06/09 – John 14:23–31 – What is Shavuot?!

Old Testament Reading: Genesis 11:1-9

The whole world had one language with a common vocabulary. As people moved from the east, they found a plain in Shinar {SHY-nar} [that is Babylonia] and settled there. They said to one another, “Let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used bricks as stones and tar as mortar. Then they said, “Let’s build a city for ourselves and a tower with its top in the sky. Let us make a name for ourselves so that we won’t become scattered all over the face of the earth.”

The Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the children of men were building. The Lord said, “They are one people with one language. This is only the beginning of what they will do! Now nothing they plan to do will be too difficult for them. Let us go down and confuse their language so that they won’t understand each other.”

So the Lord scattered them all over the face of the earth, and they stopped building the city. This is why it was named Babel, because there the Lord turned the language of the whole earth into babble between peoples. From that place the Lord scattered them all over the face of the earth.

Second Reading: Acts 2:1–21

When Pentecost, the fiftieth day after Passover, came all the believers were together in one place. Suddenly, a sound like a violently blowing wind came from the sky and filled the whole house where they were staying. Tongues that looked like fire appeared to them. The tongues arranged themselves so that one came to rest on each believer. All the believers were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit gave them the ability.

Devout Jewish men from every nation were living in Jerusalem. They gathered when they heard the wind. Each person was startled to recognize his own language when the disciples spoke. Stunned and amazed, the people in the crowd said, “All of these men who are speaking are Galileans. Why do we hear them speaking in our native dialects?

We are Parthians {PAR-thee-ans}, Medes {Meeds}, and Elamites {EE-lam-ites}. We are people from Mesopotamia {MESS-oh-pota-me-ah}, Judea {jew-DEE-ah}, Cappadocia {CAP-ah-doe-see-ah}, Pontus {PON-tus}, the province of Asia, Phrygia {FRIG-ee-ah}, Pamphylia {pam-FILL-ee-ah}, Egypt, and the country near Cyrene {sigh-REEN} in Libya. We’re Jewish people, converts to Judaism, and visitors from Rome, Crete {CREET}, and Arabia. We hear these men in our own languages as they tell about the miracles that God has done.”

All of these devout men were stunned and puzzled. They asked each other, “What can this mean?” Others said jokingly, “They’re drunk on sweet wine.”

Then Peter stood up with the eleven apostles. In a loud voice he said to them, “Men of Judea and everyone living in Jerusalem! You must understand this so pay attention to what I say. These men are not drunk as you suppose. It is only nine in the morning. This is what the prophet Joel spoke about:

‘In the last days, God says, I will pour my Spirit on everyone. Your sons and daughters will speak what God has revealed. Your young men will see visions. Your old men will dream dreams. In those days I will pour my Spirit on my servants, on both men and women. They will speak what God has revealed. I will work miracles in the sky and give signs on the earth: blood, fire, and clouds of smoke. The sun will become dark, and the moon will become as red as blood before the terrifying day of the Lord comes. Then whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

Gospel Reading: John 14:23–31

Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will go to them and make our home with them. A person who does not love me does not do what I say. I don’t make up what you hear me say. What I say comes from the Father who sent me. I have told you this while I am still with you. However, the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything. He will remind you of everything that I have ever told you. I am leaving you peace. I am giving you my peace. I don’t give you the kind of peace that the world gives. So don’t be troubled or cowardly. You heard me tell you, ‘I am going away, but I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me you would be glad that I’m going to the Father because the Father is greater than I am. I’m telling you this now before it happens. When it does happen you will believe. The ruler of this world has no power over me, but he’s coming, so I won’t talk with you much longer. However, I want the world to know that I love the Father and that I am doing exactly what the Father has commanded me to do. Get up! We have to leave.”