Pentecost: All about Jesus

I can still remember when I stood up to preach the first time. It was a small church that we had helped plant and we were meeting in a community centre. After the children had left midway through the service for their groups, only about four people remained. Two of whom were visitors, sat right at the front, less than 5 foot away from me. And one of them soon fell asleep and remained that way for the duration of my talk! It was a pretty discouraging experience I have to say! By contrast, when the apostle Peter stood up to preach his first sermon he addressed thousands. The sound and commotion that accompanied Jesus’ disciples being filled with the Holy Spirit had drawn a huge crowd. And the man, who just weeks earlier had been so afraid that he’d denied Jesus three times, was now transformed and he stood up and addressed the multitude.

They’d asked, “what does this all mean?” If you were Peter, I wonder how would you have responded? I wonder what would you have said? If it were me, having just experienced that deafening sound inside the house I was in, having been dazzled by the appearance of fire resting upon my friends you’d forgive me, wouldn’t you, for concentrating on that incredible event? “You should have seen it, it was amazing! The terror, the awe, the fire, the power, the peace! I mean it was indescribable really! Something’s changed, I’m just so different now!” Indeed today, when many preachers speak on Pentecost, they choose to speak on the Holy Spirit; his empowering, his peace, his equipping. But not Peter, for Peter Pentecost is primarily all about Jesus! So before we go any further, let’s ask for God’s help to understand what he’s saying to us through his word:

Heavenly Father, please would you help us see Pentecost how Peter saw it and spoke about it. Open the eyes of our hearts to the wonder of your gospel this morning. In Jesus’ name, Amen

So, this morning I’d like you try and imagine that you are in the crowd that has gathered in Jerusalem. The sound of a mighty, rushing wind has caused you to come running to investigate what on earth is going on, and you have been met by this posse of Galileans chatting on in loads of different languages, that seem to you to be just gibberish! You’re trying to get the bottom of it all. Someone suggests that they’ve been on the pop, but you don’t buy that, and besides you’ve just heard the one they call Peter dismiss that claim: “Drunk? It’s too early to be drunk! This is a fulfilment of Scripture and it’s all about Jesus!” Let’s pick it up in Acts 2.22:

“Men of Israel, [Peter says] hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth…”

This is Peter’s explanation of what has gone on and his first words point you back to that mystifying and exciting preacher who had promised so much, but seemingly delivered so little. “You want to know what Pentecost means, what it’s all about. I’m telling you now, it’s all about Jesus”. And firstly it’s about:

a. Jesus authenticated (Acts 2.22):

Jesus of Nazareth a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know

Wait, what? This supernatural noise that has caused such a commotion is somehow linked to those other great, supernatural things that Jesus had done? It seems as if Peter is suggesting that those signs and wonders authenticate/attest/prove that Jesus came from God. That he was God?! And what signs and wonders they were. As one commentator puts it:

None of them had been a grotesque distortion of nature; none of them simply a display of power, a mere exhibition of supernatural fireworks. Every single miracle had been a work of mercy, producing life and peace, mental and physical wholeness, release from fear and bondage, joy, confidence, and satisfaction. [True to the Faith, David Gooding, p.70]

Yeah, you remember those mighty works and wonders and signs. You remember what you’d heard about them. Indeed, you’d witnessed some of them;the sick healed, the hungry fed with next to nothing and demons cast out! “Well,” says Peter, “you killed the man who did those things!” Your mouth drops. Aghast! Who does he think he is? I didn’t kill Jesus. I’m not to blame. But Peter is insistent. Secondly, Pentecost is about:

b. Jesus crucified (Acts 2.23):

this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.

And so, you squirm as you hear Peter lay the blame for the death of this innocent man squarely at your feet. Or did he? You replay the phrase he’s just uttered back in your mind ‘according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God’. Somehow, despite your own culpability, Peter seems to be saying that this was all part of God’s plan. You begin to entertain the possibility that something else is at play here, there’s something more than meets the eye: Why was it God’s plan that Jesus should die? You hear Peter continue (Acts 2.24):

God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.

And you realise that thirdly, staggeringly, Peter is claiming Pentecost is also about:

c. Jesus risen (Acts 2.24-32)

Because not only was it God’s plan that Jesus should die, it was also his plan that he should come back to life. In fact, it was impossible for anything to stop that. If that is true, it changes everything. If death can be reversed for one man, could it be possible for others too? What would be the conditions for such a reversal? “No!” you tell yourself, “this is too much, this is nonsense. It’s unheard of and too unlikely to believe” and remarkably, as if reading your mind, Peter says “it’s not nonsense. It’s not unheard of. In fact, this is exactly what King David was talking about centuries ago when he wrote Psalm 16”:

For David says concerning him, [that is concerning the Messiah, Jesus]‘I saw the Lord always before me,for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken;therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced;my flesh also will dwell in hope.For you will not abandon my soul to Hades,or let your Holy One see corruption.You have made known to me the paths of life;you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’[Psalm 16.25-28]

