The text this morning is from the Acts of the Apostles, the second chapter:
When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.” But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: “ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
So, I guess when I think about Pentecost, I would tend to think that it’s all about the Holy Spirit. After all, mighty rushing wind. Tongues of fire. Baptism stuff. I mean, that’s all Holy Spirit stuff, right?
Sure, it is. That’s totally all Him. But the day isn’t about Him in the least. I mean, okay, fine, it is a little, in that we see His work, but it’s about Him as much as it is the Father. And when I say that, I really mean to say that it’s really all about Jesus. Always. It’s always about Jesus.
The Holy Spirit is most assuredly a person of the Trinity. He is most assuredly God. But the Holy Spirit doesn’t really want you focusing about Him. He wants you focused on Jesus. The Father is, I think, who we see as the guy in charge. That’s a little unfair to the other two persons of the Trinity, but that’s just kinda what we do. Yet even as the Big Guy Upstairs, He doesn’t really need you looking at Him. He wants you to see Jesus. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.
And that can totally be seen in the text today, and even the text directly following it. The apostles began to speak in tongues the works of God so that all men may hear. And what were they speaking about? It’s Jesus. It’s all Jesus.
Now, sometimes, when we hear the phrase, “name of the Lord,” or things like that, we’re thinking about God the Father. But, Peter is talking about Jesus, the one name under which all men would be saved. And how do I know? Here’s what Peter says directly after today’s text:
“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. For David says concerning him, “ ‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’ “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, “ ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” ’ Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.You see? It’s all about Jesus, isn’t it? Jesus incarnate. Jesus living. Jesus dying. Jesus resurrected. Jesus ascended. It’s all about Jesus. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Jesus for you. Everything that the Holy Spirit does is all about Jesus. It’s focused on Him.
So, with that being said, let’s look at the work of the Holy Spirit, BUT specifically how it points to Jesus, shall we? First, when all the disciples were in one room, the SOUND of a mighty rushing wind came upon them. A sound, not wind itself, but sound. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit is like the blowing wind. “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Notice then that the Spirit isn’t about just blowing wind up your shirts, but He’s interested in SOUND.
What could that possibly mean? It seems that the Spirit was interested in attracting attention. “Hey, let’s make a massively loud noise. Then, once everyone is looking around as to what it could be, let’s put big old tongues of fire on top of people’s heads.” Seriously. I mean, I’m not saying that’s EXACTLY what the Spirit said, but it could have been something like that. And when the Holy Spirit is working to get the attention of people, you better believe He’s coming up with something good. If it were just the wind, no one would care. No one knows where the wind comes from, nor even thinks about it. But the SOUND of the wind without the feeling? Everyone would wonder. Everyone would come and see.
Now, why would He want everyone to come to the place the disciples were? Because they were going to hear about Jesus. They were going to exactly what I just read to you. The Spirit was going to convict them of their sin and was going to forgive their sins through the waters of Baptism.
But first, the Spirit had to make sure everyone could hear these words. Not just that their ears were opened, but that they could understand the Good News of Jesus Christ. Now, if I said to you, “ἔτι δὲ καὶ ἡ σάρξ μου κατασκηνώσει ἐπʼ ἐλπίδι…,” you would have no idea what I was saying, would you? But, it means, ”my flesh also will dwell in hope. ”
You see, if we were to speak in a language that no one could understand, then how could we tell them about Jesus? Instead, to hear about Him, they must understand us. That’s what the speaking in tongues was all about. It’s not this Pentecostal bit where they blather on like couldawouldashouldboughtahyundai. That’s not the tongues of angels, the tongues of messengers. The tongues the disciples spoke in were actual, real languages for the purpose of sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with those who spoke that language. To speak in that foreign language was to give them the message of Christ! And how do you know this? Because the foreigners in today’s text said that’s what it was!
So, that’s what the Spirit does. He gets people’s attention, He draws them close, and makes for them the message of Jesus Christ heard in their own language so that they would be cut to the quick, repent, be baptized, and believe in Jesus Christ. The Spirit wants us to focus on Christ.
And, so, I pray that you, too, were cut to the quick during Peter’s sermon. It is for you. You see, on this, the unofficial “birthday” of the Church, the day when people from all tribes and nations began flocking to the Jesus Himself as the one, true Messiah, it is true that these are the last days. We are headed toward the end. Jesus, we pray, will soon return to destroy sin, death, and the devil once and for all. These are already defeated, even though we do not see all of that yet. That day is coming. And we should hope and pray that we are found to be faithful.
If we are not of the faith, if we reject our responsibility in the death of Christ, if we turn away from the joy of hearing the Good News of Jesus even in our own language, then we are no different than the scribes and Pharisees who hunted Jesus down in order to slaughter Him. It’s true. We are in the last days, and the signs are all around us. The end is indeed coming and we will be found wanting.
Yet, all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved. All who call on the name of Jesus will be saved. All who repent and are baptized for the forgiveness of sins will be saved. You will be saved. Jesus went to the cross for you, died for you, was resurrected for you, and ascended for you, so that you would be saved. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, all of it. All of it, all of it, is for the forgiveness of your sins so that you may have life eternal in His name. And you will, for you have died with Him and have been resurrected with Him already. This death and resurrection comes to you in the waters of Baptism. You were washed clean by dying with Him and rising with Him through the water. Though it was an outward washing from Him, yet from your heart of faith now come rivers of living water.
And so then you may be certain that this Jesus is for you, if by nothing else than by hearing His Word in your ear, in your language, in your tongue. If Jesus for you can be preached in your language, then Jesus is for you. It’s not about the Spirit for you. It’s not about the Father for you. It’s about Jesus for you, given for you, broken for you, blood shed for you, pierced for you, lived for you, died for you, resurrected for you. The Spirit, by all of His wonderful works, brings these things to our attention, but all He wants us to see is Jesus. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. And so, we do. Empowered by the Spirit, we hear the Word of Christ, we receive His Sacraments, washed in His blood and fed by His body and blood, we are forgiven of our sins. And so the Spirit then says, “You are His.” And indeed you are. You shall be resurrected with Him, even as you were through your Baptism. Look to Jesus. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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