Filled with the Holy Spirit
Acts 2:1-13
May 2, 2026 anno Domini
Is it any wonder some in the crowd mocked Peter with the accusation of drunkenness?
This same crowd had been in Jerusalem 50 days earlier on Passover, when Jesus was crucified. That’s what Pentecost means – it marks 50 days after the Passover. This crowd had called for Jesus’ death. They had seen Him go alone to His trial and crucifixion. The only followers He had were a few women and one disciple – the one named John.
Where had Peter been? He watched from a distance. He had denied his Lord three times. He wouldn’t even confess that he knew Jesus to a servant girl.
If the crowd knew the rest of Peter’s story, the accusation of drunkenness would make even more sense. This man had left his boats, his business, everything to follow Jesus. He had hung his hope, his life, his future on Jesus of Nazareth. And then came judgment day – even though Pilate declared Jesus not guilty, the crowds, this crowd, would have none of it. Crucify Him. Crucify Him. And finally Pilate did just that. Everything Peter had hung his life on – this Jesus of Nazareth was judged guilty. And that left Peter a fool, worthless, alone. That might cause a man to drink too much.
There are a couple of stories about drunkenness in Scripture. You might not remember them because they don’t make for good Sunday school lessons. Noah got drunk. It happened right after the flood and it brought shame upon Noah and a curse upon his son Ham. Lot also got drunk after Sodom and Gomorrah. He had help from his daughters, and that didn’t end well either.
If everything you hoped in, believed in, trusted in, was destroyed. If judgment day came, and left you standing all alone, well you too might be tempted to drink too much wine, like Noah and Lot. It takes far less trouble than that for us to drink too much.
What else could explain this crazy man named Peter standing up before a crowd of thousands? The man who was intimidated by a servant girl now preaches boldly to thousands. He and the 10 had locked themselves up for fear and now they stood in the public square and preached? What other explanation but an excessive amount of liquid courage?
Except you know and I know and even the mockers knew that doesn’t explain Peter’s actions. Too much wine before 9 in the morning doesn’t help you suddenly speak Latin to the Romans who were in the crowd or Crete to the Cretans or Egyptian to the Egyptians. Peter wasn’t full of new wine. He was full of the Spirit. He wasn’t intoxicated. He was convicted by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
By faith Peter now had everything Jesus promised in today’s Gospel reading. He loved Jesus and was going to hold His Word sacred. He was not alone – the Father and Son had made their home with him. He had a peace the world could not give – his sins were forgiven, even if he died he lived. His heart was not troubled by his sins or by a world full of Christ’s enemies.
Drunkenness might be a reasonable explanation for some guy making a boisterous speech to a crowd of strangers, but what Peter did on Pentecost day does not have a reasonable explanation. What Peter did can only be attributed to the work of the Holy Spirit. What Peter did and what happened is not reasonable but miraculous.
That’s how Martin Luther describes the work of the Holy Spirit. In explaining the third article of the creed, the article on the Holy Spirit Luther writes:
I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to Him, but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.
Something unique and miraculous happened to Peter and the 12 on Pentecost day. The Spirit was poured out on them in a unique way as Jesus had promised. They were suddenly able to speak in languages they had never studied or learned. They would work miracles like Jesus Himself worked, including raising the dead. The Spirit would call to mind exactly what Jesus taught them so they could write it down for us – that is why we believe the written word of God is inspired – breathed out by the Spirit into these men. That Spirit gave them a boldness that made them unafraid of the crowd, the High Priest, and the Romans – all of whom crucified Jesus.
All of that was the full measure of the Spirit poured out on these men, but it had an even greater purpose – that you might believe Jesus died for your sins and rose again. That the same Spirit who worked through the good news of Christ’s resurrection – the Spirit who changed Peter would work the miracle of faith in you by that same good news.
Twice in his Pentecost sermon Peter blames the crowd for Jesus death –
this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.
Twice in the sermon Peter also makes clear that God raised Jesus from the dead, that Peter and the 12 were eye witnesses to this, and that everything they were witnessing – the boldness, the preaching, the languages – was all the Holy Spirit’s work as promised by Christ once He was raised from the dead.
Consider that simple sermon – Jesus claimed to be God’s Son. You killed Him. Now He, has risen from the dead. What would you conclude? That the flood of Noah’s day is coming and you’re don’t have a boat or a seat on the ark. That fire and brimstone are about to rain down on your Sodom and Gomorrah and you’re not getting out.
But look at the unreasonable miraculous ending of Peter’s sermon – the crowd was cut to the heart and asked Peter and the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter answered, “Repent, and be baptized everyone one of you for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the holy Spirt. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom our Lord calls to Himself.”
Then Luke tells us how church ended that day. “So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.”
This is the Gospel, the Good News that Peter preached, that is still the message of the Holy, Christian, and Apostolic Church. You are a sinner. And your sins are against God. Jesus is on the cross because of your sins. In the words of Peter – you crucified Him. But, here is the miracle, this is not judgment against you. This is God’s love for you. He judged His Son guilty of your sins. You will not stand alone on judgment day with your sins, rather you stand forgiven, at peace with the Father through the love of His Son declared to you by the Word of the Spirit.
How do you know this is true? You have the inspired written Word of God telling you. You have the evidence, the eye witnesses to Christ’s resurrection. The Holy Spirit is calling you by this Gospel, by this good news to repent and believe it for the forgiveness of your sins, the resurrection of your body and everlasting life. That’s the unreasonable miracle the Spirit works in you. In the name of Jesus. Amen.