When the Day of Pentecost Had Fully Come

Prayer

Gracious Father, we come before You this morning in the name of Jesus Christ, our Passover Lamb, who was slain for us. We thank You for His blood that covers our sin, for His resurrection that secures our hope, and for the gift of the Holy Spirit poured out at Pentecost.

Lord, as we open Your Word today, we confess our dependence on You. The same Spirit who filled the disciples in Jerusalem, we ask now to fill us—open our eyes to see, open our ears to hear, open our hearts to believe. May we not only study what You did then, but experience what You are doing now.

Father, remind us that from eternity past You have had a plan, and every detail points us to Jesus. Help us to marvel at Your sovereignty, to rejoice in the salvation You’ve given, and to surrender ourselves to the Spirit’s work in us today.

So Lord, guide us as we read, teach us as we listen, and change us as we respond. May Christ be exalted, and may every tongue here proclaim the wonderful works of God.

We ask this in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

The Day of Pentecost

Acts 2:1–4 NKJV

When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

You know what… before we go any further, I think we need to stop right here.

Because if we just jump into Pentecost without looking back, we’re going to miss what’s really happening.

The Day of Pentecost doesn’t begin in the upper room in Jerusalem. It begins centuries earlier—back in the days when Israel was still in bondage, back when God was laying the foundation of His plan through feasts and covenants, through blood and promise.

So let’s turn back the pages for a moment. Not to the first century, mere days after our Savior’s crucifixion and resurrection, but to the days of Israel’s captivity in Egypt. Back to the Exodus.

Because if we don’t start there… if we don’t see the Passover lamb, the blood on the doorposts, the bread without leaven, the firstfruits lifted before the Lord… then we will never grasp the full depth of what took place when the Spirit came down in Acts 2.

God has had a plan from the very beginning. And every detail—every feast, every command, every promise—points us forward to Christ.

Passover

Turn with me in your Bibles to Exodus 12.

Verse 3: “On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb.”

Verse 7: “And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it.”

And verse 13: “Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you.”

That was redemption by the blood of the lamb. Israel was delivered from death and brought out of bondage. And God told them: remember this, keep this feast forever.

Now turn ahead with me to the New Testament. John 1:29. When John the Baptist sees Jesus coming, what does he cry out? “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

Do you see it? The lamb in Exodus pointed straight to Christ.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 5:7, “Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.” And John 19:36 records, “Not one of His bones shall be broken.”—just as Exodus 12:46 commanded for the lamb.

The Passover lamb foreshadowed the cross. The blood on the doorposts foreshadowed the blood on the cross. All of it… pointing to Jesus.

Firstfruits

Now, after Passover comes the Feast of Firstfruits. Turn to Leviticus 23:9–11.

The Lord said, “When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.”

Did you hear that? On the day after the Sabbath. That means the feast of Firstfruits always fell on the first day of the week—what we call Sunday. The sheaf was offered as the beginning of the harvest, a pledge that the rest was on its way.

Now let’s trace the timetable. In Exodus 12, the Passover lamb was slain on the fourteenth day of the first month. That same night Israel ate the meal, and death passed over the homes marked by blood. The very next day, the fifteenth, began the Feast of Unleavened Bread, lasting seven days (Leviticus 23:6). Then, on the day after the Sabbath that followed Passover—that’s when the priest waved the firstfruits of the harvest.

Do you see how it lines up with Jesus? He was crucified during Passover, buried as the Feast of Unleavened Bread began, and rose from the dead on the day after the Sabbath—on Sunday morning—the very day of Firstfruits.

On the very feast of Firstfruits… Jesus rose from the dead. His resurrection was not random. It was right on God’s calendar. As Israel waved the first sheaf of the harvest before the Lord, God raised His Son from the grave as the firstfruits of a greater harvest—the resurrection of all who belong to Him.

Passover pointed to the cross. Firstfruits pointed to the resurrection. The Lamb slain on the fourteenth… the bread without leaven on the fifteenth… the firstfruits on the seventeenth—fulfilled in Christ, down to the very day.

And what does that mean for us? It means His resurrection is our guarantee. Just as the first sheaf promised a full harvest, Christ’s rising promises that you and I—if we belong to Him—will also be raised.

Turn with me to Matthew 28:1: “Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.”

After the Sabbath. The first day of the week.

Now Mark 16:2 says: “Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.”

Luke 24:1 adds: “Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.”

And John 20:1 says: “Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.”

All four Gospels tell us the same thing—Jesus rose on the first day of the week, the day after the Sabbath, the very day when Israel celebrated the Feast of Firstfruits.

