Acts 2:1-21

Introduction:

1. The long-awaited Messianic era is inaugurated on this day!

2. For this, many call Acts 2 the hub of the Bible where it all meshes.

Discussion:

I. The Setting of the Outpouring

A. The Day: Pentecost; OT feast of weeks, first-fruits (2:1; Exodus 34:22)

1. 50 days after the Passover Sabbath, a Sunday (Leviticus 23:15-16)

2. One of 3 annual feasts all Jewish men must attend (Exodus 23:14-17)

B. The Event: “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit…” (2:4)

1. The context indicates the apostles were filled, not the 120.

a. The nearest antecedent to “they” is the apostles (1:26)

b. The promise was to the 12 (John 15:26-27; 16:12-15; Acts 1:2-5).

c. Peter stood with the 11, not the 119 (2:14)

d. The apostles taught and performed signs (2:42-43).

2. They spoke with other tongues/languages, not an unrecognizable, ecstatic utterance (2:4, 8, 11; 1 Corinthians 14:2, 21-23, 27-28).

II. The Reaction to the Outpouring

A. The event drew a crowd of devout Jews from all nations (2:5-11).

B. We should note these all likely spoke the common Greek language.

C. Most were amazed, perplexed, and seeking to understand how these Galileans spoke in their various languages (2:6-12).

D. However, not everyone was convinced (2:13).

III. The Meaning of the Outpouring

A. In answering the scoffers, Peter detailed why God worked in this way.

B. Joel had prophesied an ideal, Messianic era which would be signaled by the outpouring of God’s Spirit (2:17-21; Joel 2:28-32; Isaiah 2:1-5; 11:1-12).

C. This display was to prove they spoke from God (Hebrews 2:4; 1 Corinthians 14:22).

D. The Old Covenant would soon give way to the New, extending God’s favor to all peoples (Jeremiah 31:31-34; 2:21; cf. Genesis 12:3; Isaiah 2:1-4).

E. Peter used common OT language of cosmic upheaval to convey this paradigm shift (vv. 19-20; cf. Isaiah 13:9-13, 17-19; Ezekiel 32:7-8).

Conclusion:

1. Next, Peter will give the first gospel sermon, establishing the New Covenant.

2. The events in this section established the authority of that message.

3. What follows is a clinic on the things necessary to convert a lost soul.