Babel and Pentecost

I preached on Pentecost a few weeks ago. One aspect of Pentecost that I didn't explore was its contrast with Babel (Genesis 11:1-19). Many commentators have made this observation before, so it is not new. At Babel, there is confused speech; at Pentecost the variety of speech is still present, but the variety of languages are understood. The Good News is understood in the languages of all the locations from which Jews have come for Pentecost.

The aspect that I have been mulling the past few weeks is not this understanding, but the structure the people desired to build at Babel. It was to be a city with a tower that reached to the heavens. Part of its purpose is to create a permanent community. It is built so that the people will not be scattered. At Pentecost, Jewish people scattered around the world gather together in the of Jerusalem. Luke tells us that there were Jews from every nation under heaven that keep coming back to Jerusalem to affirm their heritage. While they have scattered, they still keep coming back to this city.

I wonder if it is important to note that Babel is not reversed. There is no geographically permanent community founded. The scattering continued. The Gospel's universality wasn't established in its permanent structures, but in its universal message.