FIRST READING: Acts 2: 1 - 21 (RCL)

Acts 2:1 (NRSV) When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. 7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 9 Par'thians, Medes, E'lamites, and residents of Mesopota'mia, Judea and Cappado'cia, Pon'tus and Asia, 10 Phryg'ia and Pamphyl'ia, Egypt and the parts of Lib'ya belonging to Cyre'ne, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cre'tans and A'rabs--in our own languages we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power." 12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean?" 13 But others sneered and said, "They are filled with new wine."
14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, "Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. 15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning. 16 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Jo'el:
17 "In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.
18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
and they shall prophesy.
19 And I will show portents in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
20 The sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the Lord's great and glorious day.
21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.'

Notes h/t Montreal Anglican

The day of Pentecost has come; it is now fifty days since Easter. The way Luke puts it shows that Pentecost is a milestone in the story of salvation: recall Luke 2:6, “the time came for her to deliver her child ...” and Luke 9:51, “When the days drew near for him to be taken up ...” These too are milestones, and the language is similar. Other translations have was fulfilled for “had come” (v. 1) – the coming of the Holy Spirit is fulfilment. Look at the manner in which the Holy Spirit comes: the sound is “like the rush of a violent wind” (v. 2); and then, “divided tongues, as of fire” (v. 3). Luke attempts to describe the event in human terms, but it is never possible to explain a divine mystery: all we can do is say what it is like. The coming of the Holy Spirit is the gift inaugurating the final stage of the salvation story (or history, chronology); this era leads up to the end of time. His arrival is in fulfilment of Christ's promise, recorded in 1:8.
Acts is about mission, about speaking, proclaiming, the good news to people everywhere, in languages (and language) they can understand; Luke tells us that the Holy Spirit is the driving force behind this work, e.g. in the story of the Ethiopian Eunuch, we read “the Spirit said to Philip ...” (8:29). They spoke “in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability” (v. 4). Divided into nations in antiquity, now all humanity is one; now God is in our midst. The Spirit is the launching pad for this mission. The list in vv. 9-10 includes Jews from the whole of the known world. The mission to Gentiles will begin later. “God's deeds of power” (v. 11), of which all spoke, are explained by Peter in vv. 14-36, based on a quotation from the book of Joel (vv. 17-18): as the end of the era in which we are living approaches, many people will prophesy, and many will “see” things beyond what we call concrete reality. And this will happen because God pours out the Holy Spirit. Prophecy here is probably enthusiastically sharing the faith, “speaking about God's deeds of power” (v. 11). The “portents” (v. 19, events that foreshadow the end of the era) are expressed in terms of primitive science but we need to realize that things will happen which make no sense to our rational minds, things we cannot explain.

