3  The Baptism of  the Holy Spirit (2:1-13)

And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent, rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance. Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were bewildered, because they were each one hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and marveled, saying, “Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God. And they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others were mocking and saying, “They are full of sweet wine.” (2:1–13)

The second chapter of Acts marks a turning point in the history of God’s kingdom. A new phase of His redemptive plan unfolds as the church is born. In chapter 1 the disciples were to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit; in chapter 2 He comes. In chapter 1 the disciples were equipped; in chapter 2 they are empowered. In chapter 1 they were held back; in chapter 2 they are sent forth. In chapter 1 the Savior ascended; in chapter 2 the Spirit descends. The promises of the Lord Jesus Christ given in chapter 1 (1:5, 8) come to fulfillment, as the believers gathered in the upper room receive the wonderful promise of the Father.

God’s eternal redemptive plan began to unfold in human history in the Garden of Eden after man’s sin. In Genesis 3:15, He promised a savior, who would one day redeem the human race from the effects of that sin. The unfolding continued throughout the patriarchal age, past the giving of the Mosaic Law, to a small hill outside Jerusalem called Calvary. There the incarnate Son of God gave His life for the sins of the world. After rising victorious over sin and death, He promised to send the Holy Spirit to indwell believers. As we have seen, that event of necessity had to wait until Jesus’ ascension to the Father. John 7:37–39 reads,

Though the assembling of the redeemed in God’s kingdom has gone on since the Fall, the coming of the Spirit marks the beginning of the unique church age. That there would be an intervening age between the two advents of Messiah was not foreseen in the Old Testament. Nor was the unity of Jew and Gentile in one body. Paul called that concept a mystery in Ephesians 3:3–10. The word “church” translates ekklēsia, which means “called-out ones.” The church is the bride of Christ; the branches of the Vine; the flock of the Good Shepherd; the kingdom of God’s dear Son; God’s household, consisting of His adopted children; a spiritual temple, of which Jesus Christ is the cornerstone; but, uniquely, the body of Christ.

Within the body, there is a unity, since all are indwelt by Jesus Christ, and all possess the same Spirit (Rom. 8:9). In Galatians 3:28 Paul wrote, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (cf. 1 Cor. 12:13).

This passage describes the birth of the church by the coming of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. It is summarized in the evidence of the Spirit’s coming, the effect of the Spirit’s coming, and the explanation of the Spirit’s coming.

THE EVIDENCE OF THE SPIRIT’S COMING

And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent, rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance. (2:1–4)

The events of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, according to Paul, were not held in a quiet corner (Acts 26:26) but out in the open before all the people. The same could be said of the birth of the church. It did not begin in an obscure manner in some out of the way place. Rather, it was born with a startling, dramatic event in the very heart of Jerusalem.

The coming of the day of Pentecost found the believers all together in one place, undoubtedly the same upper room described in 1:13. As already noted, that room was located just inside the Eastern Gate, probably in the vicinity of the temple. There is no reason to restrict all to the twelve apostles. It encompasses the entire gathering of 120 believers (1:15).

It was on the day of Pentecost that God’s sovereign timetable called for the Spirit to descend. It should be noted that the Spirit was not induced into coming because the believers prayed, tarried, or met certain spiritual requirements. Luke’s account points only to the sovereign timing of God as the cause of the Spirit’s descent.

Pentecost means “fiftieth.” It is the New Testament name for the Feast of Weeks (Ex. 34:22–23), or Harvest (Ex. 23:16), which was celebrated fifty days after Passover. In post-exilic Judaism, it also celebrated the giving of the Law to Moses. The Spirit’s coming on that day was linked to the pattern of feasts in the Old Testament.

God’s redemptive New Testament timetable is pictured in the feasts of Leviticus 23. The first great feast mentioned in that chapter is Passover. The killing of the passover lamb pictured the death of Jesus Christ, the ultimate Passover Lamb (1 Cor. 5:7). A second feast was the Feast of Unleavened Bread, celebrated on the day after Passover. During that feast, an offering of the first fruits of the grain harvest was made. Leviticus 23:15 commands that offering to be made on the day after the sabbath. The Sadducees and Pharisees differed on what that sabbath was. The Sadducees interpreted it as the weekly sabbath, and hence the grain offering would always be on a Sunday. The Pharisees interpreted the sabbath as the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. According to that interpretation, the grain offering would always fall on the same day of the month but not the same day of the week. Until the destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70, the Sadducees’ interpretation was normative for Judaism (F. F. Bruce, The Book of the Acts [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1971], 53 n. 3). Hence, the day the first fruits were offered would have been on Sunday. That provides an apt picture of the Lord Jesus Christ’s resurrection as the “first fruits of those who are asleep” (1 Cor. 15:20).

