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In the name of Jesus, Amen.
Dear baptized believers in Christ’s Church, you have just confessed it. There is one God. There is one revelation of God in the world. And there is only one way of salvation. It’s that bond that has been communicated to us. As God has communicated how He lives and works in the Godhead, God has revealed Himself to us and about relationships of past, present, and future. The bonds that are eternal. The star stopped over a specific little house in Bethlehem to lead the Magi, the wise men, to worship the boy-child Jesus.
In the same way, a mighty Russian wind came from heaven and filled a specific house in the big city of Jerusalem on that day of Pentecost to draw people. For what reason? To hear the proclamation of the same crucified and risen Jesus and all that He has said and done, crossing all linguistical barriers on this appointed festival of Pentecost. Jerusalem was filled to capacity, overflowing into the camps around the city walls with people from the eastern regions of what we now call the Mediterranean Sea.
It has the appearance of an international city with people articulating different languages, clad in unusual clothing, partaking in unique foods as they gave evidence to their varying cultures and customs. But the common thread among them was the Word of God and their anticipation for the coming Messiah. The Holy Spirit brought these two groups together: the proclaimers and the hearers, the transmitters and the receivers. Together.
After Jesus’ resurrection from the dead in His appearance to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, they said to one another, “Did not our hearts burn within us as He talked to us on the road while He opened to us the Scriptures?” It was a little while later when His disciples gathered together in Jerusalem. Jesus also appeared to them, and the text states, “Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.” Those post-resurrection teaching sessions continued for 40 days, including one to over 500 disciples at one time.
Now it has been 10 days since Jesus’ ascension into heaven, where He sits upon His throne as King of kings and Lord of lords. And where do we find the disciples? They’re standing in the city streets. They’re there for all to see and for all to hear. Remember, these were the same men who were cowering behind locked doors, fearful that they would be the next ones being crucified for being Jesus’ disciples. Now, they were drawing attention to themselves. And with the help of the Holy Spirit, they were doing for others the same way that Jesus had done for them. They were opening the sacred Scriptures for all those who were gathered there on that day.
And they were reminding them of the specific details foretold about the coming Messiah and those same prophecies fulfilled in Jesus. The miracle was that the people heard the good news, not in some unknown form of babbling, but in their own languages. Today is no different. The same God, the same working of the same Holy Spirit, the same word with the power and purpose to bring us together. We come from different ethnical backgrounds from all around the world, with various customs and multiple experiences, but the common thread among us is the Word of God and our bond of faith that Jesus is the fulfillment of the prophecies of the promised Messiah. God in the flesh, the Savior of the world.
And we too are waiting. We’re waiting for the second coming, His second coming, and His gathering all of us believers into His eternal kingdom to witness His end-time promises fulfilled. As the crowd heard this good news about Jesus, the pure gospel proclaimed in their own languages and what that means in their lives, the text states, “And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’” It was beyond human reasoning. It was a gift from God.
But others among them mocked the disciples, saying, “They are filled with new wine.” These antagonists, in their skepticism, were repelling the gift given, and their attempt to create doubt was to credit the consumption of too much alcohol for giving these disciples the ability to speak fluently in a distinct language without any former knowledge. Many of you know that I am trying to learn sign language. It’s like telling me if I would partake in this type, in this amount of beverage, then my elementary understanding and practice of sign language would immediately advance to the level where the deaf would see me communicating fluently in their mother language as if I had begun signing at the age of six months old.
But without God’s intervention, the reality is this: If I consume this beverage, I might be throwing my hands around, but I will not be signing pure ASL. It was a miracle on that day as the disciples were instruments of the Lord dispensing His Word. But is that not what the devil in the unbelieving world does when confronted with the Word of God? To create unjust accusations for the purpose of causing confusion. They can’t stand against the message, so they attack the messenger. But this ploy is nothing new in the world. It started in the garden with the devil saying to Eve in the presence of Adam, the people of God, “Did God actually say?”
What do you think? The goal of the evil forces is to cause division between the Creator and His creation, to create chaos in this world, be it all about the origin of life, marriage, family, gender, sex, and the list could go on and on. To instigate schisms between people based on color, ethnics, between their economies, between their social statuses, between their abilities, and so on and on. So for the purpose of introducing and escalating the focus on self-want, leading to self-preservation, and at all costs, even to the point of being full of hatred against another person or people group.
