Sunday School Lessor
(Continued front Pa|a S)
understands the work of the
Spirit in the church and since
we shall later examine in some
detail Paul's view of the Spirit,
we shall focus our attention here
on the understanding of the
Spirit in Acts.
The story of Pentecost in Acts
2 is detailed and vivid. Scholars
have long recognized the similar
ity between this story and the
account of the giving of the Law
at Sinai as it was elaborated and
interpreted by the rabbis. Ac
cording to the rabbis, the mis
sion of Israel to the nations of
the world was prepared for at
the very time of the giving of
the Law. A miracle occurred
which resulted In the simultan
eous translation of the Law into
all seventy of the languages of
the earth. The rabbis, of course,
believe that there were seventy
(or seventy-two) nations in all.
It is this legend which must
have been in the mind of the au
thor of Acts as he wrote his ac
count of the coming of the Spirit.
The link with the Old Testament
tradition is made clear by his
dating the occurrence on the Day
of Pentecost, the Feast of Weeks.
It was to come seven weeks and
one day after the harvest had
begun; hence its name. Pentecost,
from the Greek word for fifty.
It was appropriate to have the
Spirit come on this day, since its
work looked forward to the com
pletion of the harvest. Thus Pen
tecost symbolized the fulfillment
of God's purpose in calling to
gether his people.
What Acts describes here is a
foretaste of the situation at the
end of the age when all nations
will share in the life of God's
people. They are here represent
ed by the crowd gathered at
Jerusalem for Pentecost. Acts de
clares that there were men "from
every nation under heaven"
(Acts 2:5). Actually, they were
Jews and "devout men," by
which the author may have
meant Gentiles who were in
terested in becoming members of
the Jewish covenant community
by accepting baptism and cir
cumcision. Or he may have been
thinking in more general terms
of Gentiles who were genuinely
religious persons, even though
they lacked the knowledge of
God that was available to man
through the revelation of the
Law and the prophets. Or he
may have meant that they were
already proselytes; that is, those
who Viad accepted circumcision
and become Jews by adoption, so
to speak. Their geographical
spread covers most of the civi
lized world in Roman times.
Into this crowd came the vis
ible and audible manifestations
of the Spirit in wind and fire as
the Spirit came upon the Chris
tian community. The marvel was
compounded. Acts reports, by
the fact that the ability to speak
in strange languages was ac
companied by the miracle of
simultaneous translation, so that
each onlooker heard the message
In his own language. The latter
feature (translation) of speaking
in tongues Is not found In any
Other New Testament passage
dealing with this phenomenon.
When Paul discusses the gifts of
the Spirit In First Corinthians
12-14, he states that the speaker
must have on hand a spirit-en
dowed Interpreter to explain
what Is being said for the bene
fit of the church or the onlook
ers.
5. Unity of The Church
The coming of the Spirit oc
curs only when the church is met
together in unity. Acts stresses
several times the importance of
maintaining the unity of the
church if the Spirit is to be ef
fective (2:1-4; 4:31). The selfish
actions of Ananias and Sapphira,
by which they held back money
which should have been placed
in the common treasury if the
church, is described as a sin
against the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:
3). This theme of the unity of the
Spirit is developed more fully
by Paul and other New Testa
ment writers (Ephesians 4:3).
The main function of the Spi
rit, however, is to equip the dis
ciples to fulfill the world mission
of the church. This is viewed by
Acts as already taking place in
miniature form on the very day
that the Spirit first came. This
outpouring of the Spirit is seen
as the fulfillment of prophecy
(Joel 2:28-32). The signs and
wonders that accompany the
coming of the Spirit are a part
of the fulfillment of the proph
ecy, but not the most important
part. The more significant fac
tors are: (1) the granting of the
Spirit to all mankind and (2) the
coming of the Spirit in this way
which promises that God's pur
pose is being fulfilled and that
the long-awaited Day of the
Lord is coming (Acts 2:21). The
world mission of the church is
a necessary step before the new
age fulfillment can occur.
6. The Spirit Granted I* All
Mankind
The universal scope of the
church's mission is described in
the prophetic words quoted from
Joel (Acts 2:17) where it is said
that the Spirit will be poured
cut on all flesh, which means,
"all humanity." The invitation to
to share in the blessings o'
the new age is evident in the
declaration that "whoever calls
on the name of the Lord shall be
saved." The possibility of shar
ing in the life of the people of
God is open not to Jews alone,
but to anyone who calls on the
Lord's name. Acts understands
"the Lord" to mean Jesus, so
that he is inviting all men of
every race to respond to the gos
pel appeal.
The opening phase of the com
ing of the Spirit on "all flesh"
leads on to the grant of the Spirit
to the Samaritans who are con
verted to Christian faith (Acts
8:17). Similarly, the Gentiles
who heard the gosDel through
the preaching of Peter in the
house of Cornelius (Acts 10) re
ceived the Snirit when they be
lieved. The apostles in Jerusalem
are convinced of the validity of
the Gentile mission when they
learn that the Spirit has come on
the Gentiles as well (Acts 11 '.IS
IS).
On the occasion of the assem
bling of the apostolic council in
Jerusalem (Acts 15), Peter re
ports that God has placed his
stamp of approval on the evange
lization of the Gentiles. God has
given them the gift of the Spirit
just as he first granted it to the
Jewish apostles gathered in
Jerusalem on the day of Pente
cost. All who seek the Lord may
find htm from whatever race or
nation. The promise is no longer
to be limited to Israel: whoever
calls on the Lord's name may be
saved.
7. New Are Premise Fulfilled
This brings us back to the sec
(Continued on Page ?)
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