Act 2:5-11 “And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.”
The wonderful works of God do not happen in a vacuum. Pentecost had fully come, manifesting the Holy Ghost in a way the disciples had not experienced before. The Holy Ghost came upon them suddenly and with great power. They were filled (supplied, fulfilled) with His presence.
The Holy Ghost gave them the ability to speak in other languages. This miracle could not be kept quiet. It was not long before word was spreading about what was taking place with the disciples. Soon, a crowd began to gather.
This news drew devout men from every nation who had come to dwell at Jerusalem. Some of these were Hellenistic Jews who were trying to combine their Jewish religious heritage with the Gentile cultures of the countries where they were born. Some were not Jews at all from a standpoint of lineage but were Gentiles who had converted to the Jews religion (proselytes). These were men who were not easily swayed in their convictions.
However, they were confounded when they came together. It did not matter where they started from. Every man heard the disciples speak in their own language. They were astonished that these men from Galilee could be easily understood by the rest of them.
Historically, we are told that in Jesus’ day the Jews from Galilee were considered less pious than the Jews from Jerusalem. This attitude is reflected in Nathaniel’s question to Philip when he asked, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46). Yet, these devout Jews from every nation heard these Galilaeans speak in their own tongue. More importantly, they heard them speak the wonderful works of God.
How many of us have had the experience of sitting in church and suddenly realizing that the man standing and preaching was “speaking our language”? He was describing the way we felt in our hearts. We wondered if our guilt and shame was that obvious. Surely, he was looking straight at us while he was talking.
Then, with amazement, we began to hear the wonderful works of God. Jesus loves us and takes away our sins. He suffered the shame that should rightly have been ours. According to the loving will of our Heavenly Father, Jesus covered us in His own righteousness and made us accepted in the beloved!
May the Holy Ghost continue to work in our hearts that we may hear in our own tongue the wonderful works of God!
