Chapter 2

Chapter 2 of Acts is one that I have read over and over again. It’s a passage that has had a troubled history in the Church; sadly, it bears mute witness to our self-destructive tendency to divide over doctrine when we should be united by the Gospel.

It also includes the first full proclamation of what we’d call the Gospel today.

More than that, though, it shows us the beginning of the Church’s meteoric growth – a growth which, for us in the Western world, would seem to have slowed (or even stopped) – but make no mistake, for those from the “Two-thirds world,” as some like to call it, this growth is continuing apace. But more about that shortly.

Verses 1-15 are words which have defined a denomination of Christians – the Pentecostals. In this passage we read of the amazing transformation of the disciples when the Holy Spirit comes upon them.

The problem is that this passage is a little ambiguous – it definitely says that the disciples were given (among other gifts) the ability to speak in other languages. The term “Speaking in tongues” is often applied to this event.

By using the term “tongues”, we actually imply something which may or may not have occurred – what the anthropologists refer to as “ecstatic speech”. In this kind of an event, the person speaks in a “language” unknown to themselves or anyone else. Some suggest that this is a language spoken beyond Earth – perhaps by angels, or other spiritual beings.

Others suggest that the term should be understood to be “languages” – that the people from all over the Jewish world, who are described as being amazed to hear their own language spoken, are being told this message by the disciples. So rather than an unintelligible language, the disciples are speaking in Arabic, Greek, Parthian, Persian and dozens of other languages.

This seems more likely to me, both because of the implication that the disciples are speaking to the visitors, and also because of one intriguing little fact-oid:

In Christ, the curses of Genesis are being systematically revoked. The curse of death is gone in His resurrection. The curse of Sin is taken away in His death on the cross. And there is a promise that the curse of pain and disease will be removed. But here we have the end of another curse – the curse of Babel.

Just as once God confused languages, here He brings healing and ties the languages back together. Just as language was once a tool to divide people and force them to fill the Earth and subdue it, now God uses it as a tool to bring all things together under one head, that is Christ.

Whichever it is, I believe that it is tragic that we have spent so much time arguing the point – and missed out on the miracle that is taking place. Hello?! THOUSANDS HEARING THE GOSPEL!

For us, the concept of the Gospel, the “Good News” is familiar. Here, though, Peter is articulating this amazing idea for the first time. The resurrection is still a triumphant, recent memory rather than an ancient assertion; and for the first time he (along with many others) is getting a handle on what it means, with a little help from the Holy Spirit.

It’s worth noting that when Peter preaches this message to people around, they are very receptive to the message.

I think many of us wish that we could stand on street corners preaching and get the result that Peter is getting here. But there’s more to it than just a great message (though that is itself important).

Verses 41 – 47 give us a little flavour of what it was like to be among the Christians in those heady days (before we were even called Christians!). It’s amazing. They lived together, owned everything in common, ate together, and spent most of their time praying and praising.

It was wonderful and amazing – but it was also temporary, as such things often are. Not because they lost faith, or because God wanted this to stop as such, but because in reality there is a Spiritual battle taking place, and this new movement of God was not to be unopposed much longer.

What can this passage give us, aside from a sore longing for such a thing to happen for us (and incidentally, if you share that longing, then GOOD – it may spur you and me into doing something for God!), can this passage give us?

Verses 1 – 12 give us a lot. They tell us that God wants to reach people from every nation. They show us the lengths that God is willing to go to – to grant a bunch of fishermen access to many (if not all) human languages, or perhaps to grant everyone else the ability to interpret languages.

Verses 14 – 40 can give us an excellent potted summary of the Gospel message, and if you were to simply take what Peter says and translate it into the local lingo, wherever you are, you could do a lot worse.

But verses 41 – 47, bittersweet as they may be, offer us a tantalizing glimpse of what we could be if we really allowed God to have His way.

Imagine – Christians of all stripe finally stopping the quarrels and getting on with the job of saving the world!

Imagine – the Gospel going out (I mean, really going out – not half hearted, with the strongest of passion and the clearest, least muddled message) to anyone who’ll stand still long enough to listen!

Imagine – thousands being added daily to our numbers.

Things aren’t like they were back then. But if we take up our part (i.e. pray and share the Gospel with others), God WILL do His part – and the best days of the Church are still yet to come!