What Does This Mean?

As I began reading through, and studying, Acts this evening; chapter 2, verse 12 caused a pause.

It reads: “Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

First, a quick background on Acts before I unpack this verse and why it made me pause to write.

Acts, basically, is the sequel to The Gospel According to Luke; written, of course, by Luke. Luke was writing a letter to Theophilus—who is called “most honorable”, which indicated he was a person of high social standing—and was telling him about the good news of Jesus Christ. Acts chronicles what happened when the Holy Spirit took over, following the ascension into heaven by Christ.

From chapter 1 to chapter 2 verse 8, following the crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus spent forty days making himself known to the apostles; He talked to them about the Kingdom; ate with them; and even commanded them to “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about”. Jesus, after telling the apostles that the Father sets the timetable for all events—giving a lasting impression—to not show impatience but, instead, trust God’s plan, then ascended into Heaven.

In Chapter 2 we get to the part where every single person has the capability (the opportunity) to relate; the Holy Spirit arrives.

On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came, as promised:

⁵ Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. ⁶ When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. ⁷ Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? ⁸ Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? ⁹Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome ¹¹ (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!”

So what was happening here is the Holy Spirit coming to town, taking over, and guiding the apostles with exactly the right words to say—in order to spread the gospel. (Which is, by the way, a promise: No fear of speaking can block the Holy Spirit if He is indwelt inside of you)

So, now, finally, we get to verse 12—again:

When the devout Jews, who were living in Jerusalem, heard the commotion and arrived to hear (as shown above) the apostles speaking their languages, and obviously something majorly going on with these folks they said:

“What does this mean?”

Peter stepped forward to address the perplexed crowd and explained the truth about God and the GREAT news that had arrived.

You see, when the Jews saw the commotion, without hearing a word they could tell “something was going on”. We’re talking first century Christians (the very first Christians) being indwelt with the Holy Spirit, and storming right ahead without fear of anything. They didn’t care what anyone thought of them; they didn’t care if it was “cool”; the only thing they cared about, at that moment, was spreading the GREATEST NEWS there had ever been—that the savior, Jesus Christ, had come and gone, they witnessed it with their own eyes, and it was time to spread the gospel.

When non-Christians look at us (as Christians), the goal is to give them the thought in their head, “What does this mean?”. Right?

When the Holy Spirit is indwelt inside of us, it can be seen, and when it is seen people wonder “What this means?”….

Now this doesn’t mean you have to dress a certain way, wear your hair a certain way, or walk a certain way, BUT….

When the Holy Spirit lives inside of us, and It is not quenched, not pushed away, people will see it! It is unavoidable! They will see that, in whatever we do, we are exalting his name; that we are eternally happy; and that we are talking about Jesus and LOVING EVERY SECOND OF IT!

Highlight that verse and turn it inward.

Ask yourself: “When people look at me, do they see Christ?”

Jesus said that we are “the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden”. If Jesus said it, if Jesus taught it: then why would we hide our light by not speaking when we’re led to do so?; why would we allow sin (darkness) to conquer and cover our light?

Let your light shine.

[What happened next in Acts was a beautiful example of a group of people allowing the Holy Spirit to guide them exactly where they needed to be. And lives were forever saved for Jesus.

I encourage you to read Acts to fully grasp what the movement of the Holy Spirit can do. Can it happen again? ABSOLUTELY!]