Bible Groups - Acts - navigation>
The Acts of the Apostles - Chapter 2
Revised 2014
- 1 "All together" - presumably at prayer. Pentecost was the feast of Weeks, celebrated 7 weeks after Passover: originally an agricultural thanksgiving feast, later in OT acquired extra meaning by recalling what God had done in salvation history: Passover commemorated the exodus from Egypt, Pentecost recalled arriving in Sinai a month and a half later. At Sinai God gave the covenant to Israel, establishing Israel as God's own people. Ex 19 emphasises God's appearance at Sinai by thunder and smoke. Acts echoes this with wind and tongues, presenting Pentecost as the renewal of God's covenant, once more calling a people to be God's own.
- 3 The tongues as of fire parted - they all came from a single source. Fire inflames with love, and cleanses.
- 4. Baptism with fire & the Spirit, as J Bap foretold (Lk 3:16).
- 7 Amazement that Galileans - "that lot" should be having such an effect.
- 9 At Sinai Israel was invited to be God's people, but all other nations remained "no people" (Deat 32:21). But Acts shows broad sweeps of peoples - "all flesh" - who heard the effects of the Spirit at Pentecost
- and anticipates the broad reach of the evangelising, now begun, to the extremities of the Roman empire, to make Gentiles into God's people too. Many language groups included, but all Jews. This list could also describe the areas evangelised by missionaries from Jerusalem, as distinct from those from other centres such as Antioch by Paul.
- 12 For Luke the sign of tongues needs explaining.
- 13 The Apostles speaking ecstatically in tongues sounded like babbling, so reversing the Tower of Babel (Gen 11:1-9). Note that in Acts the babbling was understandable, at least by some - perhaps different from the earlier (?) tradition of ecstatic praying without words (1 Cor 14).
- 14 Peter spokesman.
- 16 This first sermon is Acts’ fundamental presentation of the Gospel. Peter starts his sermon in the traditional Jewish way by quoting scripture, culminating in arguments from scripture that Jesus was Lord and Messiah. (Messiah, Hebrew, and Christ, Greek, both mean annointed.) Although Jesus himself focussed on the Kingdom, NT preachers changed primary focus to Jesus, which had to come first. The Gospel became centred on the identity of Jesus as Messiah and Son of God (Rom 1:3-4).
- 17 Sharper eschatological note injected by the author by slight changes to Joel: "will come to pass after these things" becomes "in the last days it will be"; "times or periods known only to the Father" becomes "God declares". The Joel passage also points to several boundary breaking aspects of the new age - spatial, temporal, social, etc, and without discrimination, although Luke does not go as far as "sons and daughters", restricting himself to men only.
- Joel was written c. 400 BC: a terrible plague of locusts ravaged Judah, which was seen by the prophet as a symbol of the coming day of the Lord to judge the nations. The people were urged to repent: after a solemn assembly, the Lord promised to drive the locusts away, and also to bless his people with peace and prosperity - and further - to send an outpouring of the spirit on all flesh. Peter sees this promise as fulfilled at Pentecost.
- See esp: Joel 1:1-8, 13-14, 2:1-5, 12-13, 18-19, 3:1-2 (NB Numbering varies)
- 22 Summary of the Good News.
- 24 Thus showing that what happened was God’s plan.
- 31 Ps 16:8-11.
- 34 Ps 110:1.
- 36 The risen Jesus is the Messiah promised by God and foretold by the prophets, and God has now established him as Lord in heaven.
- 37 Dramatic questions and answers to show what must be done once people believe: First demand is to repent, as John Baptist preached, showing continuity. =Metanoia: to change one's mind, way of thinking, outlook - not necessarily once for all, may require further changes as confronted by new presentations of God's will. It is positive - turning heart and mind toward God.
- 38 Second demand: to be baptised "for the forgiveness of one's sins". Jesus' power over sin continues, but now exercised through baptism. Goes beyond what Jesus demanded: now requires a public act of joining up - a visible and verifiable profession of acceptance of Jesus. Salvation has a collective aspect - one is saved "as part of God's people". NB Matt 28:19 “baptise all nations” is later.
- Third requirement: the baptism must be "in the name of Jesus Christ" - presumably the baptism was accompanied by an act of faith in Jesus, such as "Jesus is Lord", "Jesus is the Messiah", etc.
- Peter then gives a pledge: all who are baptised will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit - God still has most of the action. There are no second-class citizens (Cf Acts 10:44-48).
- 42 As much a theology of the early church as a history: four fundamental features of the communal life of early believers:-
- Koinonia - fellowship, communion, community: the believers joined a group in which they had much in common, a grouping bound together by the Holy Spirit, to the extent that koinonia may have been an early name for Christians, as was "the Way". The writers of the Dead Sea Scrolls also held goods in common and designated themselves as "the oneness, unity". Paul's collection from his churches to take to Jerusalem was an important expression of their koinonia with the Church in Jerusalem. Gal 2:9 exemplifies the importance early Christians attached to keeping koinonia - the Council of Jerusalem was largely about how to maintain koinonia in the face of the radical differences - no circumcision for Gentile Christians, etc. For Paul breaking koinonia would have been against the essential notion of one Lord and one Spirit.
- Second: Prayers: as Jews they continued to use Jewish forms of prayer - hymns, canticles (eg Macc), with the "Our Father" added. Gradually Christian prayer became more centred on recalling and praising what Jesus had done, including Christian canticles incorporated later into Scriptures, eg in infancy narratives.
- Third: Breaking Bread: Continued to worship at the Temple - no thought of separation from Jews. Additionally, in the Breaking of Bread they recalled Jesus' death and that many of Jesus' appearances after the Resurrection were at meals, developing into an understanding of the Breaking of Bread as Jesus real presence (the Messiah’s presence at the meal of the last times was expected by Dead Sea community) and re-presentation of his salvific sacrifice. Also reinforced koinonia by admitting believers only.
- Fourth - Teaching of the Apostles: Scripture were authoritative, modified only where Jesus had changed its interpretation. But gradually the apostles added their own interpretations to situations Jesus had not met or discussed - this expanded form was probably what Acts means by "teaching of the apostles". As this teaching became written down it accumulated to become a second set of Scriptures.
- Continuity with Judaism and the distinctiveness of these four differences were in tension, but separation from Judaism came only after further pressures. A long journey yet to resolve this tension between temple and house-church.
- 47 “Having the goodwill of all people” - differences with (some?) Jews came later.