Story 4: First Fruit
Acts 2:14-47
The Lord Jesus promised His disciples that He would send his Holy Spirit to them. Now at the festival of Pentecost, just ten days after Jesus ascended into Heaven, the Spirit had come like flames of fire, filling the followers of Christ with boldness and power. They poured out into the streets speaking languages from all over the world. Thousands upon thousands of travelers had come from all over the Roman Empire to celebrate Pentecost in the Jewish holy city. When they came, they heard strange stories of a man named Jesus who had been crucified just over a month before. Now His disciples were standing in the street, speaking to them in their own language. What were they trying to say? Were they drunk?
This is what Scripture says:
“…Peter stood up and, backed by the other eleven, spoke out with bold urgency: “Fellow Jews, all of you who are visiting Jerusalem, listen carefully and get this story straight. These people aren’t drunk as some of you suspect. They haven’t had time to get drunk-it’s only nine o’clock in the morning. This is what the prophet Joel announced would happen:
“‘In the Last Days,’ God says,
I will pour out my Spirit
On every kind of people:
Your sons will prophecy;
also your daughters;
Your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams;
When the time comes,
I’ll pour out my Spirit
On those who serve me, men and women both,
and they’ll prophesy.
I’ll set wonders in the sky above
and signs on the earth below,
Blood and fire and billowing smoke,
the sun turning black and the moon blood-red,
Before the Day of the Lord arrives,
the Day tremendous and marvelous;
And whoever calls out for help
to me, God, will be saved.”
“Fellow Israelites, listen carefully to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man thoroughly accredited by God to you-the miracles and wonders and signs that God did through Him are common knowledge-this Jesus, following the deliberate and well-thought-out plan of God, was betrayed by men who took the law into their own hands, and was handed over to you. And you pinned him to a cross and killed him. But God untied the death ropes and raised him up. Death was no match for him. David said it all:
“‘I saw God before me for all the time.
Nothing can shake me; he’s right by my side.
I’m glad from the inside out, ecstatic;
I’ve pitched my tent in the land of hope.
I know you’ll never dump me in Hades;
I’ll never even smell the stench of death.
You’ve got my feet on the life-path,
With your face shining sun-joy all around.’”
“Dear friends, let me be completely frank with you. Our ancestors David is dead and buried-his tomb is in plain sight today. But being also a prophet and knowing that God had solemnly sworn that a descendant of his would rule his kingdom, seeing far ahead, he talked of the resurrection of the Messiah-‘no trip to Hades, no stench of death.’ This Jesus, God raised up. And every one of us here is a witness to it. Then, raised on the heights at the right hand of God and receiving the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, he poured out the Spirit he had just received. That is what you see and hear. For David himself did not ascend to heaven, but he did say,
“‘God said to my Master, “Sit at my right hand
Until I make your enemies a stool for resting your feet.’”
‘All Israel, then know this: There’s no longer room for doubt-God made him Master and Messiah, this Jesus whom you killed on a cross.’ “ Cut to the quick, those who were listening asked Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers! Brothers! So now what do we do?’
Peter said, “Change your life. Turn to God and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, so your sins are forgiven. Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is targeted to you and your children, but also to all who are far away-whomever, in fact, our Master God invites.”
He went on in this vein for a long time, urging them over and over, ‘Get out while you can; get out of this sick and stupid culture!’ (The Message p. 243-244)
On that day, the Holy Spirit worked with power to make new the hearts of three thousand people. They accepted Peter’s message of the Gospel and were baptized.
Pentecost was the festival that celebrated when God established His covenant with the nation of Israel through Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 19). Now, Christ had made a way for a new covenant that was, as Paul wrote, “…not written on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts” (2 Corinthians 3:3). This New Covenant came with the inner working of the Spirit, who gives life rather than the heavy burden of the Law.