Leviticus 23:11 said the priest was to wave the sheaf of the firstfruits “on the day after the Sabbath.” On that very day—while the priest was lifting the sheaf in the temple courts—God was raising His Son in a garden tomb outside Jerusalem.

As Israel gave thanks for the first sheaf of the harvest, God gave the true Firstfruits of the resurrection.

Now tie that to Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 15:20: “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”

On the very feast of Firstfruits… Jesus rose from the dead. His resurrection is the pledge, the guarantee, that the harvest is coming—you and me raised in Him.

Passover pointed to the cross. Unleavened Bread pointed to His sinless body laid in the tomb. Firstfruits pointed to His resurrection on the first day of the week.

All of it—right on God’s calendar. All of it pointing to Jesus.

Pentecost in the Old Testament

Now, let’s move forward to the Feast of Weeks—what the Jews called Shavuot, what the Greeks called Pentecost—the fiftieth day.

Go back to Leviticus 23:15–16: “You shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath… seven Sabbaths shall be completed. Count fifty days… then you shall offer a new grain offering to the LORD.”

Leviticus 23:17: “You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves… baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to the LORD.”

This was a harvest feast, but it was also tied to Israel’s covenant.

Turn to Exodus 19:16–18. “There were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud… and Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire.”

The Feast of Weeks became a remembrance of that day—the giving of the Law, the covenant sealed with fire and sound.

Pentecost in Acts 2:1-13

Now hold all of that in your mind as we turn back to the New Testament.

Go to Acts 1:3–5. After His resurrection, Jesus “presented Himself alive… being seen by them during forty days.” In verse 4, He commands them to wait in Jerusalem for “the Promise of the Father.” Verse 5: “You shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

Then Acts 1:9: He ascends into heaven. They wait ten more days.

And then—fifty days after Passover—the Day of Pentecost fully comes.

Now turn to Acts 2.

Verse 2: “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.” Verse 3: “Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.” Verse 4: “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

Wind—the Spirit who hovered over the waters at creation. Fire—the presence of God at Sinai. Sound from heaven—the very voice of God.

The Spirit who once filled a temple of stone now fills living temples.

The Nations Gathered

But who is there to witness it?

Acts 2:5: “And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven.”

Why so many nations? Because God had commanded it. This wasn’t random. This wasn’t coincidence. This was the sovereign hand of God.

Turn with me to Deuteronomy 16:16. The Lord says, “Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Tabernacles.”

Pentecost—the Feast of Weeks—was one of those pilgrim feasts. And so Jerusalem is full. Devout Jews from every corner of the known world have come up to worship. They didn’t know it, but God had appointed the calendar so that when the Spirit came, there would already be a worldwide gathering.

Not luck. Sovereignty.

Now think about this. God commanded those feasts in the wilderness, more than a thousand years before Acts 2. And He knew—He ordained—that on a Pentecost in Jerusalem centuries later, the Spirit would be poured out and the nations would be there to see it.

That means Acts 2 is not God reacting to the moment—it is God fulfilling what He planned from eternity past.

Do you remember what the Lord promised Abraham in Genesis 12:3? “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Here, in Acts 2, the families of the earth are gathered in Jerusalem. Parthians, Medes, Elamites, Romans, Arabs. They came because of a calendar command in Deuteronomy… but God’s plan was that they would hear the gospel in their own tongue.

And —this is a reminder for us. When we see the world gathered, when we see nations represented, when we hear languages we don’t understand—we’re not looking at accident. We’re looking at God’s mission field. He gathers for a reason. He always has.

So Acts 2:5 tells us something powerful: the Day of Pentecost was not a private blessing for a handful of disciples. It was public, global, missionary from the very beginning. God drew the nations to Jerusalem so that, filled with the Spirit, His people could declare His wonderful works in every tongue under heaven.

Now let’s look at verse 6: “When this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language.”

Notice carefully—it doesn’t say they were confused because the disciples were babbling. No, the confusion was this: fishermen from Galilee were speaking Persian… Latin… Arabic… Egyptian… languages they had never studied, dialects they could never have mastered.

This was not chaos. This was clarity.

The miracle of Pentecost wasn’t that the disciples heard themselves say strange words. The miracle was that the nations heard, each in their own tongue, the wonderful works of God.

Now think with me—why does Luke emphasize this? Because God is undoing what He did at Babel. Turn back with me to Genesis 11:7–8. The Lord says, “Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth.” At Babel, pride led to confusion. At Pentecost, grace led to clarity. At Babel, language scattered nations. At Pentecost, language proclaimed Christ to the nations.

