The Spirit would come fulfilling Christ’s promise and prepare the disciples of Christ to preach His Gospel. However, today, the church’s problem with this passage is that we get caught up in the descriptive images of the event and completely miss the purpose of the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. 

Acts 2:1–13 may be one of the most misunderstood and maybe misinterpreted texts in Scripture. However, when we simply read the text as it is written I believe we can confidently understand Luke’s intent for recording this paragraph. The purpose of Pentecost becomes clear as we follow Luke’s flow of thought in the opening chapters of his second volume. Luke’s intent is to describe the Holy Spirit coming upon the disciples to empower them for Gospel proclamation to the nations. In the first part of this passage, we will consider promise fulfillment as the purpose of Pentecost (vv. 1–4).

“When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.”
(Acts 2:1)

Luke begins this paragraph, when the day of Pentecost arrived. This prompts our first question: what is the significance of the day of Pentecost?

The Day of Pentecost

The day of Pentecost was an important day in the life of the Jews. It was a day of celebration that found its roots in the Old Testament feasts, specifically the Feast of Weeks, the fiftieth day after Passover (Lev 23:15–16; Deut 16:9–12). Pentecost, considered a harvest festival by the Jews, was a time when they gathered in great numbers in Jerusalem.

However, he makes another important statement regarding the devotion of the disciples. They were all together in one place. He doesn’t give us a specific number here so it could be the 120 he noted in Acts 1, or it could be an even more significant number of disciples that are gathered. On this day, it is generally believed to be more than just the twelve Apostles, although that core twelve did regularly continue to gather to obey the instructions of Christ.

“And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me…”
(Acts 1:4)

Do you see the disciple’s devotion to the commands of Christ? He spoke to them, ordered them to go wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father, the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said it, and the disciples were doing it. They gathered in one place for one purpose. To wait until the promised Holy Spirit came upon them.

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

As they were obeying Christ, devoted to prayer and the Word, Luke writes,

“And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.”
(Acts 2:2)

Here is an important distinction to make, a mighty rushing wind didn’t blow through the doors and windows. But a sound like a mighty rushing wind descended from above. The disciples heard the sound of the wind—they didn’t feel the force of the wind. This sound of a mighty rushing wind filled the whole house. There was not a quiet spot in the room. However, they were seated when the sound was heard. Curtis Vaughn writes, “There was a noise and there were tongues; but there was neither felt blast nor felt burning.”¹ You can imagine the way a sudden sound of a mighty wind would arrest your attention in the quietness of prayer. We also know that they had heard Jesus teaching the likeness between the wind and the Spirit:

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