Fifty days after the first Sunday following Passover, the Feast of Pentecost was celebrated (Lev. 23:15ff.). At Pentecost, another offering of first fruits was made (Lev. 23:20). Completing the cycle of the typical fulfillment of the feasts, the Spirit came on Pentecost as the first fruits of the believers’ inheritance (cf. 2 Cor. 5:5; Eph. 1:13–14). Further, those gathered into the church on that day were the first fruits of the full harvest of believers to come. God sent the Spirit on Pentecost, then, following the pattern of Leviticus 23, not in response to any activity of men.

Luke describes this sovereignly designed event by taking us to the upper room, where the believers were gathered. Suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent, rushing wind. Luke’s use of the word suddenly emphasizes the element of surprise. Even though the believers knew the Spirit’s coming to be imminent (cf. 1:5), they were nevertheless caught by surprise. The same will be true when the Lord returns to earth. Believers will know from the signs that His coming is imminent. Yet He will still come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night (1 Thess. 5:2; cf. Matt. 24:44). Those gathered in the upper room could not have expected the dramatic signs that accompanied the Spirit’s coming.

By describing the noise as emanating from heaven, Luke emphasizes that this was a supernatural action. That it was not a weather phenomenon, a physical violent, rushing wind is evident from the use of the term like. The supernatural activity of God is so utterly beyond the grasp of humans that the Bible writers have to employ similes to describe His manifestations to men (cf. Ezek. 43:2; Rev. 1:15).

In both Hebrew and Greek, the words for wind and spirit are the same. Wind is frequently used as a picture of the Spirit (cf. Ezek. 37:9ff.; John 3:8). Although the sound of the heavenly wind may have attracted the crowd that soon gathered, the Spirit’s presence filled only the whole house where the believers were sitting. They alone received the promised baptism with the Spirit (Acts 1:4–5; 11:15–17). That they were sitting offers further proof that they were not praying for the Spirit’s coming. Standing and kneeling were the postures for prayer.

After the auditory manifestation of the Spirit’s arrival came a visual one (cf. Luke 3:22). There appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. That these were not flames of literal fire, any more than the wind was moving air, is clear from the use of the phrase as of.

Some have tried to link the fire here with that of Matthew 3:11. As the context of that passage indicates, however, the fire in view there is the fire of eternal judgment (cf. Matt. 3:12). That the tongues rested on each one of them shows that all who were present received the Spirit in that moment. It was a uniform, sovereign work of God on all collectively, not something sought individually. At this point, by the baptism with the Spirit, they were all made into one spiritual body—the body of Christ.

Being filled with the Spirit must be distinguished from being baptized with the Spirit. The apostle Paul carefully defines the baptism with the Spirit as that act of Christ by which He places believers into His body (Rom. 6:4–6; 1 Cor. 12:13; Gal. 3:27). In contrast to much errant teaching today, the New Testament nowhere commands believers to seek the baptism with the Spirit. It is a sovereign, single, unrepeatable act on God’s part, and is no more an experience than are its companions justification and adoption. Although some wrongly view the baptism with the Spirit as the initiation into the ranks of the spiritual elite, nothing could be further from the truth. The purpose of the baptism with the Spirit is not to divide the body of Christ, but to unify it. As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, through the baptism with the Spirit “we were all baptized into one body” (1 Cor. 12:13; cf. Gal. 3:26–27; Eph. 4:4–6).

Unlike the baptism with the Spirit, being filled with the Spirit is an experience and should be continuous. Although filled initially on the Day of Pentecost, Peter was filled again in Acts 4:8. Many of the same people filled with the Spirit in Acts 2 were filled again in Acts 4:31. Acts 6:5 describes Stephen as a man “full of faith and the Holy Spirit,” yet Acts 7:55 records his being filled again. Paul was filled with the Spirit in Acts 9:17 and again in Acts 13:9.