The fifty-day wait for the Holy Spirit is only found in Luke/Acts. In John 20:22, Jesus breathes on the disciples, and says “‘Receive the Holy Spirit’”. This raises the question: is Pentecost the same as Jesus’ gift of the Spirit? I present two possible answers:
• V. 4 reports that the disciples were speaking in different languages, without specifying which; v. 8 reports that members of the crowd were hearing in different languages. Perhaps members of the crowd were given a gift of interpretation of the tongues, and simply reported hearing their own language, so that the message might reach everyone.
• In John 20:22, the Holy Spirit comes to the disciples, but in Acts he/she comes to (or is seen by) many.
Pentecost is the point where the true Israel starts to separate itself from unbelieving Jewry, to become the Church. Jews from greater Israel (the Diaspora) witness the event.
This story is reminiscent of Isaiah 66:15-20, especially the Septuagint translation. Isaiah 66:18-20 (NRSV) says, in part: “I am coming to gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and shall see my glory, and I will set a sign among them. ... They shall bring all your kindred from all the nations ... just as the Israelites bring a grain offering ...”
Verse 1: The Feast of Weeks, celebrating the wheat harvest, was fifty days after the Feast of Unleavened Bread and Passover; hence the name Pentecost. Only from the second century AD on (notes JBC) was the giving of the law to Moses also celebrated as part of the Feast of Weeks. Leviticus 23:15-21 commands that this festival be celebrated, and how.
Verse 1: “had come”: NJBC has was fulfilled.
Verse 1: “all together”: These may be the 120 people of 1:15: “In those days Peter stood up among the believers (together the crowd numbered about one hundred twenty persons) ...”.
Verse 1: “in one place”: perhaps the house of 1:13: “When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying ...”. The scene changes to an arena or other public area in v. 5.
Comments: His arrival is in fulfilment of Christ's promise, recorded in 1:8. 1:8 says “... you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”.
Verse 8: Here they speak in foreign tongues (or, in some cases, dialects), but in 1 Corinthians 14:1-33, their form of speech is incomprehensible. [NOAB]
Verses 9-11: The list is generally from east to west, but Judea is out of place. This list is unlikely to be of Lucan origin, for Luke tells of missionary work in Syria, Cilicia, Macedonia and Achaia. Also, "Cretans and Arabs” (people of Jewish descent, from Arabia) seems to have been tacked on by a later hand. [JBC]
Verse 11: “God’s deeds of power”: Peter tells of them in vv. 22-36. [JBC]
Verses 12-13: This prefigures Israel’s general rejection of Jesus’ teaching, later in the book.
Verses 17-21: The citation from Joel 2:28-32 follows the Septuagint translation. A most important guide to Luke’s intentions is the series of alterations he (or his source) has made in the quoted text to produce a pertinent testimony:
• “In the last days”: This phrase replaces afterwards, making the prophecy more plainly the eschatological vision it already is. It is understood in the expanded sense of the time of the Church: see 1:6-8.
• “they shall prophesy” (v. 18): Luke has added this phrase. While Jesus’ status as a prophet is never more than obliquely affirmed in Luke-Acts, and neither is the risen Lord’s status as a prophet like Moses, yet it is an important ingredient of Luke’s theory of the necessity of the Passion and the nature of Jesus’ earthly ministry. Luke brings out that the fact that the apostolic mission is part of the eschatological prophecy of Jesus himself in the Temple sermon (3:22-26).
• “portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below” (v. 19): Luke has added “above”, “below” and “signs” for much the same reasons. [NJBC]



SECOND READING: 1 Corinthians 12: 3b - 13 (RCL)
1 Corinthians 12: 3b - 7, 12 - 13 (Roman Catholic)

1Cor 12:3 (NRSV) [N]o one can say "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit.
4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.
12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--Jews or Greeks, slaves or free--and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

Early in this letter, Paul has noted that the Christians at Corinth “are not lacking in any spiritual gift” (1:7); even so, they appear to have written to him “concerning spiritual gifts” (v. 1): it seems that there are questions in the community. One gift is inspired speech. The tests for whether one speaks under the influence of the Holy Spirit are:
• that one accepts Christ’s authority and pledges obedience to him, “Jesus is Lord” (v. 3) and
• that one does not curse Jesus (even under duress).
Speech that fails these tests is influenced by other (pagan, v. 2) spirits.
“Gifts” (v. 4) is widely defined, and includes “services” (v. 5, ministries) and “activities” (v. 6, operations). Note the suggestion of the Trinity: “same Spirit ... same Lord ... same God” (vv. 4-6), and note also:
• the Spirit himself is a gift of the Father;
• Christ was sent to serve or minister; and
• the Father is the source of all being and “activities”.
With a common origin, all gifts are shown through the Holy Spirit, not for personal edification but “for the common good” (v. 7), for building up the Church. While the gifts in vv. 8-10 can be grouped, the precise meanings are uncertain:
• “wisdom ... knowledge ... faith”;
• “healing ... working of miracles ... prophecy”;
• “discernment ... tongues ... interpretation”.
“Wisdom” and “knowledge” seem to be the ability to instruct; “faith” seems to be exceptionally deep faith – that God can do anything. “Discernment” is the ability to tell whether gifts genuinely come from God. “Tongues” may be unintelligible speech which needs “interpretation”. Each of us receives a gift (perhaps not one listed); God chooses, not us. Finally, likening the Church to a “body” (v. 12), Christ’s body, Paul says that:
• our God-given gifts contribute to the Church as a whole;
• baptism is through the “Spirit” (v. 13); and
• regardless of ethnic origin or social status, we are all empowered by the Holy Spirit.


