One of the questions raised as
you read Acts 2 is just where the followers of Jesus were when the Holy Spirit
descended. Traditionally, most scholars have held that they were in a room
together, most likely the same room mentioned in Acts 1:13. Such a room must
have been large (it held 120 people) and located in Jerusalem somewhere not far
from the Temple area. It has been speculated that it would have been in the
poorer part of town, since most of the followers of Jesus were from the working
class and were visitors who had been in the city for almost two months.
A few scholars, however, argue that the coming of the Holy
Spirit happened in the Temple itself. They point out that the word “house” is
sometimes applied to the Temple, and that there was certainly room in the
Temple courts for 120 people to gather. The time given in verse 15, 9:00 AM,
suggests that the disciples would have already have gone to the Temple to
observe the festival. If this is the case, then the coming of the Spirit would
have been heard and seen by a huge throng at the Temple and in its vicinity,
which could explain the amazement of the crowd and the powerful response to
Peter’s preaching.
As attractive as this idea is, I think there are two facts
in the text that make it unlikely. The first is that the group is described as “sitting”
in the house where they were. Worshippers would not have been sitting in the
Temple on a feast day; they would have been standing amidst a mass of people
gathered for the feast. The Greek word translated “sitting” does have a
secondary meaning of “staying” or “dwelling,” but the more common translation
seems to be appropriate here.
The second factor that tells against the Temple theory is
that we do not read that the crowd was amazed by the visible and audible
phenomena that surrounded the descent of the Holy Spirit. Rather, they were
amazed by the fact that the followers of Jesus, although distinctly Galilean,
were speaking in their own native languages, and this all at the same time.
Those who derided them as drunk may have been natives who, of course, only
heard them speaking Aramaic or Hebrew, the common languages of Israel. It was
this phenomenon that drew the crowd and attracted their attention.
I think the most likely scenario goes like this: The
followers of Jesus were gathered in an upper room not far from the Temple.
Sometime before 9:00 AM, perhaps as they were preparing to leave to go to the
Temple, the Holy Spirit came with audible and visible signs, and as they began
to talk about what was happening they were intelligible to all people in their
native languages. (This is often seen as a reversal of Babel.) As they went out
in the street and moved toward the Temple, they began to attract a crowd of
amazed onlookers, Jews from all over the Roman and Parthian empires. Peter rose
to the occasion, and the Spirit moved the crowd through Peter’s preaching so
that 3000 people responded and were saved.
Whatever the facts are, we can see that the power of the
Holy Spirit, coming at Pentecost, brought about conviction of sin and
conversion of hearts. The same Spirit is still at work today, and we should not
be surprised when, in any place and at any time, we see Him working in power
today to draw people to Jesus and to bring salvation to any who yield to Him.
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