Pentecost – Year C
Sermon Notes from the Church’s Ministry Among Jewish People
RCL Readings – Acts 2:1-21; Psalm 104:24-35; Romans 8:14-17; John 14:8-17, (25-27)
ACNA Readings – Acts 2:1-21; Psalm 104:24-35; I Corinthians 12:4-13; John 14:8-176
Seasonal Introduction. Pentecost clearly shows the blessing of God for His people. Not only does Shavuot remind us to be thankful for the daily food that God has provided us, not only has God given His Torah that we might put it on our heart to follow Him and live, but the reason Passover occurred—that God might dwell among His people—is fulfilled.
Common Theme. The readings speak of God's presence among His people as He sends us the Holy Spirit, as is appropriate for Pentecost. God has chosen to dwell among us forever. But the readings also call us to be unified as the children of God. We are to serve one another, in obedience, in order to bless God.
Hebraic Context. The concept of fire and languages is not new to the New Testament. Shavuot is the feast that honours the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. Following the giving of the 10 Commandments, there is an interesting verse that says while God was speaking His commandments, Israel saw several things. The verse in question is Exodus 20:18 כָל-הָעָם רֹאִים אֶת-הַקּוֹלֹת וְאֶת-הַלַּפִּידִם וְאֵת קוֹל הַשּׁוֹפָר. This is usually translated as Israel seeing thunders and lightnings and hearing a trumpet or shofar. However, that’s not what the Hebrew text actually says. It reads that Israel saw the voices (roim et hakolot) and the fires (lapidim) and saw the voice of the shofar. They didn’t just hear the sounds, they saw the sounds. This raises several questions: How do you see voices? And why such an emphasis on the fire?
In Jewish tradition, when God speaks, fire comes out of His mouth. This idea is not speculative—it is rooted in Scriptures. Many verses highlight the connection between God’s voice and fire.[1] Jewish exegetical tradition also suggests that when God spoke at Mount Sinai, the whole world heard His voice—not just the people of Israel at the base of the mountain. Rabbi Yishmael in Shabbat 88b.3 states, “so too, each and every utterance that emerged from the mouth of the Holy One, Blessed be He, divided into seventy languages.”[2]
Not only does traditional Jewish thought connect God’s voice going to the seventy nations of the world, Luke also holds to this thought as he connects Pentecost with Genesis 10-11. He follows a similar pattern of naming all those nations who heard, each in their own tongue, the words of the disciples. Even as there was confusion at Babel due to the proliferation of languages, Luke uses the same Greek word as used in the Septuagint to share that many at Pentecost were confused. But at the same time, they were all able to hear in their own language the word of God. In summation then, the Torah was given by God at Shavuot with multiple voices and multiple fires being something visual and possible to see. In the New Testament these images reappear in Acts 2, also at Pentecost, with tongues of fire and a plurality of languages. And many saw and believed.
Acts 2:1-21. On the day of Pentecost, the book of Acts records the disciples meeting together in Jerusalem as they wait there by Jesus’ instruction—one of His last commands before His ascension.[3] The disciples of Jesus weren’t only the Twelve—now including Matthias—but many more, including the 120 who met with Peter in Jerusalem.
Many commentaries will say the disciples were in the Upper Room, the traditional name of the location for the Last Supper. However, the Greek text does not say that the disciples are in the Upper Room. In Acts 2:2, the Greek word used to describe where they were is οἶκος (oikos), the “house”. In Hebrew the term, “the House,” would imply the Temple, known as the House of God. The Temple mountain is called הַר הַבַּיִת Har HaBeit in Hebrew and means the “mountain of the house.” The events that followed also all make sense to have occurred on the Temple Mount and we know the disciples commonly met there.[4]
At the Feast of Shavuot, people from “every nation under heaven” gathered in Jerusalem to worship God. This feast, known for commemorating the giving of the Torah at Sinai, was also a time filled with expectation—the voice of God was still known to speak to the people.[5] Meanwhile, the disciples awaited the ancient prophetic promise and Jesus’ recent assurance that God’s Spirit would be poured out on them—and on all flesh.
Suddenly, a sound like a rushing wind came from heaven and filled the house. As the surrounding crowd watched on, tongues of fire appeared and came to rest on the disciples of Jesus. This is reminiscent of God’s appearance on Mount Sinai with fire and the sound of a loud trumpet blast. But Luke also uses the same word for wind as the “breath”, or “spirit”, evoking the creative power of God.
