Pentecost
Acts
2:1-21
5/23/21
In his
sermon on Pentecost, St. Peter told the crowd, “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of
Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and
wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you
yourselves know--
this
Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan
and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of
lawless men.”
It is notable that Peter doesn’t
just say that they killed Jesus. He says
specifically that they crucified him. This matches the description that
he uses twice in the Book of Acts when he describes how Jesus was killed “by
hanging him on a tree.”
In the Judaism of the first century
there was a very simple way to determine whether a person was the Messiah sent
by God. You knew for sure that he was
not the Messiah when the Romans killed him. The Romans had killed Jesus. But it hadn’t
happened in a battle that was part of an uprising. Instead, the Romans had crucified Jesus –
they had hung him on a tree.
This was a very important point,
because Deuteronomy said: “And if a man has committed a crime punishable by
death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall
not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day,
for a hanged man is cursed by God.”
A Jew who had died by crucifixion wasn’t just a false Messiah. He had in fact been cursed by God.
What had happened to Jesus was
widely known. And as people gathered in
Jerusalem for the celebration of Pentecost two things would have been very
apparent. First, Jesus was clearly not
the Messiah. And second, he had been cursed by God. However, this was only half
true. Jesus had indeed been cursed by
God. But this had in fact been part of
God’s saving plan. Paul told the
Galatians, “Christ redeemed
us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us--for it is
written, "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.” And it
was as the Messiah – the Christ – that Jesus had carried out this saving
work for us.
Jesus was the crucified Messiah. The
disciples knew that this was the true because God had raised Jesus from the
dead. The Messiah was expected to be the
mighty and victorious One sent by God to deliver his people. God the Father had
vindicated Jesus as the Messiah by raising him from the dead on Easter.
Jesus’ disciples had spent forty day
with the risen Lord. They had been with him in Jerusalem and in Galilee. They
ate and drank with him. Jesus had taught them about the kingdom of God. He had
also given specific instructions as he “ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but
to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, ‘you heard from
me; for John baptized with water, but you will be
baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’”
Ten days earlier, Jesus had ascended
into heaven. The disciples were now waiting for the Holy Spirit whom Jesus had
promised. We learn in our text: “When the day of Pentecost arrived,
they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a
sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house
where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to
them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled
with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the
Spirit gave them utterance.”
John the Baptist had said about the
One coming after him, “I baptize you
with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of
whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy
Spirit and with fire.” John had
probably understood this fire to be the end time judgment of God. But on the day of Pentecost the Spirit was
poured out accompanied by the sound of a rushing wind and tongues as of fire on
each of the disciples.
The disciples began to speak in the languages of the many
faithful Jews from all over the Mediterranean and Near Eastern world who had
chosen to live in Jerusalem. The sound of the rushing wind and the speech of
the disciples attracted a crowd who were amazed to find their own languages
being spoken. But others were dismissive of the whole thing. They said the
disciples were just drunk.
Peter stood up and began to preach. He noted first that it was too early in the
day for anyone to be hammered. Instead,
what was happening was a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. He said, “But this is what was
uttered through the prophet Joel: ‘And in the last days it shall
be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see
visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and
female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall
prophesy.’”
On the Day of Pentecost, God had
poured forth the Holy Spirit. This event
itself was a sign that the last days had arrived. And in the sermon that Peter
went on to preach, he announced that the outpouring of the Spirit was directly
tied to the end time event – the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
We think of Pentecost as being all
about the Holy Spirit. And while the dramatic
events of that day were caused by the Spirit, Peter’s sermon is actually all
about the resurrection of Jesus. As I noted at the beginning of this sermon,
Peter began by saying, “Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by
God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through
him in your midst, as you yourselves know—this Jesus, delivered up
according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you
crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.”
However, God had raised Jesus from
the dead. In fact, King David had prophesied that this would happen when we
wrote in Psalm 16, “For you will not abandon my soul
to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption.” Yes, Jesus had been killed. Yes, Jesus had been
crucified – hung on a tree.
But Peter declared: “This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are
witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and
having received from the Father the promise of the Holy
Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.” God had raised Jesus. He had vindicated Jesus
as the Christ. And more than that, in his ascension he had been exalted to the
right hand of God. It was in fact as the
risen and exalted Lord that Jesus had poured forth the Holy Spirit. And
so Peter announced: “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain
that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you
crucified.”
Note how Peter says that they had
crucified Jesus. Certainly, not all
of those listening had been involved in the decisions that killed Jesus. Perhaps one could say that as Jews, they were
responsible for what their leaders had done.
But in a more profound way they
had crucified Jesus, just as you crucified Jesus. It was your sin that caused the Father to
send the incarnate Son to die on the cross.
He died, cursed by God, because of all the ways you break God’s law. He
died because you put God second. He died because you lust, covet and and are
jealous. He died because you harm your neighbor’s reputation through gossip.
When those listening heard Peter they
were cut to the heart, and said to him and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what
shall we do?” Peter declared: “Repent and be baptized every one
of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins,
and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” The same thing is true
for us. We confess our sin and
repent. And we return in faith to our
baptism for through water and the Word we receive the forgiveness won by Jesus. Through baptism the risen and exalted Christ
has given us the Spirit poured out on Pentecost.
Before his ascension, Jesus told the
disciples, “But
you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you,
and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea
and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” The Holy Spirit continues
to play this role in our lives. It is
the Spirit who enables us to speak about Jesus Christ to others. You are
witnesses. You know that Jesus did not
just die on the cross cursed by God.
Instead, God raised Jesus from the dead as the One who has won
forgiveness for us and has given us the assurance of resurrection and eternal
life.
Jesus the risen Lord, has ascended
and been exalted. But that does not mean he has left us. Instead, the Holy
Spirit is the presence of the risen Christ with his disciples all over the
world. The Spirit poured out on Christ’s
Church now shapes and forms our life together.
Immediately after telling us about
Pentecost, Luke provides an account of the early Church’s life in
Jerusalem. He says, “And they devoted
themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the
breaking of bread and the prayers.” The
Spirit leads us to learn the teaching of the apostles as we receive it in
Scripture. He brings us together in the
fellowship of the Sacrament of the Altar.
He causes us to be fervent in prayer.
Luke tells of how the Church members
cared for one another as they sold their possessions and distributied the
proceeds to all, as any had need. And he tells us that day by day they attended
the temple together, broke bread in their homes, and received their
food with glad and generous hearts praising God and having favor with
all the people.
The Spirit poured out by the risen
and ascended Lord continues to do these things in our day. But of course, this also means that we must
see them as goals in our life as Christians, and as a congregation. The Pentecost
description of the Church provides a model for what we should seek to be, even
as the Holy Spirit makes it possible.
Jesus Christ died on the cross. Hung on a tree, he was cursed by God in our
place for all of the ways we break God’s law and sin. But God did not allow his
Holy One to see corruption. Instead, on
the third day he vindicated Jesus as the Messiah by raising him from the dead.
More than that, he has exalted Jesus to his right hand in the ascension.
It is as the risen and exalted Lord
that Jesus poured forth the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. The Holy Spirit carries forth Christ’s work
into the world and into our lives. He
provides strength to bear witness to our Lord who died and rose again as the
Savior of all. He leads and enables us
to receive Christ’s Means of Grace, to pray, and care for one another in the
Church, the Body of Christ.
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