Pentecost A 2nd Reading

Acts 2:1-21

Richard Thompson

“God and Our Expectations”

Expectations. We all have them. It’s not a question of whether we have expectations, but what kinds of expectations we have … especially when they are about God and what God is doing.

Those whom the narrator of Acts describes as gathering at the temple in Jerusalem for the Pentecost celebration brought different expectations with them. For the average Jewish religious pilgrim, this was the contemporary version of the Jewish Feast of Weeks (see Exod 23:16a; 34:22; Lev 23:15-22; Num 28:26-31; Deut 16:9-12), a harvest celebration that originally commemorated God’s blessing and provision. But increasing, the festival was associated with the formation of the Jewish people as God’s covenant people, covenantal renewal, and correspondingly the giving of the Jewish law to the people … additional signs of God’s faithfulness and provision.

But there were also the Jewish believers … the apostles and others who not only had been followers of Jesus but were both believers and witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus. Jesus had instructed them “not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for what the Father had promised” (Acts 1:4, Common English Bible). The small group of eleven apostles and a few women followers initially gathered in an upper room (1:13), perhaps the same one where they shared Jesus’ last meal (see Luke 22:12). But as the group expanded (see Acts 1:15), it is unlikely that they continued to meet there. On this important Jewish festival, it is likely that the “one place” (2:1) where they gathered together was the temple in Jerusalem. For they too had expectations: that the same God who had been at work in Jesus would fulfill the promises that God had given (see Luke 24:49). So these followers of Jesus, who were also faithful Jews, would naturally take part in those celebrations over God’s provisions for God’s people.

Interestingly, with all the expectations that come with those who gathered for the Pentecost scene described in Acts 2, the narrator only dedicates four verses to describe the extraordinary scene that took place. (Granted, these are four more verses than the rest of the New Testament provides us!) With vivid imagery, the narrator makes it clear that what happened that day was divine in origin, was consistent with what God had been doing within the story of Israel as God’s people, and was missional in perspective (2:1-4). Just as God breathed into the first human at creation (see Gen 2), here at Pentecost the narrator describes God’s creative work in the inbreathing of the Holy Spirit among the group of Jesus’ followers, thereby providing them what they would need to carry out God’s mission as witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection. Despite the initial confusion by some bystanders who characterized the believers’ behavior as a sign of public intoxication (Acts 2:13), the narrator depicts the believers’ proclamation as bringing the Jewish people together, even though their wide-ranging homelands suggest them to be representative of the Jewish Diaspora, the scattered Jewish people throughout the known world since their time in exile.

Peter’s speech that follows the initial event offers an explanation of what happened, both to the bystanders and to the readers of Acts. The use of speeches as commentary within Acts mirrors a common practice in ancient historiography, in which speeches provided readers with important ideas for interpreting a specific work. Although that speech extends beyond the passage selected here, Peter’s quotation of the prophet Joel is distinctive because of the prophet’s delineation of God’s promise to Israel regarding the gift of the Spirit. What Paul essentially does here by quoting from the prophet Joel is connect the dots between what had just happened in the Pentecost event and the gift of the Spirit, which the prophet stated as a promise from God. By making these connections, Peter affirms that God’s promise has been fulfilled! But what is significant about the promise is its inclusive nature, as it extends to “all people”: “sons and daughters,” young and old, and “men and women” (2:17-18). Even the cosmic imagery in verses 19-20 reinforces the universal scope of what God has done. This is why the passage concludes with the affirmation that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (2:21). Little did Peter realize at the time that “everyone” was not merely an invitation to all Jews (as his later struggles before meeting Cornelius would suggest; see ch. 10) but an invitation to all people … one that exceeded even his transformed expectations.

Contemporary readings of the Pentecost event in Acts 2 often bring with them expectations regarding the Spirit that are influenced by other scriptural texts. We see in other places where the role of the Spirit is described in ways that may understood in more individualistic ways, as the Spirit offers guidance and instruction. The apostle Paul writes about the importance of living according to the Spirit. In Romans 8 Paul states, “Now the way we live is based on the Spirit, not based on selfishness. People whose lives are based on selfishness think about selfish things, but people whose lives are based on the Spirit think about things that are related to the Spirit. The attitude that comes from selfishness leads to death, but the attitude that comes from the Spirit leads to life and peace” (Rom 8:4b-6, Common English Bible). But in Acts 2, the focus is not so much on the Spirit’s work within the individual but on the Spirit’s enablement of the faithful people of God so that they may live as God’s servants on behalf of others. Seen in this light, the Lukan depiction of Pentecost corresponds with Wesleyan teachings about Christian perfection, which affirms loving others as a reflection of the love of God. But this passage reminds us that, at the heart of Pentecost, is what God was doing through the people of God for the sake of others.

Richard Thompson

About the Contributor

Professor of NT; Chair, Department of Religion; STCM, NNU