Acts 2:1-13 – We Are Not Alone
On June 18, 1815, twelve miles south of Brussels and two miles from the Belgian village of Waterloo, the French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was soundly defeated by Arthur Wellesley, better known as the Duke of Wellington. At the time of this victory, though, things were not so clear.
Without our modern means of communication, the people in those days were limited to semaphore signals. The news of Wellington’s decisive victory was passed along until finally, in the last relay from a ship out in the channel, the message was passed on to receivers stationed high in the towers of Westminster Abbey. The communication stated, "Wellington defeated."
When those two words were received, a heavy fog rolled across London and the message -- just as received -- was passed on to the waiting people. All of London was filled with grief and despair as strong men sobbed openly and women agonized in the streets. However, a few hours later another wind blew the fog away, and the message from the ship began again, this time adding a 3rd word, saying, "Wellington defeated Napoleon."
What a difference! News of defeat turned to news of triumph. Watch the difference that 1 word makes. “He is not risen” – to – “He is risen!” “The grave can not be beaten” – to – “The grave can be beaten.” “We are not forgiven” – to – “We are forgiven!”
The scene for those early believers in Christ was much the same. It’s as if Good Friday was only the 1st 2 words of the message. They grieved and mourned, for their leader was dead. But that was not the end of the message. For time passed, the fog lifted, and they got a new message. This new message, which changed their lives forever, was: “Jesus is alive!”
Last week we looked at the Resurrection of Jesus. He rose from the dead early that 1st Sunday morning. He appeared to Mary Magdalene, then to the other women, then to Peter, then to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, and then to 10 of the disciples. That was day 1. A week later He appeared again to the disciples, with Thomas this time. He appeared to 7 of the disciples at the Sea of Galilee one morning. He appeared to many others, even to more than 500 at one time. Over the course of 40 days Jesus continued to teach and to touch. But the time came for Him to leave. He ascended into heaven, but left instructions for His disciples to wait in Jerusalem until the gift of the Holy Spirit was given. We pick up the story in Acts 2:1-13.
I would like to spend the next few weeks looking at this passage of Scripture. There is much that can be said about Pentecost. But I’d like to take a different angle with it. I’d like to spend time looking at what the Jewish holiday of Pentecost meant to the Jews that trusted Jesus. What did Pentecost mean for the early believers, and what does Pentecost mean for us today?
Some of you may be thinking, though, “So what? Why does it matter to me today what the people then thought of Pentecost?” Well, that’s a good question. There are a few ways of looking at it. #1 – It was the birthday of the church. The fact that you are here today is a testimony to the importance of Pentecost. #2 – It was a new movement of God, a new way for God to relate to people. That matters, because it reflects the way we look at God today. #3 – Jesus said how important it was. If Jesus talked about it, Pentecost must have been significant.
And #4 – It was really the culmination, the pinnacle, the completion of Jesus’ work on earth. We believe in His teachings. We believe in His death. We believe in His resurrection. We believe in His ascension. Well, Pentecost is the fulfillment of Jesus’ ministry on earth. It was the beginning of the ministry of the Holy Spirit on earth, and in believers. Pentecost matters to you if you are a Christian. It was the sign of great things to come.
The word Pentecost means 50. It was 50 days after Passover. It was also called the Feast of Weeks. A week is 7 days, and a week of weeks would be 7X7, or 49, and the Feast was held on the 50th day. Now, the history of Pentecost goes way back to 1200BC, to the giving of the Law by God to Moses. It was an agricultural holiday – that is, its date was chosen by God to coincide with the harvest. Which is why Exodus 23:16 calls it the Feast of Harvest. Go figure.
Pentecost was one of 3 pilgrim festivals – that is, when all Jewish men were required to travel to Jerusalem with sacrifices and offerings. The other 2 were Passover, 50 days earlier, and the Festival of Tabernacles, nowadays called Succoth, in the early autumn. I may stress this point later in this series, but the reason so many people were around for the Pentecost of Acts 2 is that it was a pilgrim festival. Who knows how many were there in the city that day? Perhaps a million or more. It’s because attendance at Pentecost, the Feast of Weeks, was required for all good Jewish men. The whole holiday revolved around our coming to God. Sacrifices and offerings were brought to Him. Jews met God in his city, on His terms.