Even though the sound of the wind and tongues of fire were powerful signs to the world, they are not permanent among the believers—the presence of the Holy Spirit is. Too often we depend on miracles to be a witness to the world. Yes, God can easily place a “tongue of fire” on all true believers around the world as a sign, yet He instead declared that it is the love of believers one for another that is the sign of the disciples of God. God sent the Holy Spirit to us that we might be one as He is one.
The response to the presence of the Spirit was the ability among all the disciples to communicate in multiple languages.[6] The crowd’s recorded response shows varied reactions to both the miracles and the preaching of the truth. All see and hear the same thing, yet some had honest inquiry, some were amazed, perplexed, and confused[7] while others accused and ridiculed. Peter took the opportunity to defend the disciples against the charge of drunkenness, pointing to the clear truth that was before them all.[8] The visible signs of wind and fire attracted the Temple crowd, who were all faithful Jews and gentiles, to come and hear the good news. Miracles are important but they are no replacement for a believer's proclamation.
Peter quoted from the prophet Joel to describe what was occurring as a fulfilment of prophecy. The focus of Joel’s prophecy is the outpouring of the Spirit on all flesh—both Jews and gentiles. In the context of Acts 2, this only occurs on Jewish people (and possibly proselytes) at this stage. However, the miracles of Shavuot and Pentecost—the great and loud wind, fire, tongues, and proclamation—were to share the good news that God wants to dwell among His people. “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
The parallels between Exodus 19 and Acts 2 are striking—both moments of divine encounter are marked by unity, the sound of rushing wind, and visible fire. In Jewish tradition, as found in texts like 4Q376, 1Q29, Shabbat 88b, and Pirkei Avot 6.2, it is said that God sent out flames or voices of fire to the seventy nations from Mount Sinai, each in their own language. That tradition finds a powerful echo in Acts, where the Spirit speaks through the disciples in many languages so that all present might hear and understand. Though full inclusion of the Gentiles would unfold over time,[9] here at Pentecost the gospel invitation went out to all—Jew and Gentile, male and female, slave and free. Acts 2:10 even notes the presence of Jews from Rome,[10] suggesting that Peter did indeed play a foundational role in the Roman church—though it began not in Rome but here in Jerusalem. Among the hearers were Persians, Egyptians, Arabs, and proselytes—all drawn to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The story of Pentecost, like Sinai before it, reminds us that God’s desire is not merely to speak but to dwell with His people—and to make Himself known to the nations.
Psalm 104:24-35. Psalm 103 and 104 both begin and end with the imperative to “Bless the Lord, O my soul.” Many psalms call on us to worship the Lord, whether through music and song or in holiness. Here the Psalmist commanded himself (by his own desire) to bless God. How can man bless God? Psalms 103 and 104 make it clear how God blesses us every day. God’s blessings are real and tangible—not simply words or a prayer over dinner.
The Father pours out His spirit on His creation, and our spirits should respond in blessing the Lord for His goodness, faithfulness and generosity. The psalmist uses creation and its dependence on God, who sustains the world, giving food “in its season” as an example of God’s blessing. Should God withdraw His presence and care, the result would be misfortune and death. However, the outpouring of the Spirit renews the earth with life and blessing.
And so Deuteronomy 8:10 states that we should bless God after we have eaten and are satisfied. The food does not need to be blessed, God has already blessed us with it, rather we bless the God who blessed us. But this blessing after the meal shouldn’t simply be words, it should be a blessing of how we live the life God gives us every day (Deuteronomy 6-11).
Psalm 104 combines the thought of food harvested in its season with the glory of God at Mount Sinai when God descended and gave His words that we might live. This is the celebration of Shavuot: God has given bread to eat that we might live, although we do not live by bread alone; God has given His words that we might live, although we also need bread to live; and the Psalmist also introduces a new element to this hymn that follows Shavuot so closely, the Spirit of God.
God has indeed poured His Spirit on His creation. This is part of our sacred history that we confirm at Pentecost. May our own spirits respond to this truth in the appropriate fashion and bless the Lord. For it pleases God and blesses Him when we, like Him, give food to those who need it in due season. “Bless the Lord, O my soul”–-give God reason to rejoice in His creation even as we rejoice in Him.
