The Holy Spirit Poured Out 11AM

This passage is often simply called the Pentecost Passage because it describes the coming of the Holy Spirit to the disciples as they ‘waited and prayed’ in one place. The Spirit came during the feast of Pentecost. Jesus had told them to wait for the Holy Spirit and then they would be His witnesses from “Jerusalem, to Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth”. Here we see that the Spirit comes on them when visitors were in Jerusalem. These visitors were pilgrims who travelled to Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost. Apparently the ‘feast of Pentecost’ was very popular.

The Mediterranean area, parts of Asia, Africa and what would become Europe were the lands these pilgrims traveled from. The Spirit enabled followers of Jesus — who were mainly Galileans; to proclaim the ‘mighty works of God’ in the various languages of the Mediterranean world. Each heard the word of God in their own language. The miracle of this event was not simply speaking in tongues — but that these tongues were the languages in which the disciples were called to spread the Gospel. The reaction — those witnessing this event where amazed and attracted or they were cynical and reactionary; there did not seem to be a ‘middle ground’ with regard to the Holy Spirit’s coming.