I’m so glad that’s been improved upon. Let’s look at this angle of Pentecost being a pilgrim festival. Well, the Bible says that we are all pilgrims. For those of us who have received Jesus as Forgiver and Leader, we don’t belong here. This is not our home. You wonder why the world hates people willing to stand up for what they believe… it’s because the world is not our home. We are foreigners, aliens, just passing through. So, in a sense, we are as much pilgrims as those Jewish folk.
But we do not walk alone. Jesus Himself was a pilgrim. He left his Father’s throne above, from heaven to earth. He entered hostile enemy territory, so hostile in fact people killed Him over it. Our hero, our role model, our example, our pattern was indeed a pilgrim here too. He knows the loneliness you feel. He knows how you just don’t fit in. He knows the detachment and all the subtle forms of rejection you go through. He’s been in your shoes, and He’s been down this road before.
And the wonderful message of Pentecost is that we really are not alone. Pentecost shows that the Holy Spirit, the presence of God, walks with us and talks with us every day. Through the good times and through the bad, even though we are strangers on this earth, our heavenly Father has left abandoned us. The Spirit is with us.
And taking this “pilgrim” concept even further, the Acts 2 Pentecost improved every one of its forerunners by showing us that we not only come to God, but God comes to us. These are very different things. The dominant impression that the world has of the church is: be good. Isn’t that true? Church is for good people who have stopped doing the things they call sin. Or maybe it’s for people who have guilty consciences and need help with them. And so they come to God for help. The idea that the world has of the church is people going to God for help.
But that’s not what makes the church different from other religions. No, Christianity is really about God coming to us. God gave His words in the Old Testament, but appearances were rare. God showed up in the New Testament too, when Jesus was born an infant. The Wesleyan Bible Commentary puts it this way: “The eternal one, caught in a moment of time. The Omnipresence corralled in a cave manger. The Omnipotent cradled in a helpless infant who could not even raise His head from the straw. The Omniscience confined in a baby who would not say a word. The Christ who created the heavens and the earth cradled in a manger in a cave stable. For when God would draw near to a cold, cruel, sinful, suffering humanity, he placed a baby in a manger in Bethlehem.”
You see, it’s not that coming to God is bad in itself. God commanded it, in fact. But if that’s all that happened, our religion would be a matter of earning things. Being good enough would matter. Being smart enough would matter. Getting our act together would matter. God would only be for the spiritual ones, the useful ones, the healthy ones, the good ones. You’d have to know something or have something or be something in order for you to come to God.
So God made the 1st move. He gave the Law, so that we would know how to follow Him. He gave His Son, so that we would be forgiven of all our misguided attempts to follow Him. And then He gave the Holy Spirit at the Acts 2 Pentecost, so that we would have the power and the courage and the strength to follow Him. You see? Even when we draw near to him, it’s because He drew near first. When we reach out to Him, it’s because He reached out first. When we love Him, it’s only because He reached out first. The Holy Spirit, God’s presence in our lives, is proof that we don’t come to Him without His first coming to us.
So for now, we live as pilgrims. We know we don’t belong here, and we won’t be here long either. But we are meant to come faithfully to find God. Not that He’s hard to find, mind you. Jeremiah 29:13 – “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Psalm 105:4 – “Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always.”
But you have to understand, you’re harder to find than God is. You hide behind your image of having it all together. You hide behind your self-righteousness, which Jesus couldn’t even break through. You hide behind pain and suffering, blaming God for the rotten things in your life. You hide behind criticism and condemnation of others, because you will not forgive yourself. You hide behind masks of super-mom or super-dad, because you think that God would be displeased if He really knew your thoughts. You hide behind things you use to make yourself feel important, your talents and abilities, crutches you use, when all the while God gave them to you to worship him with. No, you don’t look for God. He’s not lost. You are. Which is why Luke 19:10 says: “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”
Today, come to Him. Seek Him, knowing He sought you first. Speak to Him, knowing He spoke to you first. Draw close to Him, knowing He drew close to you first. Rejoice in the fact that because of Pentecost, we are not alone. We have the Holy Spirit living inside us, the same Spirit that rose Jesus from the dead. Resurrection power at our fingertips. Let’s not be satisfied with being lost saved people. Let’s seek Him, and be found by Him.
