Acts 2:5-13

Acts 2:5-13

And in Jerusalem devout Jewish men were dwelling, they were from every nation under heaven.  And when this sound became, the great multitude was assembled and they were thrown into confusion since they were hearing each one by their own dialect while they called out.  And they were amazed and they wondered while saying, “Look!  Are not these all the ones who call out in Galilean?”  And how do we hear each in the own dialect of ours in which we were born?  Parthians, Medes, Elamites, the ones who live in Mesopotamia, Judea and even Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia and even Pamphylia, Egypt, the parts of Libya – the one around Cyrene, the ones who dwell among the Romans, Jews and even proselytes, Cretans and Arbs.  We all hear while they call out the great things of God by our tongues.  And all were amazed and they were perplexed, while saying one to another, “What desired this to be?”  And while jeering outright, others were saying that “they are having been filled with sweet unfermented wine.”

Thoughts for Today:

First Thought:

The crowds calls the disciples “Galileans” – meaning “people from Galilee.”  But in those days the word Galilean meant so much more.  Galilean meant someone who is uneducated as well as a trouble maker, a rabble-rouser, a threat for a revolt, someone who is likely to get what they want through some kind of crime.  It wasn’t a very nice term at all.  Yet out of this “rabble” comes an incredible event: these devout Jews are seeing the rabble come alive and do things that these Galileans should not be able to do.  God can do amazing things with ordinary folks if we let Him.

What is the danger of not doing something based on our own assessment of our own ability?  How can you change your thinking and actions to open yourself up to letting God work through you more?

Second Thought:

Some within the crowd are absolutely amazed at what they see.  Some within the crowd are convinced that the disciples are simply drunk and shouldn’t be getting this attention.  Clearly this is also a place where we can continue to talk about being open/closed minded.  The ones who are open minded are open to their life potentially changing.  The ones who are closed minded miss out on their chance to hear about Jesus and not only have their life changed but participate in eternal salvation.

How important is it for us to have an open mind and look for God everywhere, not just where we think we should find God?  What are the dangers of having a closed mind?

Third Thought:

This isn’t so much of a thought as it is a “word study.”  This is a great passage to lift up the word “all.”  (See verse 12)  The Bible says “all were perplexed/amazed” and then in verse 13 we hear “But others doubted.”  Whenever we have the word “but” it means something contrary.  So clearly we have a group who were perplexed and amazed and clearly we have a group that doubts.  What this means is that not “all the people” were perplexed and amazed, but rather “all the people who reacted positively to the Lord’s sign” were perplexed and amazed.  Others doubted.

We really need to be careful with the word “all” in the Bible.  As my Greek professor in seminary said to me, “how much of all is all?”  In the Bible, quite often all doesn’t mean “all.”  All often means “all the people in this smaller subset.”  But the truth is that we use this word this way in English, too.  When we say at Christmas “all the world is at peace,” do we literally mean it?  Nope.  We mean “all those who believe in Christ are at peace.”  Let’s remember to be careful about the word all – especially when it comes to reading the Bible.

Passage for Tomorrow: Acts 2:14-21