For more on the gifts of the Spirit, see Chapters 13-14. [NOAB]
This passage tells how the Holy Spirit enables members of the community to fulfil special roles for the benefit of all.
Verse 1: “Now concerning”: This is the first question raised by the Corinthian Christians. For others (also introduced by “now concerning”), see 7:25 (virgins); 8:1 (food which had been sacrificed to idols); 16:1 (collection for fellow Christians); 16:12 (our brother Apollos will come to you). See also 15:1.
Verse 2: “enticed”: Pagan religions in Greece embodied unbridled enthusiasm and emotionalism, even extending to the orgiastic frenzies of the devotees of Dionysios. [JBC]
Verse 2: “idols that could not speak”: i.e. they could not answer prayers. For this thought in the Old Testament, see 1 Kings 18:26-29 (Baal does not answer his prophets) and Psalm 115:4-8. Perhaps Paul contrasts the silence of the idols with the noisy (demon-inspired) outcry of the worshippers. [Blk1Cor]
Verse 3: “Let Jesus be cursed”: There were overtones of contempt in the way the “spirit-people” neglected the lessons of the life of the historical Jesus (see 2 Corinthians 5:15), and Paul probably created this shocking formula to crystallize the implications of their attitude. Other interpretations are possible.
Verse 3: “Jesus is Lord”: For this confession in baptism, see Romans 10:9; Philippians 2:11. See also Galatians 3:13. [NJBC]
Verses 4-7: The real test of gifts is whether they come from God and contribute to the common good and edify the community: see also 8:1. [NOAB] Christians differ from one another, not only in physical make-up but in the spiritual gifts distributed (“varieties”, Greek: diaireseis) to each. Uniformity of experience and service is not to be expected. [Blk1Cor]
Verse 7: The point is that each member of the church has a manifestation of a gift appropriate to his or her self. [Blk1Cor]
Verses 8-10: This list is not exhaustive, and precise definitions of what Paul means are impossible. It is very likely that the Corinthian Christians knew what he meant. See 12:27-30; Romans 12:6-8; Ephesians 4:11 for different lists of gifts. [NJBC]
Verse 9: “faith”: All Corinthian Christians must have possessed the faith by which one begins the Christian way of life and continues on it, so perhaps the faith in question is that connected with “working of miracles” (v. 10) and “gifts of healing”. [Blk1Cor] In 13:2, Paul writes: “... if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing”.
Verse 10: “miracles”: On apostolic miracles, Paul says in Romans 15:18-19: “I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to win obedience from the Gentiles, by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and as far around as Illyricum I have fully proclaimed the good news of Christ”. See also Galatians 3:5 and 2 Corinthians 12:12. [NOAB]
Verse 10: “discernment”: 1 John 4:1 warns: “... do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God”. [NOAB]
Verse 10: “various kinds of tongues”: Paul writes in 13:1, only a few verses later: “If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal”. See also Chapter 14. Paul is thinking of unintelligible speech. [Blk1Cor]
Verse 10: “interpretation of tongues”: See also 14:9-19, a section that begins “... if in a tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is being said? For you will be speaking into the air”. [NOAB]
Verse 11: “are activated”: i.e. are put into operation. [Blk1Cor]
Verses 12-13: The analogy of the body was frequently employed in the ancient world. [Blk1Cor]
Verse 13: The Church is the manifestation and extension of the Lord’s body in this world. The Church is the body of Christ because it is composed of members who share in the life of the Risen Lord.
Verse 13: “baptised into one body”: See also Romans 12:4-5 (“For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, ...”) and Ephesians 4:14-16.
Verse 13: “made to drink of one Spirit”: In 3:16 Paul asks, perhaps rhetorically: “Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?”. See also 6:19. The tense of the verb mitigates against this being a reference to the Eucharist.



