This article is part of my resource titled: An In-Depth Study of the Nature, Purpose, and Duration of Tongues.
Upon reading Acts 2, we see that there is no record of who specifically spoke in tongues on the day of Pentecost. Some assume that it was the 120 mentioned in the previous chapter (Acts 1:15) while others claim that it was the apostles exclusively. The former interpretation tends to be held by continuationists while the latter by cessationists. When we examine the passage more thoroughly, however, and read what the rest of Scripture has to say about the apostles and their abilities as such, it becomes clear that the sign of tongues on the day of Pentecost was granted to them alone. The goal of this lesson, then, is to validate this claim with Scripture and disprove the theory that all 120 were granted this ability.
The Holy Spirit was Promised to the Apostles
First of all, the promise of the Holy Spirit was made exclusively to the apostles on multiple occasions.
- John 14:16-17, 26 – “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, [17] even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will beg in you…[26] But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”
- John 15:26 – “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.”
- John 16:7,13 – “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you…[13] When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.”
- Luke 24:49 – “And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
- Acts 1:4-5,8 – And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; [5] for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now…[8] But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Being that this promise was made to them exclusively it stands to reason that they should be the initial ones through whom Its power was made manifest, namely through tongues. It was the sign of tongues that made it clear that they had, indeed, received the promised Holy Spirit and were now “clothed with power from on high” which Jesus said would come upon them. Without this manifestation of the Spirit’s power, how would they know the promise had been fulfilled?
Of course, the Spirit itself was not to be given to them alone. John the Baptist said that the Spirit would be given in a more general sense when he said to the crowds attending his baptism that Jesus would baptize them with the Holy Spirit and fire (Matt 3:11). This wouldn’t occur, however, until the Spirit was dispensed upon the apostles who, through the laying on of their hands, imparted it unto other believers. Without the direct involvement of the apostles, the Spirit wasn’t given. The 3000 of Acts 2 received the Spirit with the involvement of the apostles. The Samaritans received the Spirit when Peter and John “laid their hands on them” (Acts 8:17). Simon the Magician testifies to this when he said to them, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit” (Acts 8:19). The Gentiles received the Holy Spirit when Peter was preaching to them (Acts 10:44-48). And the 12 disciples of John the Baptist received the Spirit only after Paul had laid his hands on them (Acts 19:1-7).
The Apostles Were to Be Jesus’ Witnesses
Second, the apostles alone were to be Jesus’ witnesses. In Acts 1:8 Jesus says to them, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Being that it was the apostles who were given the responsibility of bearing witness of Jesus and his resurrection, it stands to reason that they should be publicly approved by him. Tongues were the sign of their approbation and they testified to the fact that they had been chosen as God’s vessels through whom new revelation would be given.
For the same purpose, Moses was given the ability to perform signs when God sent him to rescue the Israelites from Egyptian bondage. Moses protested God’s selection of himself saying, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’” To which God responded by giving him the ability to perform miraculous feats so that “they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you” (Exodus 4:1-9).
Signs were given to Moses for the sake of authenticating him as God’s messenger. The sign of tongues, initially, was given to the apostles for the same purpose. As the recipients of new revelation from God, they would have to be authenticated just as Moses was when we gave God’s revelation to the people.
That being said, it seems more logical to think that the apostles would have been the ones speaking in “other tongues” on Pentecost as they were the ones who would be giving forth direct revelation from God and, thus, needed to be validated. The 120 were not given the task of being witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection in the same sense as the apostles were and therefore no signs were to accompany them.
Marks of a True Apostle
Third, true apostles were marked by signs, tongues being one of them. In 2 Corinthians 12:12 Paul says, “The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works.” Throughout the book of Acts we see that mighty works were directly attached to the apostles themselves. Nothing is ever said of anyone within the company of the 120 doing the same phenomenal feats that the apostles did. Numerous texts within the New Testament testify that the apostles, almost exclusively, were the ones performing miracles and signs and wonders.
In Mark 16:20 we read that the apostles “went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.” Acts 2:43 says that “awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.” Acts 5:12 says that “many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles.” There are ample verses in the New Testament that attribute the miracles we read about directly to the apostles (See also Acts 4:33, 8:18, 14:3, 15:12, Hebrews 2:3-4). They were not the possession of the common Christian, so to speak. To claim that the 120 spoke in tongues on the day of Pentecost is to diminish the gift meant to authenticate the apostles by attributing it to all.
The “They” of Acts 1
Fourth, the apostles themselves are referred to more often in Acts 1 than the 120 believers are. If the identity of “they” in Acts 2:1-4 is based on who it referred to more often previously, then it would have to mean the apostles. By direct mention and use of pronouns, the apostles are referred to approximately 28 times in the first chapter. By contrast, the 120 collectively are only mentioned eight times.
Furthermore, we have nothing directly tying the 120 to the events of Pentecost. We don’t see any of the women being mentioned, Jesus’ mother, or his brothers. Their presence is completely absent from the record of Acts 2. We do, however, see the apostles. Some may object and say that the closest antecedent of “they” in Acts 2:1 is the 120 collectively since they were gathered together in order to find a replacement for Judas. However, we don’t know how much time passed in between the selection of Matthias and the day of Pentecost. They could have found Judas’ replacement on any of the 50 days that had passed since Jesus’ death. There’s nothing in the text that indicates that Pentecost occurred immediately after Matthias was chosen.
Those Who Spoke Were Galileans
Fifth, the crowds testify to the fact that those who spoke in tongues were Galileans. Acts 2:7 says, “And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?”
Can it be proven that all of the 120 believers were from Galilee? Hardly. The apostles themselves, however, are called “Men of Galilee” in Acts 1:11 and Peter’s Galilean accent marked him as one of Jesus’ followers (Matt 26:73).
The Response to Drunkenness
Sixth and finally, when some members of the crowd charged the tongue speakers with drunkenness, it was “Peter…with the eleven” (Acts 2:14) who responded. Why didn’t the 120 respond if all of them were being accused?
In Conclusion
While the continuationist wants to believe that the 120 spoke in tongues because it helps buffer his opinion, the biblical record presents ample proof to the contrary. The apostles were a unique group of individuals who were hand picked by Christ for the sake of bearing witness to his resurrection and establishing the foothold of Christianity in the world (Eph. 2:20). As such they were given the sign of tongues, among many others, as a means of validation and public approval by God himself. The signs granted unto the apostles were directly linked to their being Christ’s ambassadors, acting on his behalf with his full power and authority. It can’t be rightly assumed that every believer within the early church received this same authority or that this authority is granted unto believers today. This being the case, the only biblical conclusion we can draw with regards to who spoke in tongues on Pentecost is that it was the apostles exclusively.