And notice what drew the crowd in the first place. It was the sound. Acts 2:2 says there was “a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind.” That sound filled the house, but it also spilled into the streets. And when it did, verse 6 says, “the multitude came together.”

Don’t miss this—God used the sound to draw the nations. Just like He used the trumpet blast at Sinai to gather Israel (Exodus 19:16), now He uses a heavenly sound to gather the world. He made sure the nations would come running, so they could hear the gospel in their own language.

This was no accident. The Spirit didn’t just fill a room—He filled a city.

And here’s the lesson for us: when the Spirit moves, it is not for secrecy. It is not for private enjoyment. It is for witness. The sound that filled the house also drew the nations, because the Spirit’s work is always outward-facing, always pointing to Christ, always declaring the wonderful works of God.

Now look with me at verses 9 through 11.

Luke gives us a list of nations—Parthians, Medes, Elamites, Mesopotamians, Judeans, Cappadocians, men from Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egyptians and Libyans from Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs.

Now don’t skim that list. Don’t skip over it as though Luke was just filling space with geography. Every name is here for a reason. Luke is preaching through geography.

From the east—Parthians, Medes, Elamites, those from Mesopotamia. From the north—Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia. From the south—Egypt, Libya. From the west—Rome. And sprinkled in between—Jews, proselytes, Cretans, Arabs.

From every direction of the compass, God gathered a foretaste of the nations.

And doesn’t this sound like the promise He made to Abraham? Let’s turn back to Genesis 12:3 again. God said, “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Here it begins—the families of the earth, gathered in Jerusalem, hearing the gospel in their own tongue.

This is not just a crowd—it is a preview of the mission. It’s a down payment on Revelation 7:9, when John sees “a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.”

And what were they hearing? Verse 11 says, “We hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.”

Not human philosophy. Not political debate. Not chatter or noise. They heard the wonderful works of God.

That is what the Spirit does. Jesus said in John 16:14, “He will glorify Me.” The Spirit doesn’t draw attention to Himself, He draws attention to Christ. He opens mouths to proclaim and He opens ears to hear the greatness of God.

So don’t miss the picture here. On the very day of Pentecost, in a city crowded with the nations, God takes unlearned Galileans, fills them with His Spirit, and sends His praise out to the world. This is not just the birth of the Church—it is the launch of the mission. God’s promise to Abraham is taking shape. The harvest of nations has begun.

The Divided Response

Now look at verse 12: “So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘Whatever could this mean?’”

That’s the right question. Notice—they don’t deny what they’re seeing. They don’t dismiss it yet. They admit it: something is happening here beyond human explanation. They are amazed—astonished at the power on display. But they are also perplexed—confused, because it doesn’t fit in their categories.

And friends, that’s often where the Spirit’s work meets us. It amazes us… but it also unsettles us. It stirs questions in our hearts. “What does this mean for me? What is God doing? What is He calling me to?”

Now think of how often God has brought His people to this same place. When Joseph told Pharaoh his dream interpretation, Pharaoh said, “Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?” (Genesis 41:38). He was amazed, perplexed, asking what it could mean. When Daniel stood before Nebuchadnezzar and declared the mystery revealed by God, the king fell on his face in awe and confusion (Daniel 2:46). When Jesus stilled the storm, His disciples “feared exceedingly and said, ‘Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?’” (Mark 4:41). Always the same response—amazed and perplexed.

And isn’t that the right response to the living God? If we can explain everything in neat categories, then it isn’t God. When the Spirit moves, it shakes us. It amazes us. It forces the question: “Whatever could this mean?”

Now here’s the beauty. Their question opens the door for Peter’s sermon beginning in verse 14. The Spirit amazes, perplexes, awakens the question—and the Word of God provides the answer. That’s how God works. The Spirit convicts; the Word explains; Christ is revealed. Some hearts in that crowd were open, hungry, ready. And God met their question with truth that led them to salvation.

So let me pause and ask you—what about you? When God moves, when His Word pierces, do you push the question away? Or do you stop, and ask honestly, “Lord, what does this mean for me?” That’s the beginning of faith.

Now look at verse 13: “Others mocking said, ‘They are full of new wine.’”

Same event. Same miracle. Same sound from heaven. Same tongues declaring the wonderful works of God. And yet—two very different responses. Some are amazed. Some are perplexed. But others? They mock.

Amazement… or mockery. Worship… or ridicule.

And isn’t that always the case?

When Jesus healed the paralytic, some glorified God, while others accused Him of blasphemy (Luke 5:21, 26).

When He cast out demons, some marveled, while others said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebub” (Luke 11:15).