GOSPEL: John 20: 19 - 23 (all)

John 20:19 (NRSV) When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."


Early on Easter Day, Mary Magdalene has discovered that Jesus’ body is missing from the tomb. There is a man standing nearby, whom she assumes is the gardener. When he speaks to her, she recognizes him as Jesus. She has told the disciples: “I have seen the Lord” (v. 18).
Jesus now appears to his disciples in his resurrection body: he bears the marks of his crucifixion, yet can pass through doors; he is truly alive. Earlier, he has said “[my] peace I leave with you” (14:27). As he has been sent into the world with the Father’s authority, so he now sends out the disciples (and the Church) to continue his work (v. 21). To early Christians, Jesus’ exaltation, his appearances and the giving of the Holy Spirit are one event. Conversion and baptism involve forgiveness of sins; those who reject the good news are not forgiven (“retained”, v. 23).

Verses 19-23: Apart from in the longer ending of Mark (see Mark 16:14-18), which a number of important manuscripts lack, and the mention of an appearance “to the twelve” (see 1 Corinthians 15:5), the only parallel to this story is Luke 24:36ff, where Jesus shows himself to “the eleven and their companions”. The community would meet for Eucharist during the evening. So this passage would have a special resonance for the worshipping community, as they met for their weekly commemoration of Jesus’ resurrection. When Paul visited Greece, Christians celebrated the Eucharist in the evening: Acts 20:7 says “On the first day of the week, when we met to break bread, Paul was holding a discussion with them; since he [Paul] intended to leave the next day, he continued speaking until midnight” [BlkJn]
Verse 19: The “disciples” may have been a larger group than the remaining eleven (less Thomas). [JBC]
Verse 19: “the doors ... were locked”: For “fear of the Jews” see also 7:13 and 19:38. It is not clear why at this time Jesus’ followers should fear them.
Verse 19: “Jesus came and stood among them”: In 1 Corinthians 15:35-56, Paul asks a rhetorical question, and answers it: “... someone will ask, ‘How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?’ Fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies”.
Verse 19: “Peace be with you”: Exchanging the peace was a usual Jewish greeting (see Judges 6:23; 19:20; Tobit 12:17) but the repetition of the words in vv. 21 and 26 suggests a reference back to 14:27 (“ ... my peace I give to you”) and 16:33 (“... in me you may have peace”). [BlkJn]
Verse 20: “hands ... side”: Identifying marks. See also Luke 24:25-26. [NOAB]
Verse 20: “rejoiced”: This fulfils the promises of renewed joy: see 14:19 and 16:16-24. [NJBC] This contrasts with Luke 24:37: there the stress is on terror and amazement. [JBC]
Verse 21: “Peace”: Also a promised gift: see 14:27. [NJBC]
Verse 21: “‘so I send you’”: See also 5:23; 13:20; 17:18. [NJBC]
Verse 22: The commissioning of the disciples also appears in other post-resurrection appearances: see Luke 24:47-48; Matthew 28:19-20a. Jesus confers on the disciples the mission of which he has spoken: see 17:18. See also 4:38 and 13:16. [NJBC]
According to BlkJn, 7:39 says that the Holy Spirit would be received after Jesus’ glorification; 15:26 and 16:7 say that the Holy Spirit would be received after Jesus returned to the Father. The ascension has now happened.
Verse 22: “he breathed on them”: The same image is used to describe the communication of natural life in Genesis 2:7. Here it is used to express the communication of the new, spiritual, life of re-created humanity. [NOAB] In Greek, pneuma means both breath and spirit. In Genesis 2:7, God breathes into the nostrils of Adam, giving him earthly life; [JBC] the Septuagint translation uses pneuma there. See also Ezekiel 37:9 (the valley of dry bones) and Wisdom of Solomon 15:11.
