December 28 - Acts 2:1-13

Acts 2:1-13 – The Miracle at Pentecost

Following the Resurrection, the disciples spent forty days listening to further teaching of Jesus (Acts 1:3), then they received his commission to take the Good News into the world and finally, he promised that they would be given the Holy Spirit which would empower them to do the work required to tell the world. With that, all they could do was wait and pray.

They waited. They prayed. Rather than try to make something happen, they waited and they prayed.

When that prayer was answered, it was extraordinary.

Luke introduced his Gospel with an emphasis on the Holy Spirit.

“He (John) will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb” (Luke 1:15).

“And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit” (Luke 1:41).

“And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied …” (Luke 1:67)

“Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit …” (Luke 2:25-35).

But most of all, Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit: “And the angel answered her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy – the Son of God” (Luke 1:35).

When Jesus came into the world the Holy Spirit was very present … filling those who would be witnesses to his birth and life.

Because of their faithfulness in waiting and in praying, the Holy Spirit flowed like fire into the hearts of everyone who gathered. This is the birth of the church.

Jesus announced the beginning of his ministry by quoting words from Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me” (Luke 4:18), now the Spirit has come upon the crowd listening to Peter’s speech. All that the small band of believers had been praying for and waiting for was about to burst upon the world and things would never be the same.