When Paul preached in Athens, Acts 17 tells us that “some mocked, while others said, ‘We will hear you again on this matter’” (Acts 17:32).

The same gospel that brings life to some sounds like foolishness to others.

Paul says it plainly in 1 Corinthians 1:18: “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

To one person, the cross is nonsense. To another, it is everything. To one, Pentecost is drunken chaos. To another, it is God’s salvation breaking into history.

And here’s the warning for us: don’t think being near the miracle guarantees faith. All these people stood in the same crowd, saw the same thing, heard the same words. But some left mocking, while others stayed and believed. Presence does not equal faith. Seeing does not equal believing. The Spirit must open the heart.

So let me ask you—when you hear the Word of God, when you see His Spirit move, how do you respond? With amazement… or with mockery? With humility… or with hardness?

You cannot remain neutral. The Spirit divides the crowd. He always has. He always will.

The Big Picture

Now let’s step back and see the big picture.

At Babel in Genesis 11, mankind exalted itself—“let us make a name for ourselves.” And what did God do? He scattered their language and divided the nations. Pride brought confusion.

But at Pentecost, God exalted Christ. And instead of scattering language, He redeemed it—so that every tongue could proclaim His glory. What once divided now declares the greatness of God.

At Sinai, in Exodus 32, Israel broke covenant with the golden calf. Moses came down, the Law in his hands, and about three thousand perished under judgment. The Law written on stone exposed sin and brought death.

But at Pentecost, the Spirit was poured out, the gospel was preached, and about three thousand souls were saved. The Spirit gave life where the Law had brought death.

At Sinai, God wrote His commands on tablets of stone. But at Pentecost, God wrote His law on human hearts, just as He promised in Jeremiah 31 and Ezekiel 36. Not external commandments, but inward transformation.

And again—at Babel, the nations were divided. But at Pentecost, the nations were gathered. What was fractured by judgment is being restored by grace.

All of it… pointing to Christ.

The Lamb who died at Passover. The Firstfruits who rose from the grave. The Lord exalted, who poured out His Spirit at Pentecost.

Every feast fulfilled. Every shadow realized. Every promise kept.

God is not improvising. He is orchestrating. And every note of His plan leads to Jesus.

Application

So… what does this mean for us today?

First—God is sovereign.

He commanded these feasts centuries before, and in the fullness of time Christ fulfilled them. At Passover, the Lamb was slain. At Firstfruits, the Son rose. At Pentecost, the Spirit came.

If God can weave centuries of history into His plan for Christ, then you can trust Him to weave the details of your life into His good purpose. Nothing in your life is random. Nothing is outside His control. He is the same God who holds the calendar of eternity in His hand—and He holds you in His hand too.

Second—salvation is for all nations.

The first thing the Spirit did was break the gospel out of one language, one people, one culture. Every tribe, every tongue, every nation hears the wonderful works of God.

That means the gospel is bigger than us. Bigger than our preferences. Bigger than our culture. It’s for the nations. And if Pentecost shows us anything, it shows us this: the Church is not meant to sit still. We are a missionary people. Jesus said in Acts 1:8, “You shall be witnesses to Me… to the ends of the earth.” Pentecost is the first step in that mission.

Third—the Spirit is still at work.

The same Spirit who filled Galileans fills us. The same Spirit who turned mockery into marvel dwells in you. He has not grown weaker with time. He has not retreated from His mission. He is still writing God’s law on hearts. He is still redeeming what Babel scattered. He is still gathering the harvest until Christ returns.

But notice—Pentecost forces a response. Some marveled. Some mocked. And so it is today.

You cannot remain neutral about Christ. You either marvel or you mock. You either believe or you reject.

So friend… where do you stand?

Do you see in Pentecost the hand of God from eternity past—pointing to Christ, fulfilling His promise, offering you life? Or do you dismiss it as foolishness, like those who mocked in Jerusalem?

The Spirit has come. Christ has been crucified, risen, exalted. The harvest has begun.

The question is not whether God has done His part.

The question is—what will you do with Christ?

Prayer

Father, we thank You that from the very beginning You set Your plan in motion. You gave the feasts, You spoke through the prophets, You prepared the way—all pointing to Jesus. We thank You for the blood of the Lamb that delivers us, for the resurrection of the Firstfruits that guarantees our hope, and for the gift of the Spirit who writes Your law on our hearts and sends us into the world. Lord, let us not mock or dismiss what You have done, but let us marvel and believe. Fill us with the same Spirit who came at Pentecost, that we might be bold witnesses to the wonderful works of God. And gather, Lord, the full harvest, until every tribe and tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. In His name we pray. Amen.