Verse 22: “‘Receive the Holy Spirit’”: In 15:26 and 16:7 Jesus says that when he has returned to the Father, he will send the Holy Spirit. In v. 17 he has told Mary Magdalene that he has not yet ascended, so in that he now gives the disciples the Holy Spirit, the ascension has now happened. So in John, Jesus’ resurrection, his ascension, and the coming of the Holy Spirit all happen in the same day. But to John (and other New Testament authors) chronology is of secondary importance. In common with the authors of the synoptic gospels, John insists on the connection between the resurrection and the animation of the Church by the Holy Spirit. [JBC] Note the connection between the granting of authority and receipt of the Holy Spirit. See 16:7 for the continuation of Jesus’ ministry by the Holy Spirit.
While in 7:39 Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will only be given after Jesus’ glorification and in 16:7 he says that he will send the Holy Spirit after he has returned to the Father, here Jesus appears to grant the Holy Spirit before he has been exalted. Scholars have puzzled over this for centuries. The most likely explanation is that early Christians were less concerned with chronological sequence than we are – they saw Jesus’ resurrection, he appearances, his exaltation, and the gift of the Holy Spirit as one event. Only later did they begin to be described as separate events. As support for this apparent lack of chronological sense, note that while Luke describes the Ascension as occurring at Pentecost in Acts 1:3-10, he describes Jesus’ decisive parting from the world on Easter Day in Luke 24:51: “While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven”.
Verse 23: Through the Holy Spirit, the Church continues the judicial role of Christ (see 3:19; 5:27; 9:39) in the matter of sin (see Matthew 16:19; 18:18; Luke 24:47). (In Matthew 16:19, “bind” and “loose” are technical rabbinic terms: “bind” means forbid; “loose” means permit.) [JBC]
Verse 23: “forgive ... retain”: BlkJn notes that these expressions are not used elsewhere in John and not at all in the Matthean parallels (see Matthew 18:18; 16:19). He notes that Matthew 16:19 (“whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven ...”) recalls Isaiah 22:22, so he suggests that both this verse in John and the parallels in Matthew may be variants of a common original. This original, which might well have been in Aramaic, may have followed Isaiah in speaking of the conferral of authority as opening and shutting. In this case, John and Matthew provide different interpretations of what Jesus said, with the Johannine version arising out of the ambiguity in the Aramaic words, for there the word to shut also means to seize or to hold. Given hold for shut, loose (release, set free) for open follows naturally. In support of this hypothesis, BlkJn notes that the Greek verb translated retain is not used here in any of its normal senses, so it may be a Semitism.
Verse 23: Comments: Conversion and baptism involve forgiveness of sins: See also Matthew 28:19 and Mark 16:16 for mention of baptism in a similar position.

Saints days
6 Ini Kopuria, Founder of the Melanesian Brotherhood, 1945
7 The Pioneers of the Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil, 1890
8 Roland Allen, Mission Strategist, 1947
9 Columba, Abbot of Iona, 597
10 Ephrem of Edessa, Syria, Deacon, 373
11 Saint Barnabas the Apostle
12 Enmegahbowh, Priest and Missionary, 1902
13 Gilbert Keith Chesterton, Apologist and Writer, 1936
14 Basil the Great, Bishop of Caesarea, 379
15 Evelyn Underhill, Theologian and Mystic 1941
16 George Berkeley, 1753, and Joseph Butler, 1752, Bishops and Theologians
17
18 Bernard Mizeki, Catechist and Martyr in Rhodesia, 1896