Acts 2:5-13 (NIV)
Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs–we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”
The noise of the rushing wind drew people from all over that part of the city to the house where the disciples were praying. And when the Spirit-filled disicples started shouting God’s praises in different languages, the people in the streets were stunned.
The Spirit had moved the disicples outside, and now those who had gathered because of the noise could clearly see by their clothes that they were mostly Galileans. It was not unusual for the people of Judea and Galilee to speak their native Aramaic, as well as Greek as a second language, since Koine Greek was universally spoken as the trade language of the Roman Empire. But these men and women were speaking fluently in many other languages, some of them quite obscure, shouting praises to God for what He had done.
Those who spoke those other languages were amazed and were unsure exactly what to make of it all. But some of the people, perhaps native Aramaic speakers, didn’t understand the other languages that the disciples were speaking. To them, the strange sounds that those people were making sounded like the slurred and incoherent ramblings of drunkards. And instead of joining into the wonder of it all, instead of praising God along with everyone else, they simply dismissed what they couldn’t understand.
When Jesus had told the disciples that they were to go and make disicples of all nations once they had received the gift of the Holy Spirit, they didn’t realize that the first going that they would do would be to simply walk out of the door of their room, and that they would find representatives from many nations standing there waiting for them! And they didn’t realize that any possible excuses about language barriers and inability to communicate with people from other ethnic groups would be dealt with in the blink of an eye. But by waiting obediently for the coming of the Holy Spirit, all the barriers were erased, and their first batch of potential new disciples was now waiting expectantly for their explanation of what was happening.
Father, every possible objection was answered by You before it was ever raised:
- “The nations live so far away.” “I will bring them to your door.”
- “I won’t be able to communicate.” “I will miraculously enable you to speak their languages.”
- “They won’t be interested in what I have to say.” “I will draw them to you and show them wonders that will whet their appetite for the gospel.”
We can still make many of these same excuses today, but Your solutions are the same elegant solution for us as they were for them. And they will work for all who simply obey with willing hearts. Help us to follow You, Lord; to simply step out in faith so that You can work mightily in and through us to grow Your kingdom. Amen.
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