s “mighty” wind was loud enough that the people in the nearby areas of Jerusalem heard it, too. This sound of the Holy Spirit was not just something that Jesus’ followers heard. No, it was demonstratively loud enough for people nearby to hear, as well.
Not only did the Holy Spirit come to Baptize Jesus’ followers, take control and initiate their Ministry but it attracted and drew people to it.
Now what happened when the people heard this mighty wind. They came to investigate and heard this group of the newly baptized of Jesus’ followers that the Holy Spirit had taken control of – proselytizing so that each of them – could hear and understand in their own native language the truth of Jesus Christ. They came asking, “What does this mean?”
What does it mean when those who were grieving are now speaking in a new language of comfort? What does it mean when those who feared for their lives are now speaking openly in public? What does it mean when those who were ashamed that their Lord had been crucified are now so renewed and alive that people are drawn to listen to them witnessing about the good news story of Jesus Christ.
It means that the Holy Spirit had taken control and was making things happen.
And if we jump forward, we are told that after the claim that these proselytizers are drunk, the Holy Spirit takes control of Peter and pushes him forward to respond. As Peter steps out in front of the crowd, the Holy Spirit puts words into his mouth. Peter begins to explain the entire good news story of God’s Messiah, Jesus Christ. He begins by quoting from the Prophet Joel.
In Joel 2: 28, “In the last days it will be, God declares, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions and your old men will dream dreams.”
Now this is of vital importance for us to hear and understand. The prophet Joel spoke of the “Day of the Lord” in his prophetic messages. And what Joel meant by that was, on the “Day of the Lord”, God would step into history to set things right. And how would we know that day? Joel tells us we would know that by the sign that “…your sons and daughters will prophesy, young men would see visions and old men would dream dreams…” This was the Day that the Jewish people were waiting for. So, Peter used Joel’s words to announce to the assembly that the Day of the Lord had come in Jesus Christ.
When the people had heard Peter’s proclamation – that the Day of the Lord had come – that God had finally stepped into our human history to set things right in the person of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit moved three thousand people to believe Peter’s message and to be baptized. And Luke tells us that after their baptism, they spent their time learning from the apostles and that they broke bread and prayed together much like we are doing and will do later when we celebrate our communion meal together.
So, this mighty wind of the Holy Spirit was more than a passing breeze. And it was certainly not something that was meant to be confined in a small space. It was something so startling demonstrative that it not only took control of Jesus’ followers, it not only attracted an enormous crowd, it gave impetus to the beginning of the ministry of the Church of Jesus Christ. It was at that point that God’s Word and God’s plan of Shalom went out to the world.
And so, it began from Jerusalem and then it went out, to Sumaria, to Galilee and then ultimately to us, the Gentiles. The good news of God’s plan for Shalom went out to the world under the control of the Holy Spirit. That has a special meaning for us. It means that all Christian Baptisms from then on include not only a symbolic washing of us clean with water. That is the outward sign of what is happening spiritually for us. Spiritually, our souls are being blessed and taken possession of by God’s Holy Spirit. This is the promise made to us by Jesus handed down through the ages by his first disciples.
Now I want you to understand what the Holy Spirit taking control means for us. Because that is what defines this epoch of our church ministry that we are a part of. God’s Holy Spirit not only took control on that first Pentecost Day, but the Holy Spirit continues to take control of us – of you, of me and of the church of Jesus Christ. That is what defines the age we live in.
And now it is we who come and ask, What does this mean? What does the story of the first Christian Pentecost mean for us today?
Well, it means that if we believe in the risen Christ, God’s messenger of Hope; if we believe that his sacrifice of love showers us and washes us clean with God’s saving grace and mercy; and if we believe in the power of God’s Holy Spirit to empower not only Jesus’ followers on that Pentecost morning, then we must also believe in the Holy Spirit’s power to take control of our lives and push us out into this world to tell the good news story of God’s saving love and God’s plan for Shalom for God’s Creation.
This is what I mean when I say this is the Age of the Holy Spirit. In these times the Holy Spirit continues to be at work furthering the message of God’s promised plan of Shalom – God’s desire that through God’s mercy and forgiveness to bring peace into your lives.
But this promise of God’s Shalom is not to be locked in “one place” as Jesus’ followers were before the Holy Spirit came to them. It is also not meant to be locked within this sanctuary. It is meant to go out and be shared.
In Matthew 28, Jesus commands us, “… Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always, [even] to the very end of the age.”
If you allow God’s Holy Spirit to take control of your hearts you will be energized to reflect the love and compassion of God into this community just as Jesus has commanded us. And if you allow it, the Holy Spirit will also fill your yearnings with God’s presence, then what you will find in that relationship is God’s Shalom. And in God’s Shalom, you will find eternal life in the Kingdom of God.
May it be so.
