God is a God of communication. He speaks to us plainly through the words of Holy Scripture. It is because of this that the Bible and other materials are translated into the most obscure languages of our world. Nowhere do we see this more clearly than at that first Pentecost, which we mark as the birth of the Christian Church. This is now the ongoing work of Christ, to which Luke alludes in his introduction to the Book of Acts: “In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach.” The work of Christ continues now through the Church. And that work would require the ability to communicate Christ to the world in a manner that is clear and direct.
This sets the scene for our text today. Fifty days after Christ’s resurrection, the followers of Christ in Jerusalem, around 120 in number, gathered together in a house. Our text doesn’t tell us why they gathered, but it’s much of a leap to suggest that this was the Divine Service. Otherwise, why would the whole Christian community have gathered? This corresponds to what Luke records later in Acts 2: “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”
During this gathering, a special manifestation of the Holy Spirit was poured out on those gathered. Tongues of fire rested on their heads. The sound of a great rushing wind drew the people of Jerusalem to that place. The followers of Jesus, or perhaps just the apostles, were there, praising God in loud voices. They were praising God by speaking of all that God had done in Christ. And miraculously, everyone in the crowd heard them speaking in his or her own language. What is important here is that they had perfect understanding. They were hearing about what God had done through Christ, and they were understanding it perfectly.
The believers were now equipped and prepared to begin carrying out the assignments that the Lord had given to His Church. The dramatic signs – the sound, the fire, the ability to speak in other tongues – were all signs of that. Such signs did not always accompany the preaching of the apostles or the testimony of other believers. However, the Spirit sent by Jesus is always present and active when the Gospel is spoken. He gives the Word its power, and He gives believers the power to speak the Word. Our Lord had promised that His followers would be “baptized in the Holy Spirit.” But Acts emphasizes especially one aspect of the Spirit’s work, namely, inspiring believers to speak God’s message. Every reference to the coming of the Spirit and the work He is sent to do connects Him to the Word of Christ.
The Spirit works through God’s saving Word. It is a Word intended for all people, not just a select and gifted few. Every person in the house was filled with the Holy Spirit. The list of nations represented in Jerusalem signifies that the gift of God’s Word is to all nations and all peoples. It was a message that was understood in every language.
Luke records that the people heard the telling of the mighty works of God in their own tongues. Just what were those mighty works of God? It was the story of creation’s fall into sin. The people heard the words of conviction, for God’s Word convicts sinners who continue to look for extraordinary works of God rather than the ordinary ways He works through the Word and Sacraments. His Word convicts sinners who have continued to fail time and time again of keeping God’s Word perfectly.
But the Holy Spirit brings another message which the people heard. They heard a message of forgiveness to convicted sinners. God’s works through the sweet sound of the Gospel to save “everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord.” God works mightily through the preaching of the Word of the cross, that there in Christ’s death and resurrection, you and I have life. God works mightily through the Word and water of Baptism. God works mightily through the Word that proclaims mere bread and wine to be His body and blood.
In short, on that Pentecost day, all those gathered there heard the good news of salvation for them that comes through Jesus Christ and His life, death, and resurrection. That is the importance of Pentecost. Why is it so important? Because faith comes by hearing the Word of God. Believers do not exist apart from hearing the Word.
What is that Word that we hear today? We hear God’s Word for us that our debt has been paid in full in the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ, His only-begotten Son. Wherever that Word is proclaimed, there is the Holy Spirit, just as Jesus promised, convicting the world according to sin, righteousness, and judgment. Wherever that Word is proclaimed, there is the Holy Spirit, cutting hearers to the heart with stern and unrelenting Law, showing sin and calling it what it is, a falling short of the mark of perfection the heavenly Father expects. The Law preaches repentance.
When repentance comes, then comes the Gospel that declares you free from sin and death for Jesus’ sake. Three-thousand people that day repented, believed in Jesus Christ, and were baptized for the forgiveness of sins. They became partakers of God’s righteousness in Jesus, just as you became a partaker of His divine righteousness. Sins are washed away. New life is yours, as it was theirs.
The Holy Spirit still works through the Word of God. It has always been that way and it will always be that way. The true sign of the Holy Spirit at work is the proclamation of God’s Word. The Holy Spirit points to Jesus who is the God-Man who saved us from our sin with His suffering and death on the cross and promises us life everlasting with His resurrection. The Holy Spirit works through God’s Word when we hear it with our ears – when we read it with our eyes – when we experience that Word in the water of Holy Baptism – and when we receive it with the true body and blood of Jesus in the Bread and Wine of the Lord’s Supper. The Holy Spirit is at work when we confess our faith before each other and when we confess our faith before those who do not know Jesus.
By the power of the Holy Spirit, the prophets of the Old Testament and the Apostles of the New Testament provide us with the message of God. The first part of the message is terrifying, for from it we learn of our helpless sinful status before God and the eternal punishment that we deserve because of that sin. The second part of the message is the ultimate comfort, for it tells us that God did not leave us to suffer but sent His only begotten Son to suffer and die in our place so that whoever believes in Him will not be condemned, but will have life eternal. This is the message that the Holy Spirit certifies with the wondrous signs of Pentecost. In Jesus’ name, amen. Now the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.