Scripture
1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place... 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, and the Spirit was giving them utterance... 8 How is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born? Acts 2:1, 7
Observations
There are two groups in these two verses. The first group is somewhat undefined, and the second is pretty clear. Most depictions of Pentecost have twelve men with tongues of flame over their heads, and descriptions might consist of twelve men speaking in other languages. I am unconvinced, but not dogmatic. The verse says that “they were all together in one place.” The word all might refer to the newly formed Twelve (the Eleven plus Matthias). But equally so, at least, and I think more likely, it means that the roughly 120 were in one place. Verse 1:15 describes this new infant movement as being about 120 people large. It was from that 120 that Matthias and Joseph were called forth as potential apostles.
If this Pentecost gathering were just the Twelve, then they did not need a particularly large place to gather, and somehow, the flavor of this first chapter is that the Twelve were always in each other's company. With them were Jesus' earthly family and other women who had been supporters of Jesus. This was a relatively small group who could live communally. That would not likely be the case for the full 120.
I also think it likely that it was the full 120 at Pentecost, because the coming of the Holy Spirit made such a racket that a large crowd gathered. If it was just twenty or so folk in a large dining room or something, there would not be room for thousands. At the close of Peter's sermon, Luke tells us that three thousand were saved. Likely there were quite a number of folk outside that group, those that weren't saved, so that makes this a pretty large place indeed, to be able to accommodate thousands.
Yet another suggestion that the full group was gathered is all the languages that were spoken. Luke gives us a list of twenty cities, regions and provinces, each with its own language. Residents of each of these places were present, and heard their mother tongues spoken. If it were only the twelve, they would have had to be shifting languages quite a bit. This is not impossible, because with God, nothing in impossible. However it is far more likely that there were many more than twelve speaking at once in twenty or more different languages.
This is the second major event that reverses the curses that have affected us all through human history. The first curse was the curse of death. Adam and Eve's disobedience brought death into the human race. “If you eat of the fruit,” God said, “you will surely die.” No matter how you interpret that curse of death, it happened. It took nearly a century, but they finally, physically died. But probably more importantly, that very day their spiritual life expired. They had been close to God, able daily, to talk with Him, to trust in Him. But when they ate the fruit, they separated themselves away, spiritually, and attempted to do so physically. They hid themselves in the trees of the garden as it were, as though they thought God could not see them. The curse came about because they chose pride, desiring to be gods or at least like God by knowing both good and evil.
That first curse of death, separation from God and physical death was reversed on Easter. Taking the crucifixion and resurrection as a single unitary event, the curse of death was fulfilled on the cross and broken by the empty tomb. Humans no longer needed to endure a forced separation from God, and the grave was no longer the final sting.
The second universal curse was broken at Pentecost. The curse came at the tower of Babel, when pride won for a second time. Both events were the result of humans thinking they could make themselves gods, or at least be equal to God. The tower of Babel was the attempt, out of human vanity, to reach heaven and be like God who was in heaven. That pride brought on the curse of separation again, just like the sin in the Garden. The first separation was a separation between God and human. The second was the separation between neighbors. The sudden imposition of a variety of languages made communication and unity impossible, and people became separate from each other in a way that had never before existed.
Pentecost broke the curse. The mighty works of God were no longer just confined to the people of Israel who spoke one particular language, but now they belonged to all nations as they were suddenly made available to hear about those might works, especially the mighty work of resurrection, in all languages. God had called Israel to be His people in order to be a beacon to draw all nations to Him, through them. It was always God's desire to reach all people. Now He has made a major step forward by reversing His curse on humankind, not by changing their languages back, but by overcoming the differences of language by telling the story in all languages.
There were mockers. Even in the presence of such a mighty force, people mocked. The sound, the wind, the tongues of flame and the imposition of languages, all that before people, and they mocked. Some hearts will just remain hard.
Application
Even in their mocking, they accidentally got something right. The statement that those who were speaking were filled with new wine had some accuracy. They were suddenly filled, overwhelmed and were controlled by the new wine of the Holy Spirit. Drunk, they were not. Filled, yes they were.
They were filled to be a part of the reversal of the curses on humankind. Only a few knew that the curse of death was broken. That had to be changed. It was not news just for Aramaic-speaking people, it is news for the world. They were filled to be a part of the reversal of the curse of human separation, and so they spoke in tongues unknown to themselves, but familiar and relied upon to hundreds present.
This reversal of the two curses reflects God's desire of us to love Him and one another. The wall separating us from Him was smashed, the curtain torn, the relationship finally possible once again. We can finally and truly love God.
It is hard to love strangers. The separation of people by language certainly made fear of the “other” possible, if not likely. From that, wars begin. Hatred is strong, fear seems endemic. At Pentecost the gospel was translated for the world, so that the world might become one with each other through the gospel, just as the world might become one with God through Easter.
Israel had become stale and flat. They were without flavor or strength. God could not pour the new wine of the Holy Spirit into that old wineskin, it would just burst. So God created a new wineskin for the Spirit, and that is the church. The Spirit fills us with power, the Spirit is our power.
It all started with 120 people who loved Jesus enough to be there, and the Holy Spirit began changing the world.
God is still looking for more to love Jesus and change the world.
Prayer
Use me, Heavenly Father, to change the world. I am one small soul, but I know that I have one vast Spirit, indwelling and empowering me. Show me where I am stopping Him, show me where I can open up more fully to be used for Jesus. In His name, Amen.
Father, I pray for a new vision for Temple in this wilderness. Help us reclaim our Easter Spirit, blow away the cobwebs of contentment and open the door to new possibilities, deeper faith and greater Unity. Awaken us to the spirit of Revival at Temple, O God, and let it begin with me.
In Jesus name, Amen.