Acts 2:5-11 - James McCleery

Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,[a] Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!”

Luke is quick to offer this insight about these sounds made by the apostles and heard by Jews around them. These Jews were very devout and well educated in the Jewish practices. They were not easily given over to confusion and would have recognized their own homeland language being spoken amongst all the others. This was no small crowd that was drawn to the men now uttering many different languages at the same time. They had come together for the Feast of the Passover from all over the Roman empire and would remain to the Feast of the Pentecost. At which time their numbers could greatly exceed the general population of Jerusalem. They recognized the local Gaileans as the ones speaking their languages and were amazed that these podunks could so easily interpret each person’s language to this degree. But, as amazed as they were, they still did not recognize the Holy Spirit of God working and thought them to be drunk. Is this the mistake we make as Christians in the world of educated men? We sometimes fail to recognize when God uses the least of us, the poor in spirit and uneducated, to bring the message of the cross to even those who proclaim themselves devout before God!