Mockers mock

Mockers Mock

There is a short line in Acts 2 that many people would prefer to skate past as quickly as possible, an awkward aside to be explained away so we can get back to the “real” theology of Pentecost.

“Some, however, made fun of them and said, ‘They have had too much wine.’”

(Acts 2:13, NIV)

If you study Luke, you will soon find out Luke does not include stray remarks. He includes signs.

Acts 2:13 is not background noise. It is not unfortunate colour. It is a deliberate exposure of a posture, the posture of mockery that so often accompanies genuine moves of God.

Mockers mock.

They always have.

Mockery is when ignorance dresses itself as insight

The mockers in Acts 2 are not offering an alternative interpretation. They are not engaging in careful discernment. They are ridiculing what they do not understand and congratulating themselves for it.

This is not scepticism.

It is scoffing.

Luke is careful here. He does not pause to refute them. He does not dignify their claim with a rebuttal. He simply records it and moves on. Why? Because mockery does not deserve centre stage.

And yet, Luke makes sure we see it.

Why? Because mockery, in Scripture, is never neutral. It is not a sign of intellectual maturity. It is the reflex of a heart that has already decided it will not listen.

One Event. Two Realities.

At Pentecost, the Spirit is poured out. The apostles speak. The wonders of God are declared.

And the crowd divides.

“We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” (Acts 2:11, NIV)

“They have had too much wine.” (Acts 2:13, NIV)

Same moment.

Same sound.

Radically different conclusions.

Some hear divine praise.

Others hear incoherent noise, gibberish.

This is where many modern critics stumble. If Pentecost were simply about recognisable human languages spoken clearly and neatly to defined ethnic groups, the accusation of drunkenness would be absurd. Multilingual competence does not sound like intoxication, unless you are hearing with the ears of a mocker.

Acts 2:13 is not an embarrassment to Pentecost theology. It is one of its clearest interpretive signals.

Pentecost was always going to produce scoffers

Luke does not frame Pentecost as a one-off spectacle. He frames it as the opening act of the last days.

“In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.”

(Acts 2:17, NIV)

Peter later makes the consequence explicit.

“Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.” (2 Peter 3:3, NIV)

These are not contradictory truths. They are twin realities.

Moments of heightened revelation is also the moment of entrenched mockery.

Scoffers are not evidence that Pentecost failed. They are evidence that Pentecost is doing exactly what Scripture said it would do.

The Spirit speaks.

Some hear glory.

Others hear only noise, gibberish and mock it.

Mockery Is Not Discernment

Scripture is unambiguous on this point.

Mockery often masquerades as insight. It presents itself as sophistication, realism, or theological sobriety. However, biblically, it is frequently nothing more than resistance with a smirk.

Luke does not portray the mockers as thoughtful critics. He portrays them as people unwilling to ask the one question that matters:

“What does this mean?” (Acts 2:12, NIV)

That question requires humility. Mockery does not.

This is why Luke records their scoffing and moves on. Correction presumes openness. Scoffing advertises its refusal to be taught.

Hearing Without Understanding

The mockers hear something. They are not deaf.

What they lack is not information, but illumination.

Paul explains the dynamic clearly:

“For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 14:2, NIV)

Tongues are God-directed speech. Meaning is real but understanding is not universally accessible. Without the Spirit’s work, the sound remains opaque.

Some hear the wonders of God.

Others hear nothing but noise.

And rather than admit limitation, the mockers choose ridicule.

A Warning, Not an Insult

Acts 2:13 is not included so we can sneer back at the mockers. It is included so we can recognise the danger of becoming them.

Isaiah’s warning still echoes:

“You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.” (Isaiah 6:9, NIV)

Isaiah himself asks, “For how long?” because blindness is not meant to be final. However, don't mistake this, it is real. Scripture treats it seriously.

Those who mocked at Pentecost were not beyond repentance, many of them may have later believed. However, in that moment, they mistook their inability to perceive for evidence that nothing was happening, or worse still mindless derangement was happening.

That mistake is as common now as it was then.

Mockers Mock — God Keeps Speaking

Acts 2 does not end with mockery. It ends with repentance, baptism, and the formation of a Spirit-filled community.

Mockers mock.

The curious ask.

The humble listen.

And God keeps speaking.

The question Luke leaves us with is not whether the Spirit is at work, but whether we will listen long enough to hear.

Because ignorance parading as insight has always been easy.

Hearing the wonders of God has never been.