While there is no command in Scripture to be baptized with the Spirit, believers are commanded to be filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18). The grammatical construction of that passage indicates believers are to be continuously being filled with the Spirit. Those who would be filled with the Spirit must first empty themselves. That involves confession of sin and dying to selfishness and self-will. To be filled with the Spirit is to consciously practice the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ and to have a mind saturated with the Word of God. Colossians 3:16–25 delineates the results of “letting the word of Christ richly dwell” in us. They are the same ones that result from the filling of the Spirit (Eph. 5:19–33). As believers yield the moment by moment decisions of life to His control, they “walk by the Spirit” (Gal. 5:16). (For a further discussion of the filling with the Spirit, see Ephesians, MacArthur New Testament Commentary [Chicago: Moody, 1986].) The baptism with the Spirit grants the power that the filling with the Spirit unleashes. (For a further discussion of the difference between the baptism and the filling with the Spirit, see my book Charismatic Chaos [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992], 191–93.)

After being filled with the Spirit, they began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance. There has been much dispute in recent years over what it meant to speak with other tongues. The text, however, is not ambiguous. Far from being ecstatic speech, the tongues spoken on the Day of Pentecost were known languages. The term glōssa is the word for languages, and the context allows for no other interpretation (cf. the discussion of verses 8–11 below).

In contrast to much teaching today, being given the ability to speak in languages is associated not with the baptism with the Spirit but here with the filling with the Spirit. Nor is speaking in languages the normal response to being filled with the Spirit. Acts 4:8, 31, 6:5; 7:55; 9:17; and 13:9 all record instances where speaking in tongues did not accompany the filling with the Spirit. Paul taught that the filling of the Spirit should result in many things, such as worship, thankfulness, love, submissiveness, and obedience—but not speaking in tongues (Eph. 5:18ff.).

Paul states the purpose of speaking in languages in 1 Corinthians 14:21–22: they were to be a sign to unbelieving Israel. While that was true on the one hand, on the other they were the links given to show that Jews, Gentiles, and Samaritans were all equal in the church (Acts 15:8—9). The Samaritans received the Holy Spirit in Acts 8:14–19. Although there is no reference to languages, that there was likely that supernatural sign is evident from Simon’s reaction (cf. verses 18–19). Acts 10:44–47 describes the receiving of the Spirit by the Gentiles of Cornelius’s household. That they spoke in languages convinced the Jewish believers, as well as Peter, that the Gentiles had received the Spirit too (cf. verses 45, 47). The last group to speak in tongues were John the Baptist’s disciples whom Paul encountered in Ephesus (Acts 19:1–7). They were among the last remnants of Old Testament saints, now coming to faith in Christ. They were given the ability to speak in languages in order to demonstrate their full equality with Jews, Samaritans, and Gentiles in the church. Each case describes a unique, historical transition. No doctrinal teaching for today can be established from those incidents.

That the true biblical gift of languages no longer exists is clear from the following lines of evidence. First, it was a miraculous gift, and the age of miracles ended with the passing of the apostles (Heb. 2:3–4). It is significant that outside of Acts the miraculous gifts of the Spirit are mentioned only in the early epistle of 1 Corinthians. Later epistles, such as Ephesians, Romans, and 1 Peter, discuss spiritual gifts but make no mention of miraculous ones.

Contrary to much teaching today, the purpose of the gift of languages was not the edification of believers. As noted above, they were a sign of judgment to unbelieving Israel (1 Cor. 14:21–22), showing that the church would encompass people from all nations and languages. The gift of languages was therefore a sign of the transition between the Old and New Covenants—a transition completed nearly two thousand years ago.

Having thus fulfilled its purpose, the gift of languages passed from the scene, just as 1 Corinthians 13:8 said it would. That fact is confirmed by church history. Speaking in tongues was unknown from the close of the apostolic era until the beginning of this century, except in heretical groups. (For a further discussion of speaking in tongues, see my book Charismatic Chaos [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992], and 1 Corinthians, MacArthur New Testament Commentary [Chicago: Moody, 1984].)

Those who spoke the languages at Pentecost did not have to be taught how to do so by reading a book, attending a seminar, or being coached by other people. Nor did they have to develop the gift through repeated practice on their own. Rather, they spoke as the Spirit was giving them utterance. He was in total control of the situation. They simply received what He gave.

The evidence of the Spirit’s coming was unmistakable. He manifested His presence to the ears, eyes, and mouths of the believers. But it didn’t stop there. His coming had a profound effect on the people of Jerusalem as well.

