Author: Administrador

We encounter God as God walks among us. God’s strollings and interventions necessarily require human remembering and/or interpretation. God acts in our finite world through humans and on behalf of humans. Luke’s Pentecost story constitutes the only account we possess of the event. Yet for contemporary believers this narrative carries diverse implications for Christian life … Continue reading “Acts 2:1-21 Commentary by Mitzi J. Smith”

The less closely one reads this pericope, the easier it is to preach! The Spirit descends upon the apostles who are gathered in prayer and miraculously communicates God’s Word to a radically diverse assembly, resulting in the conversion of thousands. However, through closer scrutiny such simple conclusions are frustrated. Richard I. Pervo, in his commentary … Continue reading “Acts 2:1-21 Commentary by Jacob Myers”

Within the New Testament, only Luke-Acts divides Jesus’ resurrection, his ascension, and the giving of the Holy Spirit into three distinct and temporally separated events (compare John 20, which talks about them all on the same Easter day). Within the New Testament, only Luke-Acts divides Jesus’ resurrection, his ascension, and the giving of the Holy … Continue reading “Acts 2:1-21 Commentary by Brian Peterson”

Despite the theological attractiveness of seeing Pentecost as the reversal of Babel, there is little from the ancient historical and religious context to suggest that Luke or his audience would have made such a connection. There is more evidence for linking the Pentecost event with the renewal of the Sinai covenant. The writer of Jubilees … Continue reading “Acts 2:1-21 Commentary by Mikeal C. Parsons”

One challenge of preaching on major festival days such as Christmas, Easter, or Pentecost lies in their familiarity. If familiarity does not exactly breed contempt, it does tend toward the domestication of scripture’s most unruly, norm-busting stories. Incarnation, resurrection, and the outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit upon all flesh find themselves toned down into quiet … Continue reading “Acts 2:1-21 Commentary by Frank L. Crouch”

If a roomful of people given the ability to speak foreign languages sounds electrifying, try imagining a churchful of prophets.1 The visible and audible signs of the Spirit receive nearly all the attention in Pentecost liturgy, art, and wonder. But Acts 2 speaks of another Pentecost sign. Although that sign may be relatively understated in … Continue reading “Acts 2:1-21 Commentary by Matt Skinner”

It’s helpful to remember that Pentecost as a festival day did not originate with the story in Acts.   Pentecost was a Jewish festival fifty days after Passover, involving “a freewill offering in proportion to the blessing that you have received from the LORD your God.” The feast included “you and your sons and your daughters, your male and female slaves, … Continue reading “Acts 2:1- 4; Galatians 4:1-7 Commentary by Frank L. Crouch”

Given all the gifts Paul named as active, the Corinthian church certainly raised a ruckus. It must have been a noisy place full of different sounds, moving bodies, shifting actions. After all, in 1 Corinthians 12 Paul distinguishes classes and forms of God’s active work in the community, calling it gifts (1 Corinthians 12:4), services … Continue reading “Acts 2:1-4 Commentary by Shively Smith”

Commentary for these texts is forthcoming. PRAYER OF THE DAY Abba, Father,You have adopted us as heirs of your kingdom and we have inherited the gift and presence of the Holy Spirit. Through the fire of the Spirit make us generous givers of all that you have bestowed upon us, for the sake of the one whose … Continue reading “Acts 2:1-4; Galatians 4:1-7 and/or Galatians 5:16-26 Commentary by Working Preacher”

We begin our examination of this Sunday’s text by looking at its context in Luke-Acts. Luke begins this book with Jesus’ charge to the disciples. Jesus ordered them to wait in Jerusalem until they had received power from the Holy Spirit, in order to be witnesses to the gospel to the ends of the earth.  … Continue reading “Acts 1:15-17, 21-26 Commentary by Richard Jensen”