Romans 8:14-17. Lineage and family relationships are an important concept in the Scriptures. Ezra 2 states that, among the returning exiles, were a number of priests. “These sought their registration among those enrolled in the genealogies, but they were not found there, and so they were excluded from the priesthood as unclean. The governor told them that they were not to partake of the most holy food, until there should be a priest to consult Urim and Thummim.”[11] The lineage of Abraham, David, Zechariah, Jesus, Paul, and Anna, among many others, were all recorded in Scripture. This was not by accident.
Lineage plays an important role in defining the identity of a person, a community, and a nation. When God introduced Himself to Moses at the Burning Bush He did so by telling Moses He is “the God of your father” (Exodus 3:6). Surely this is a reference to Moses’ Hebrew father and not to Pharaoh or his Egyptian gods. The Lord explained further that He is the God of the Patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Later, God Himself is described as a father for the first time in Deuteronomy 32:6.
When Israel left Egypt they became part of a family, they became the ‘son’ of God. As Hosea 11:1 says “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son”. As the creator, God is the God of all. But He also chose to be a Father.
Paul reminded us in Romans 8:14 that one of the attributes of sonship, that is, being a son of God the Father, relates to being led by the Spirit. God desires an intimate relationship with us defined as the relationship of adopted sons to a loving father. The mystery of salvation involves the work of the Spirit that is poured out at Pentecost, described here by Paul as the Spirit of adoption. The mystery is that we are more than just “saved”; we become part of a holy family. While not describing God as a triune being, all participants in the Trinity, or the Godhead, are mentioned in this short passage. The Spirit bears witness that we are now children of God the Father and inheritors of those blessings along with the Messiah.
John 14:8-17. One of the mysteries of the faith is that to know Jesus is to know the Father. The Trinity is not something we fully understand but Jesus showed us the same love, compassion, justice, mercy and goodness that is in the Father. The works that Jesus did were not random miracles that showed His power. Works, εργον (ergon), are simply the actions we take. In Acts 2:22, when Peter speaks of Jesus’ miracles he uses three synonyms for miracles: δυναμεσι (dunamesi, powerful miracles), τερασι (terasi, wonders), and σημειοις (semeiois, signs) but not εργον (ergon, works). God is holy, good, righteous and just and the actions of Jesus showed His holiness, goodness, righteousness, and justice. The actions of all people will be exposed by the light of God, and those who are wicked will do works that are evil “but whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God”.[12]
Jesus assured us that as His disciples we will do greater works than He did. We might ask ourselves; how is this possible? A servant is not greater than his master, so how is it possible that Jesus says we will do greater works than Him? Jesus’ statement that we will do greater things than the works He did is accompanied by an explanatory statement, “Because I am going to the Father”. We aren’t simply doing greater works on our own, we can do so only because Jesus ascended to stand at the right hand of the Father.
Jesus taught a handful of disciples. His disciples have turned around and taught the whole world. The Church has established schools across the face of the planet. During His ministry on earth Jesus healed many people. In His footsteps, His disciples have brought healing to the nations and established hospitals, clinics, and served as doctors in much of the world. Jesus, as the creator, provided food for the hungry. We, as His disciples should provide food for the hungry wherever the Church is found—so in all the world.
In John 14:15, Jesus once more reminded His disciples of one of the most important teachings of God: love of God and obedience to God must go hand-in-hand. Loving God is intricately linked to our behaviour—our works. Jesus connected the love we have for Him to our obedience to Him. “If you love Me, keep My commandments”. Initially, it might seem like a daunting task to follow the commandments of God, perhaps even humanly impossible! But Jesus promises us help from the “Advocate .. the Spirit of truth”.
John 13:1-17:18 seems to all take place on the final night before Jesus’ death. As the night continues, Jesus tells the disciples three times of the Advocate.[13] The disciples would always need God’s presence—and God always wants to dwell with His people. This Counselor, Comforter, or Helper (depending on translation) is not an esoteric new-age theory of universal love and kindness that transcends all religions but is the actual presence of the Holy Spirit, a part of the Godhead.[14] That’s powerful! Later, Jesus would tell His disciples it would be for their benefit that He would leave them—for the Holy Spirit would only come in this manner after His departure.