But this is nothing new. For you and me, as we live in this world, we see these attitudes and actions every day in the news reports and in our neighborhoods. We, the people of God, you and I individually and us collectively, are not immune to these attacks, to succumb to these temptations, which divert our eyes of faith from the Word that became flesh and dwelt among us, leading us to participate in these ungodly activities of chaos and confusion.
What words did Jesus give us against the assaults of the world because of our faith in Him and our stance upon His Word? He says to us, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. And the second is this: you shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” And from the Word, we also know that our neighbor is everyone, including our attackers, for those who seek to silence us or to confuse us.
But look at Peter’s response to this mockery and attempt to cause confusion before the crowd gathered on the streets of Jerusalem that day. What does he do? Inspired by the one true God, Peter points to the God of order who entered this world of chaos. He doesn’t take it personally, and he doesn’t stoop down into the world of character assassination, but he continues to give them the Word of God. He doesn’t pull any punches, but he speaks the truth and love about the mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through Christ Jesus in their midst.
He is moved to quote David, and as king, with these words: David rejoices that God did not allow death to cut him or the covenant people off from His presence. But now, Peter shows David’s prophetic words, where he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of Christ, His ascension into heaven, and where He is exalted at the right hand of God, and has promised sending of the Holy Spirit on this day. And upon those who are His own as He proclaims God’s plan of salvation through Jesus Christ.
Peter is telling the people what they are seeing and hearing is that prophecy fulfilled. Again, Peter quotes David in Psalm 110: “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.’” This is a conversation within the Godhead of the Father speaking to His Son, the descendant of David, who is David’s Lord. Peter is opening the Scriptures to the people, showing them that all of the prophecies and the writings of Moses, the Psalms, and the prophets point directly to Jesus of Nazareth. He is the One.
He wants all those who have ears to hear: “Let all of the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” Truth with love and clarity. He is not saying that every one of those had their hand on the hammer that drove the spikes through Jesus’ hands and feet or that they were all in Pontius Pilate’s courtyard yelling, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” But Jesus’ death was necessary to remove all their sins. Peter is speaking to you and me. “This Jesus whom you crucified” is required to remove your sins.
Jesus, true God and true man, was willing to stand in the gap between you and His Father’s wrath. Why? Because He loves you and wants you to be with Him forever. Those who possess faith and believe in Jesus’ words and works for them have the forgiveness of their sins. These gifts are dispensed through the working of the Holy Spirit through God’s means of grace—His word and sacrament—and where there is the forgiveness of sins, there’s life and salvation. If you want to see the love of God, if you want to see the truth, look at the outstretched hands on the cross and the blood shed for you. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is the confirmation to His words and His works. And His ascension is that exclamation mark in our lives.
This was Peter opening the sacred Scriptures among both the new believers and those who were repelling God’s gifts. On that day, Luke tells us that those who received Peter’s words were baptized, and they were added that day about 3,000 souls. The Holy Spirit, with the word, moved them to repent and to give them the gift which they received by faith, the forgiveness of sins. When you think this is the apex, the story only becomes clear as the Scriptures are opened to us.
These new believers were not residents of Jerusalem. After the festival activities were complete, they began to walk on the highways and the byways, back to their homes, and with them, they carried the Gospel of Christ Jesus. I can just see it. They were going into their towns, being with their families, going into their synagogues with excitement and joy as they opened the Scriptures for others and revealed that Jesus of Nazareth is the promised Messiah, the Savior of the world.
Remember, even though miles separated these new believers, the common thread among them was the Word of God and their bond of faith that Jesus is the Lord of their lives and the Savior of their souls. Today is no different. We will leave this place and we will scatter to all the regions in and around Austin and beyond, and we will go as bearers of the good news about Jesus for us and for the world. We have that common thread, the Word of God. We have that bond that we have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, and we’ve been covered with this white robe of righteousness.
As forgiven sinners, we celebrate the peace that God has granted to us. So as we go and we continue to go by the gospel, Jesus says to us, “Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you always until the very end of the age.” Our bond. Be at peace.
As you walk by faith in the God of the Bible, He has revealed Himself to us in the way of salvation. Peter says, “This Jesus whom you crucified, the Scriptures have been opened to you and you have the backstory.” Jesus did this because He loves you and He wants you to be with Him forever. Amen.
The peace which passes all understanding keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus our Lord.
