‘And they were all amazed, and were perplexed, saying one to another, “What does this mean?” But others mocking said, “They are filled with sweet wine.” '
Opinions about what was happening were divided. Some were intrigued and even recognised that it somehow held a message for them. They recognised that there was some form of miracle here. In contrast the more cynical merely laughed and said that the men were drunk. However, to the more thoughtful and receptive it would have come home as in some way God Himself speaking to them, for what other explanation for the phenomenon could there be for them hearing their own native language from an unexpected source?
‘Sweet wine (gleukous).' The emphasis is on ‘sweet wine', kept sweet through the year and possibly especially potent (the word occurs only here in the New Testament). It may indicate the first seepings from the new grapes in the wine press which were generally seen as potent, and probably regularly a cause of amusing comments. ‘Filled with gleukous' might have been a common saying equivalent to our contemptuous ‘they're drunk'.
We should note how the whole future response of the world is here epitomised in three types of hearers. There are three sets of people in mind (compare Acts 17:32):
1) The believers.
2) The interested.
3) The scoffers.
The world is made up of these.