THE EFFECT OF THE SPIRIT’S COMING

Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were bewildered, because they were each one hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and marveled, saying, “Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God. (2:5–11)

Pentecost was one of the three major feasts of the Jewish calendar, and all Hebrew males were expected to celebrate it in Jerusalem. Consequently, there were Jews living in Jerusalem at the time of Pentecost, devout men, from every nation under heaven. Those who went to the trouble to make the pilgrimage were obviously devout men. The phrase from every nation under heaven is an idiomatic expression meaning “from many lands,” or from all of the nations where Jews had been dispersed.

When they heard the sound of the rushing wind (rather than the sounds of the languages), the multitude came together in the vicinity of the upper room. What they found when they arrived astonished and bewildered them, with each one hearing his own language being spoken.

The supernatural signs had their desired effect, and the attention of the crowd was riveted on Peter and the others. What amazed them the most was that all those who were speaking were Galileans. That was shocking to the sophisticated city dwellers, who viewed rural Galileans as ignorant and uneducated.

When Philip excitedly told Nathanael that he had found the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth (a city in Galilee), Nathanael replied in disdain, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:45–46). Nicodemus’s attempt to defend Jesus met with the scornful reply, “You are not also from Galilee, are you? Search, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee” (John 7:52).

The sight of the supposedly ignorant Galileans speaking so many languages caused the astonished crowd to exclaim, how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born? That this supernatural communication was known human languages, not ecstatic speech, becomes clear as the list of the specific tongues is enumerated. Parthians lived in what is modern Iran. They had never been conquered by the Romans and remained their bitter enemies. Medes, partners in empire with the Persians in Daniel’s time, were now part of the Parthian Empire. Elamites lived in what is now southwestern Iran. They, too, were part of the Parthian Empire. The residents of Mesopotamia lived between the two great rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates (Mesopotamia means “between the rivers”). Great numbers of Israelites had been deported to that region by the Assyrians and Babylonians. Not all had returned to Palestine at the time of Cyrus’s decree (2 Chron. 36:22–23). Judea should probably be construed in the broadest sense as all the region once controlled by David and Solomon. That would explain the absence of Syria from the list. Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia were all regions in Asia Minor. They had a large Jewish population, as did Egypt, particularly in the city of Alexandria. It was in that city that the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, had been produced. The districts of Libya around Cyrene were west of Egypt on the African coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Josephus mentions a Jewish population there. That there were Jews in Rome, as well as Gentile proselytes, is obvious from the Emperor Claudius’s expulsion of them some years later (Acts 18:2). Cretans were from the island of Crete, off the southern coast of Greece. Arabs were Jews living in the kingdom of the Nabatean Arabs, located south of Damascus (cf. Gal. 1:17).

The content of these languages is identified by Luke as speaking of the mighty deeds of God. Such rehearsal was an essential element of Jewish life and worship. Exodus 15:11 says, “Who is like Thee among the gods, O Lord? Who is like Thee, majestic in holiness, awesome in praises, working wonders?” (cf. Isa. 25:1). Such praise was also a frequent theme of the book of Psalms. Psalm 40:5 reads, “Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders which Thou hast done,” while Psalm 77:11 adds, “I shall remember the deeds of the Lord; surely I will remember Thy wonders of old” (cf. Pss. 26:7; 78:4; 89:5; 96:3; 107:8, 21; 111:4).

Having used the sound of the wind to gather the crowd, the Spirit now convinces them that these believers in Jesus Christ were devoted to praising the one true God. Blasphemers, as many thought them to be, could not be extolling the greatness of God. All that recitation of what God had done prepared the way for Peter’s proclamation of the gospel beginning in verse 14. The good news of salvation in Jesus Christ was the climax toward which the Holy Spirit was building.

THE EXPLANATION OF THE SPIRIT’S COMING

And they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others were mocking and saying, “They are full of sweet wine.” (2:12–13)

As is regularly the case when God’s truth is presented, some in the crowd accepted it, while others rejected. The former continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” They would soon understand when Peter proclaimed the gospel in his sermon.

At the same time the others were mocking and saying, “they are full of sweet wine.” Like the Pharisees who heard Jesus’ claims and saw the confirming miracles, but concluded He was of the devil (Matt. 12:24ff.), these scoffers rejected the evidence that this was a work of God. Instead, they proposed the ridiculous hypothesis that the apostles were full of sweet wine. They tried to explain away the miracle of speaking in languages as a drunken frolic. Tragically, their skepticism was to harden into full-fledged opposition toward the message and the messengers (cf. 4:7ff.; 5:17–18, 40; 7:58–60). However, no amount of opposition could stop the work of God that began at Pentecost.