Jesus promised his disciples before he ascended into heaven that the Holy Spirit would come to them to give them the power to tell the whole story of Jesus' life and death.
Ten days later, after they had chosen a new apostle to replace Judas Iscariot, and when they had gathered together to celebrate the Jewish Feast of the Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came to the disciples.
Throughout the Bible, we see its writers struggling to describe new experiences they had never lived through or even heard about. Luke had no words to describe the coming of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit came with a sound like the rush of a mighty wind, but it wasn't a windstorm (the house didn't blow down). Tongues like flames of fire, but not of fire, appeared on the apostles' heads (their hair didn't catch on fire).
What is clearest from Luke's language in this passage is not what actually happened, but that whatever happened to the apostles was such a new and overwhelming experience for them that they had no words to describe it.
1. Where were the apostles on the day of Pentecost?
[The apostles had gathered together all in one place in Jerusalem.]
2. What drew the crowd together?
[The crowd came together at the sound of the apostles' speaking in many languages.]
3. What did each person in the crowd hear?
[Each person in the crowd heard about God's deeds of power in his or her native language.]