JERUSALEM was the centre of holy association to devout Jews. Fully a thousand years prior to New Testament times, God had authorised the building of a temple there. David made preparation for the building, and it was erected during the reign of his son Solomon. From that time onward, Jerusalem was the centre of attraction to all pious Jews. There they gathered together from all quarters at the great Jewish feasts. Thither they brought their offerings; there their sacrifices were presented, the priests officiated, and God was worshipped. The absent Jews longed to stand within the gates of Jerusalem, and they prayed for peace and prosperity to their loved city (Psalm 122).

In Jerusalem, however, many dark and horrible deeds had been perpetrated. The pious people had often been strangely wicked. Idolatry had been cherished where there ought only to have been the worship of the living God. Heathen abominations had stalked unreproved by the side of the holy things of Jehovah; and interdicted marriages with the idolatrous nations around had been sanctioned in high quarters, and widely practised. Amid unblushing lawlessness in varied forms, the voice of the prophets was frequently heard, and almost as frequently unheeded or wickedly rejected. The call to reformation was often drowned in the blood of the faithful witnesses. The inhabitants of Jerusalem were notorious for the murder of their prophets (Matt. 23:34,35-37). Last of all they rejected their Messiah. They reverenced not the Son. They would have neither His teaching nor His rule. They killed the Holy and Just One.

Was it not now time to throw them completely off? Had they not now filled up their cup of iniquity? Should they not now be abandoned to their fate? Not yet, says Jesus. Let the proclamation of forgiveness be begun in Jerusalem. Give a crowning proof that Jehovah is long-suffering, abundant in mercy, and ready to pardon. Where sin had abounded let grace superabound. Where there has been the last and deepest sin, let there be the first display of Gospel pardon. Begin in Jerusalem (Luke 24:45-49). The disciples were not to go home to their native Galilee, but to wait in Jerusalem and begin there; begin in the metropolis, at headquarters, at the very centre of Judaism, where the Lord of glory had been crucified.

The place in which to commence operations was resolved upon, but the time had not yet come. The apostles were to wait a little; they were to "wait for the promise of the Father." The work with which they were entrusted was of no ordinary nature, and they would need special preparation. They were to begin in the city where numerous God-sent teachers had sealed their testimony with their blood. The authorities had shown special antagonism and bitterness to Jesus; His followers might therefore reckon on rough treatment when they began to proclaim and vindicate His cause. What they had to say would necessarily involve a charge against the leaders of the people of shedding innocent blood. Their message, though one of peace and forgiveness, would nevertheless be against the current of thought and feeling. Nor was it a common everyday announcement they had to make. To them Jesus had said, "Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained" (John 20:23). The work they had to do was of far-reaching magnitude, the circumstances seemed untoward, and the apostles were not remarkable either in capacity or influence. There was need for careful preparation. The apostles were, therefore, to wait until all things were ready - wait until equipped with power from on high - wait until, filled with the Holy Spirit, they could speak with authority and without fear of error - wait until, breathed into by the Spirit, they could breathe out words of truth and soberness suitable to all occasions - wait until, being inspired, they could pronounce laws that had Heaven's ratification.

was the occasion when the needed help came. The word Pentecost is of Greek origin, and means fifty. It is a name given to one of the great yearly festive gatherings of the Jews. Lev. 23:15-21 contains particulars of this joyous assembly. Counting from the day of the sheaf-offering, details of which are given in verses 10-14 of the same chapter, seven Sabbaths, i.e., seven weeks, were reckoned; and on the first day of the eighth week, i.e., on the fiftieth day, bread was offered. At the beginning of harvest there was the sheaf-offering; seven weeks afterwards, two loaves made from the new crops were presented before God. Notice the analogy. Reckoning from the Passover, when Jesus died, or, more exactly, from the day of His resurrection - the day when he became the first-fruits, corresponding to the first sheaf - the fiftieth day brings us to the first conversions under Christianity, the first-fruits of the new dispensation, corresponding to the two wave loaves. Notice, again, that while the sheaf was pure as God gave it, the bread had leaven in it. So Christ was all pure, but Christians are often a sad mixture, containing much leaven.

