“Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.” Pentecost is a Jewish holiday where the Jews came to Jerusalem for a special feast and to honor God for His blessings of providing for their needs. Jews came from every part of the known world for they were devoted to serving God. The result was very large crowds such as when ringing in the New Year at Time Square in New York City or Mardi Gras in New Orleans. In his book, “New Testament History: A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Acts,” Gareth L. Reese wrote, “We are told that when Titus besieged Jerusalem (68-70 A.D.), an event which occurred about Passover time, there were no less than three million people in the city.”
“Utterly amazed, they asked: ‘Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans?’” These devout Jews realized the disciples were not from Jerusalem. Notice the emphasize to the statement “Are they not Galileans!” This crowd were utterly amazed in what they were hearing and seeing. It was not normal for these unlearned individuals to be able to speak all of these different languages. In the following verses, Luke records seventeen different regions where the Jews were from and yet each one heard the disciples speaking in their own tongue. Also keep in mind, there were only twelve disciples.
“Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language?” This is especially true, since each one was hearing the disciples preaching in their own native tongue. As the disciples were speaking, the Jews heard their own dialects which were from all the regions of the known world. The dialects were not the standard language spoken by the Jews which are Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek. The ultimate conclusion is this event of the Holy Spirit coming was a miracle. Only God could put on such a show to get people’s attention. What would you think if you heard your language spoken by someone who had not learned it? Especially after hearing the sound and seeing the tongues of fire? If you read the rest of the chapter you will see Peter preaching, explaining this is the fulfillment of prophecy. Proving that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the very one which they had been looking for to save them. This is the beginning of the Church.
THINK CAREFULLY ABOUT HOW GOD GOT THE CROWD’S ATTENTION TO REVEAL THE GOOD NEWS!!!