We haven’t done the works of God alone or in our own strength. The disciples of God had and still have the Helper. These works of compassion, justice, and righteousness, done in the name of Jesus and empowered by the Spirit, have given glory to the Father and the Son. Jesus says the Spirit will abide with us forever. The Spirit came at Pentecost, not to stay temporarily until the rapture or the return of the Messiah or until the new heavens and new earth, but far longer than that—forever! The gift of the Holy Spirit is a permanent addition to our lives. Just as eternal life begins now, our relationship with the Holy Spirit begins now and continues into the world to come.
Hebraic Perspective. Exodus 19:1-2 says that in the 3rd month after leaving Egypt, the Israelites came to Sinai and made camp. What’s interesting about verse 2 is that it says Israel made camp twice. Jewish sages read the Biblical text with a fine tooth comb, so the question is raised: why does the text mention they made camp twice? A closer look reveals that the first time they made camp the verb was in the plural יַּחֲנוּ (they camped) but the second time the verb shifts to the singular, יִּחַן (he, or Israel, camped). Only when Israel was united as one did God reveal Himself to them.
From this, we learn that unity is something that attracts the presence of the Almighty. The sages taught that Israel finally stopped fighting among themselves. They stopped squabbling over tents and food portions. They ceased their argument and gathered together in true unity. They were united for the first time since they left Egypt, they were one, and unity is something that attracts God.
Can such a minor grammatical change in the text really be so significant? This detail was only recorded in the third century AD and doesn’t seem that important at first glance.[15] And yet, beyond our texts very clearly detailing the importance of unity, Luke uses the same logic and argument as the Jewish sages as he recorded Acts 2. While the explicit teaching on the grammatical shift in Exodus 19:1-2 may not appear in writing until the 3rd century AD, Luke’s implicit use indicates that these ideas were taught and reflected upon before or during the time of Jesus and the disciples.
Themes of unity as a prerequisite of God’s blessing—and disunity causing strife and destruction—were already prominent in Jewish thought. Books such as I Maccabees emphasize the destructive power of disunity, while the Wisdom of Ben Sira speaks both of God’s delight in unity and our sin in disunity. Throughout the Scriptures, unity is consistently portrayed as a cause for God’s blessing.
To open his discourse on Pentecost, Luke writes that the disciples were “all together in one place.” Just as in Exodus 19:1-2, Luke recognized the importance of unity and that it precedes God’s presence and divine revelation. Unity is not a theological or ideological ideal where everything thinks, acts, and lives in the same way. Unity is behavioural. Luke not only opens with a statement that the disciples were all together, he concludes with the evidence of their unity, “and all who believed were together and had all things in common.”
Paul urges us to be “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” How? Colossians 3:12-14 instructs us to clothe ourselves with “compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” It isn’t agreement in all things that unites us, it is the love of God. And Jesus, in His prayer to the Father, interceded on our behalf that we would be one, united.[16]
ACNA Readings
I Corinthians 12:4-13. Much has been written and argued about concerning the many gifts of the Spirit. But Paul’s primary focus isn’t about the gifts, it’s about the Holy Spirit—and not just about the Holy Spirit but about the entirety of the Trinity. Paul begins his discourse not on the gifts but something far greater. To begin this discourse, he compares the spiritual:[17] On the one hand are the idols that can do nothing; on the other hand, is the Messiah, the Holy Spirit, and God the Father. The actual blessing of God’s many gifts display the reality of God (unlike the mute idols we previously followed).
Paul ensures that the Corinthians understand that the fullness of the Trinity is involved, the Spirit with the gifts of grace (χαρισματων, charismaton), the ministry (διακονιων, diakonion) of the Lord, and all under the power (ενεργηματων, energematon) of God. It isn’t accidental that when Paul speaks about gifts which, in our pride, can divide, He continuously speaks of the Trinity and unity.
The Holy Spirit has been poured out ever since Pentecost and He has been working in different ways amongst His people. Paul reminds the Corinthians that the many and varied gifts, ministries, and activities of the believers all stem from the same source—God. One gift is not superior to another, rather the Spirit operates in a variety of ways for the “common good.” The gifts of the Spirit are dispersed, which implies that no one gets everything. Instead, it is only through unity in the body of believers that we actually have access to all the gifts.