The fiftieth day found the apostles waiting according to the command of the Saviour. They were all with one accord in one place. What happened is related in Acts 2:1-4. Being filled with the Spirit they forthwith began preaching and teaching.

Who were the first hearers of the new preaching? Jews, many of whom were from the very distant parts of the earth (verses 8-11). They had come from north, south, east, and west. Jerusalem and her harvest feast had drawn them together. They had come from as far as Pontus in the north, Egypt and Libya in the south, Media in the east, and Rome in the west. The Jewish nation may be said to have assembled in the capital. There is, moreover, a close connection between the assembled multitude we are now considering, and the assembly congregated in the same place seven weeks before. At the Passover season, though the multitude sang hosanna to Jesus of Nazareth, as the son of David, and as coming in the name of the Lord, and though many grateful hearts throbbed in sympathy with Him, the nation as such, through its representatives, publicly repudiated Him. The crucifixion of the Prophet of Nazareth was their act and deed; and there is no intimation that they wished to disown it. To those who had taken the life of Jesus, not two months before, the newly empowered apostles had first to preach.

Strange Phenomena were connected with that day and those preachers.

1. There was sound. "Suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting." It was not wind, but resembled the noise thereof. According to the Revised Version of the sixth verse the sound itself was heard, not a report about it. Was it heaven's bell ringing out an invitation to the people to come together? It was a sound, rather than, in itself, any actual blessing imparted to the waiting ones; but it was a sound which, coming from heaven, gathered round those who were patiently obeying their Lord's command to wait for the promise. The newly crowned King was calling attention to His faithful servants, whom He was about to endow. The close relationship existing between those few Galileans and the Occupant of heaven's throne was being indicated.

2. There was appearance. There was more than sound; there was something visible. "And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them." There was no fire; it was only like as of fire. There were symbolic tongues parting asunder, or distributing themselves. Language was to be the chief means employed in propagating the cause of King Jesus. The Word of God to be uttered by apostles was the sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:17). "Tongues like as of fire" may denote the potent nature of the word to be uttered. It would consume the chaff. Human traditions, hollow pretences, frivolous reasons and excuses, would all be scorched by the burning light of God's Word. Human evil ineffectually opposes. "Our God is a consuming fire." Each apostle had the same sign; "it sat upon each of them." All had the same acknowledgment and encouragement. The sound gathered around all, filled all the house where they were sitting, while what was seen was for each one separately.

3. They were filled. There was more than sound and appearance. "They were all filled with the Holy Spirit." Sound and appearance were, so to speak, but signs; the reality itself was there too. There was direct impartation; the promised Spirit was now given. Nor was it given with a niggard hand; they were filled. A great work was before them; a great preparation they now received.

4. They began to speak. The result of being filled with Spirit was immediately seen. They "began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." Their utterance was according to a power higher than their own judgment and natural gifts; they spoke as the Spirit gave them. The divine Spirit supplemented their powers and made them equal to the occasion. Their spirits, bathed in the divine Spirit, became fit instruments to report the wonderful works of God. They so spoke in other languages, the languages of the countries and districts of the people assembled there, that the audience could say, "We do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God."

The Result of these Phenomena next invites consideration.

There was great perplexity among the people. "They were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these who speak Galileans?" The speakers were known to be Galileans; they could have had no opportunity of learning these languages; and yet they were speaking so as to be understood, and so as to make their hearers take note of the wonderful works of God. It was beyond the power of the hearers to unravel the mystery.

