Acts 2:5-13 New International Version (NIV)
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? 9 Parthians, 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!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”
‘Every nation in the world’ means every nation where there were Jews. These Jews had traveled to Jerusalem because a Jewish holiday.
A large crowd came together because of the noise. The believers came out into the street. Perhaps they were going to the Temple.
Just as today, people from different areas speak different languages or have different accents or slang that others may not understand. People from other places could not always understand the disciples. But now, these disciples from Galilee were speaking in different languages. Everyone could understand what the disciples were saying.
More Jews lived in other countries than in Judea. Their enemies had taken them there more than 500 years earlier. This list shows that many Jews from many different nations were in Jerusalem. They all heard about the wonderful things that God had done on this special Pentecost day. They would go back to their countries and they would tell other people. The other people in the world were beginning to hear the good news about Jesus.
Luke says that they could not explain what was happening. He says it several times. Unbelievers said that the disciples had drunk too much wine. It is the same nowadays, too. When the Holy Spirit comes with power, people do not always understand this event. They do not always understand what is happening.
Unbelievers, often, try to explain away the way a christian acts or reacts to the Holy Spirit. This is because they simply can’t understand what we experience as Christians.
Has there ever been a time when others could not understand your actions or morals, because you were a Christian?