Unfortunately, way too often we have returned to I Corinthians 12 to argue about the gifts of the Spirit, not to urge each other towards love and good deeds, but to tear each other down. Arguing theological points isn’t a bad thing to do. But the purpose of our theological arguments is important. Pirkei Avot states,
“Every dispute that is for the sake of Heaven, will in the end endure; but one that is not for the sake of Heaven, will not endure. Which is the controversy that is for the sake of Heaven? Such was the controversy of Hillel and Shammai. And which is the controversy that is not for the sake of Heaven? Such was the controversy of Korah and all his congregation.” (Pirkei Avot 5.17)
Any boasting we might have isn’t in our own gifts or abilities but is surely in the head of the Church. Each gift is different but they are all provided by God. We don’t get to choose what our gifts are, they are given as He wills. Paul doesn’t only speak of the spiritual gifts (χαρισματων) but also of service (διακονιων). The spiritual gifts that Paul speaks of are diverse but they all come from the same Spirit and they are used for service even as our Lord, Jesus the Messiah, declared that He came not to be served but to serve.
The gifts of God should not be competitive or divisive but should bring unity. The gifts are not given for the glorification of any one earthly individual but for the benefit of everyone. This calls us into deeper fellowship with one another as together we serve God. We need each other and the different gifts that the Spirit provides.
Endnotes
[1] See Psalm 18:8, 13; Psalm 29; Jeremiah 5:14. Fire connected to the presence of God is also recorded several times in Scriptures, such as: Exodus 3:2; Exodus 13:21; Exodus 19:18; Exodus 24:17; Leviticus 9:24; I Kings 18:38; II Chronicles 7:1; Ezekiel 1:27; Hebrews 12:29
[2] In connection to Exodus 15:14 and the voice of God reaching beyond those He immediately speaks to, “The nations will hear and tremble; anguish will grip the people of Philistia.” See also 4Q376, 1Q29, and Pirkei Avot 6.2
[3] Acts 1:4
[4] Luke 24:52-53; Acts 2:46; Acts 3:1, 11; Acts 5:12, 20-21, 52; Acts 21:26-30
[5] Commonly referred to as a bat kol during the 1st centuries.
[6] The tongues that are mentioned here are human languages and not the tongues of angels that Paul referred to in 1 Corinthians 14:14-15. Here in Acts the varied nations could understand the message of the disciples each in their own language.
[7] Acts 2 not only parallels Exodus, such as Exodus 19 and 32:28 but may also parallel parts of Genesis. The seventy nations listed out in Genesis 10 is spoken of in Jewish tradition as the nations that the voice of God went to from Mount Sinai. But here, the same word is used concerning “confusion” as in Genesis 11:7 and 9 (in the Septuagint) when the language of man became a babel of confusion. Except at Babel the people could not understand the many languages while in Acts 2, the people could understand—each in their own language.
[8] It is Peter who admonishes all of us in 1 Peter 3:15 to always be “prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect”.
[9] We know from history and archaeology that gentiles who turned to God alone were generally accepted into congregations throughout the diaspora long before Peter or Paul.
[10] Philo, in On the Embassy to Gaius 156 also states, regarding the Jews in Rome, “Therefore, he knew that they had synagogues, and that they were in the habit of visiting them, and most especially on the sacred sabbath days, when they publicly cultivate their national philosophy. He knew also that they were in the habit of contributing sacred sums of money from their first fruits and sending them to Jerusalem by the hands of those who were to conduct the sacrifices.”
[11] See Mishnah Kiddushin 3.12-4.11 for an extended look at lineage in regards to the Priests, Levites, and the general Jewish populace.
[12] John 3:19-21
[13] John 14:26, 15:26, 16:7
[14] The Greek word is παράκλητος paraklētos which can refer to an intercessor or, in a legal term, for someone who pleads your case before a judge or in its widest sense to mean an assistant of sorts.
[15] Mekhilta deRabbi Yishmael, BaChodesh 1.23
[16] John 17:20-23
[17] I Corinthians 12:1 says, “Now concerning the spiritual, (πνευματικῶν, pneumatikon) brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed”. The word “gifts” is added to some translations. Gifts are certainly a major part of the context of I Corinthians 12, however, the more immediate context is about God and idols. In Romans 1:11 Paul does use χαρισμα υμιν πνευματικον (charisma humin pneumatikon, spiritual gifts to you) but even there it does not speak of the gifts of the Holy Spirit but of faith and encouragement.