A serious charge was made against the apostles. There were those who suggested that what was being done was to be traced to intemperance. "Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine." Such a charge circulated widely might have led to disastrous consequences. It might easily have been believed. It had some plausibility. The utterances of a foreigner, in a language which we do not know, seem often much akin to the mutterings of a drunken man. The one is about as intelligible as the other. While, then, an apostle spoke intelligibly to those whose language he was employing at the time, he might seem as an intoxicated man to others who knew not the language in which he was then speaking.

A brief reply is given to the serious charge. "These are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day." It must be owned that it is quite within the bounds of possibility to be drunk by nine o'clock in the morning. But at least it is unusual. It is at night that men get drunk, not in the morning; "they that be drunken are drunken in the night." It was an unlikely thing that twelve men would be drunk so early in the day. Further, it was "the first hour of prayer; before which no pious Jew might eat or drink."

A full Scripture explanation immediately follows. It is based upon a quotation from Joel. God had prophesied through Joel of an outpouring of the Spirit. The day of Pentecost was seeing the fulfilment. "This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel," said Peter. And yet it must be acknowledged that there was not then a complete fulfilment of the prophetic words. The Spirit was to be poured out upon all flesh; but there was only the one nation present, and as yet only a dozen of them had received the heavenly boon. Sons and daughters were to prophesy; but prophetesses and handmaidens were not at work on the day of Pentecost. Young men were to see visions, and old men dream dreams; but visions are unreported, and dreaming found no place on that memorable occasion. Prodigies all around were to take place; but we know nothing of change in heaven or earth, sun or moon, nor of blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke. The day was quiet as usual; everything was regular in the workings of nature as on every other day. What had happened, however, was the beginning of the fulfilment of Joel's prophecy. The secret of the wonderful speaking of the few men was that God had begin to carry out the promise made long before through the prophet. He was pouring out of His Spirit upon them. The men were not drunk with wine, but they were filled with the Spirit; and the whole was in agreement with God's announcement hundreds of years before.

Eighteen hundred years have passed away, and the prophecy has not yet received its complete fulfilment. The great and notable day of the Lord has not yet arrived. Ere that day dawns every syllable of the comprehensive prophecy shall have its completest realisation.

Thus far Peter's remarks were explanatory of the linguistic power of himself and his colleagues. It was not by their own power or industry that they thus spoke. God was working with them. The people's perplexity might now be removed. The explanation was such as to commend itself to Jews. God had promised great things to them. Nor had He forgotten His promises. At one of the feats of His own appointment He was visiting them in mercy. He was fulfilling His own word. The hand of the Lord was among them.

Why restrict the receiving of the Holy Spirit, in the beginning of Acts 2, to the twelve? Were not all the one hundred and twenty, mentioned in chapter 1:15, filled with the Spirit?

There is no statement either asserting or implying that the whole one hundred and twenty were recipients and actors in what is reported in Acts 2. It is possible that they all had a share in these wonderful transactions; but it seems improbable for the following reasons:

1. The immediate connection points to the twelve. Read the last verse of the first chapter, and the first verse of the second chapter together. Matthias "was numbered with the eleven apostles. And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they" - Matthias and the eleven, i.e., the twelve apostles, - "were all with one accord in one place."

2. The writer of the Acts of the Apostles does not bring the numerous disciples into view after the election of Matthias; the twelve are thenceforward the actors.

3. The speakers on Pentecost were all recognised as Galileans (verse 7). It would be hazardous to assert that all the one hundred and twenty were Galileans.

4. Peter stood up with the eleven (verse 14). He did not stand up with the one hundred and nineteen, nor did he speak for them. He stood up with the eleven, and pleaded on their behalf that they were not drunk.

5. It was to the apostles that the promise was made (chap. 1:2-4).

6. The apostles specially required to be demonstrated as pre-eminently appointed and gifted by the Lord for their responsible work. The spirit was therefore given to them first, and in a most marked manner. But that does not preclude others from afterward receiving the Spirit, as promised in chapter 2:38,39, either directly from heaven (10:44), or mediately through the onlaying of an apostle's hands (8:14-17).