In other words, David is prophesying about Jesus - that God wouldn’t leave his body in the grave to be corrupted and decay, but he would be raised from the dead! And now you are confused; you want to believe it, but you’ve been brought up understanding that in Psalm 16 David was referring to himself, not least as it’s written in the first person. And again, it’s as if Peter is reading your mind (Acts 2.29):

“Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day…”

And you realise that Peter is effectively saying: “If David was talking about himself, he got it wrong. Look - his tomb is just around the corner, go and open it up and see just how much corruption and decay you find! No…
This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses”. Oh, how you long to get Peter, or any one of the others, one to one so that you can quiz them some more and find out more about the risen Jesus. What was he doing? What was he saying? Where was he staying? In fact, come to think about it, if he was risen from the dead where was he? Well, fourthly, Peter claims that Pentecost is all about:

d. Jesus elevated (Acts 2.33):

Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God…

Because it turns out that Jesus was not simply a man who had been revived from death like Lazarus, only to die again. No, Jesus had defeated death and had been exalted to this special place of honour at God’s side and once there, Peter continues:

…having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.

And slowly but surely the penny is dropping! You realise that; only when you can see that Jesus’ life is authenticated by God; only when you can see that Jesus was crucified, risen and elevated; only then can you see that that Pentecost is also about:

e. Jesus’ gift (Acts 2.33)

And you realise that from this elevated and exalted position of honour, Jesus has received from God the Father, the promise of the Holy Spirit and he has the authority to pour him out on his people. The gift of himself. What. A. Gift. All the fuss, all the commotion, all the wind, all the fire, all the languages – every bit of detail of Pentecost, including the pouring out of God himself on his people, is designed to witness to the good news of Jesus Christ. There is only one conclusion you can draw, Peter spells it out for you. Pentecost is all about:

f. Jesus’ glory (Acts 2.33-36)

Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ…[Acts 2.36]

In other words, God has made the crucified, risen and ascended Jesus both Lord and Messiah. He has taken his rightful place, at God’s right hand. A place of total supremacy over the whole universe. But, just as you’re being swept up in this awe-inspiring vision of the glory of Jesus, there is a sting in the tail. Peter continues:

God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.

Once again Peter throws out the accusation that you are to blame for Jesus’ crucifixion. And you don’t know what to do next, you are convinced, convicted but you’re also confused about how to respond. And so you cry out “what shall we do then?” And the answer to that, is coming next week!

You may well know it already. If not, just skip on to Acts 2.38 for a sneak peek: Jesus grants the wonderful gift of himself, the Holy Spirit, through repentance:

Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

More on that though, as I say, next week. For now, let me offer a few brief reflections on Peter’s sermon to close because it seems to me that the newly empowered and transformed Peter models a masterclass in how to speak to others about Jesus. Whether it’s preaching to 3 or 3,000, whether it’s at a Sunday service or to a youth group, whether it’s in conversation with colleagues on your lunch hour or with your mates down the pub, we would do well to consider Peter’s method. Four things: Gospel proclamation and gospel conversation works best when:

1. We engage others where they are at

This is exactly what Peter did. He looked around and saw a bunch of folk asking a question, “What does it mean?” He saw another group of people taking the mickey, and saying that they’d all had a few too many sherbets! And that’s his point of contact. No, we’re not drunk. And since you asked, let me tell you what it means. We need to stop, pray for awareness, and listen to what those around us are really saying and asking. It might well be uncomfortable. We might be ridiculed. But these can be the openings that God wants to use. Engage others where they are at. Second, gospel proclamation and gospel conversation works best when:

2. We keep it simple!

Now you might think – hang on, what Peter says here is quite hard to follow. But I think more of that is do with the fact that we’re mostly 21st century Geordies (I use that term loosely), not 1st Century Jews! Peter spoke in simple, understandable ways that his audience (who shared his heritage, culture and language) could wrestle with straight away. Engage others where they’re at, keep it simple, third, gospel proclamation works best when:

3. We stay rooted in God’s word

Your words alone can’t impart faith! Remember what Paul writes in his letter to the Romans? So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Peter knew that and kept arguing from Scripture as to why Jesus was Lord and Saviour. And finally, and perhaps most importantly, gospel proclamation works best when:

4. We keep it all about Jesus!

Time and again Peter keeps the main thing, the main thing! It’s so easy to get distracted. It’s so easy to get caught up in conversations about all sorts of things from creation, end times, sexual ethics, Old Testament violence and all the rest of it, which are really important things and often great points of contact if that is what people are genuinely asking about. But ultimately if that’s only where the conversation stays, we’re doing our listeners no favours at all. I remember Glen Scrivener making this point very simply. Get the conversation to Jesus as soon as possible. And keep it there! And if we think we mess up all the other things. Just give them the truth of Jesus as well as you can express it – and leave the rest up to him! Every point in Peter’s Pentecost sermon is brought back to Jesus and we’re left in no doubt that Pentecost is all about Jesus - his life, death, resurrection, his ascension, his gift and his glory!