Peter's Testimony to Jesus - 2:22-41
22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— 23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. 25 For David says concerning him,
“‘I saw the Lord always before me,
for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken;
26 therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced;
my flesh also will dwell in hope.
27 For you will not abandon my soul to Hades,
or let your Holy One see corruption.
28 You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’
“‘I saw the Lord always before me,
for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken;
26 therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced;
my flesh also will dwell in hope.
27 For you will not abandon my soul to Hades,
or let your Holy One see corruption.
28 You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’
29 “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, 31 he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. 33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. 34 For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,
“‘The Lord said to my Lord,
Sit at my right hand,
35 until I make your enemies your footstool.’
36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
“‘The Lord said to my Lord,
Sit at my right hand,
35 until I make your enemies your footstool.’
36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” 40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” 41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
Peter tells the Gospel through six-elements:
Peter tells the Gospel through six-elements:
1) His Life and Ministry - 2:22 - Jesus was truly a man yet he was 'attested' to them 'by God' through 'works and wonders and signs.' The word 'works' here is literally, dynameis, which lends to mean that the 'works' were a demonstration of the power of God. The word, 'wonders' is the word terata, meaning their effect was to arouse astonishment. The word, 'signs' is semeia, which makes the purpose of those signs that which embodied or signified spiritual truth. So, God did these through him, and publicly among men, to point to the reality of himself.
2) His Death - 2:23 - Peter describes Jesus as having been 'crucified and killed', partly because he was not only by the 'hands of lawless men' but also because of the 'definite plan and foreknowledge of God.' So what conclusion do we have? The death of Jesus is attributed simultaneously both to the purpose of God and to the wickedness of men. There is already an understanding that through Jesus' death God's saving purpose was being worked out. For a GREAT in-depth study on this, please read, The Cross of Christ.
3) His Resurrection - 2:24-32 - Peter confirms the truth of Jesus' resurrection by appealing to Psalm 16:8-11 in which he claims it was foretold. Let's look at three things about Peter's use of OT Scripture: (1) All scripture bears witness to Christ, especially to his death, resurrection, and his global mission. That IS its character and purpose of scripture. (2) Because of Jesus' post-resurrection teaching, his disciples came naturally to see Old Testament references to God's anointed or king, David and his royal seed, as finding their fulfillment in Jesus (3) Once this foundation is set, a Christian's reading the scriptures, Old and New Testaments, should be like that of Peter's as we look for Christ in the text. From here Peter adds, "this Jesus God raised up," to bring together the witness of the living apostles and the prediction of the Old Covenant prophets.
4) His Exaltation - 2:33-36 - Peter continues his argument by quoting the Old Testament, by applying Psalm 110 to Jesus' ascension. Jesus had already applied this verse to himself, as did Paul and the writer of Hebrews. Peter's conclusion is that all of Israel should now be assured that this Jesus has been made both Lord and Christ.
5) His Salvation - 2:37-39 - When Peter says, "cut to the heart" he is essentially saying they were convicted of sin! So, in response to that, the crowd asked, "Brothers, what shall we do?" Peter replied to them by saying, "repent", which means to completely change your mind about Jesus and your attitude about him. Then he said, "and be baptized..." which was a sign of submitting to the very Lord they lived in opposition to most of their life. They were going to kill the old self, and rise a servant to their new Lord. When we are baptized in Christ's name, showing by way of symbolism and public proclamation that we completely acknowledging his claims, subscribe to his doctrines, engage in his mission, and rely on his work of justification, regeneration, and sanctification. HOWEVER, That's not all that was to happen. IF they repented and were baptized, then Peter told them they would receive two gifts: (1) The forgiveness of their sins (2) The Gift of the Holy Spirit. The command and promises are the same for all generations and nationalities: Everyone God calls to himself through his son Jesus are also called to repentance, and the only appropriate response from us is true repentance and baptism. For that God responds with the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit! There is one more call he puts on ALL of us who have been saved by Him, and that is the call to His Community!
6) His New Community - 2:40-41 - Luke adds that this was not the end of Peter's sermon, "...with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them...", What did he exhort them about, to save yourselves from this crooked generation. What in the flip was Peter talking about? I thought only Christ could save us? Peter was not asking them nor telling them to convert themselves as individuals, rather he was calling them to what ALL followers of Christ are called to, a public identification with other believers. Being saved into Jesus meant being saved into his Body, the community of Jesus, the church! Peter was calling them to change communities, to transfer their membership from the world to the church, from the one that was crooked to the one that being saved!
Outside of being historical, what does this have to do with me: Peter really gives the first Gospel Call after the death of Jesus, so we may be wise to make sure we are daily dwelling on these six aspects so that when our time comes to herald the gospel, we don't short change the Jesus that Peter called sinners to...let's summarize:
2) His Death - 2:23 - Peter describes Jesus as having been 'crucified and killed', partly because he was not only by the 'hands of lawless men' but also because of the 'definite plan and foreknowledge of God.' So what conclusion do we have? The death of Jesus is attributed simultaneously both to the purpose of God and to the wickedness of men. There is already an understanding that through Jesus' death God's saving purpose was being worked out. For a GREAT in-depth study on this, please read, The Cross of Christ.
3) His Resurrection - 2:24-32 - Peter confirms the truth of Jesus' resurrection by appealing to Psalm 16:8-11 in which he claims it was foretold. Let's look at three things about Peter's use of OT Scripture: (1) All scripture bears witness to Christ, especially to his death, resurrection, and his global mission. That IS its character and purpose of scripture. (2) Because of Jesus' post-resurrection teaching, his disciples came naturally to see Old Testament references to God's anointed or king, David and his royal seed, as finding their fulfillment in Jesus (3) Once this foundation is set, a Christian's reading the scriptures, Old and New Testaments, should be like that of Peter's as we look for Christ in the text. From here Peter adds, "this Jesus God raised up," to bring together the witness of the living apostles and the prediction of the Old Covenant prophets.
4) His Exaltation - 2:33-36 - Peter continues his argument by quoting the Old Testament, by applying Psalm 110 to Jesus' ascension. Jesus had already applied this verse to himself, as did Paul and the writer of Hebrews. Peter's conclusion is that all of Israel should now be assured that this Jesus has been made both Lord and Christ.
5) His Salvation - 2:37-39 - When Peter says, "cut to the heart" he is essentially saying they were convicted of sin! So, in response to that, the crowd asked, "Brothers, what shall we do?" Peter replied to them by saying, "repent", which means to completely change your mind about Jesus and your attitude about him. Then he said, "and be baptized..." which was a sign of submitting to the very Lord they lived in opposition to most of their life. They were going to kill the old self, and rise a servant to their new Lord. When we are baptized in Christ's name, showing by way of symbolism and public proclamation that we completely acknowledging his claims, subscribe to his doctrines, engage in his mission, and rely on his work of justification, regeneration, and sanctification. HOWEVER, That's not all that was to happen. IF they repented and were baptized, then Peter told them they would receive two gifts: (1) The forgiveness of their sins (2) The Gift of the Holy Spirit. The command and promises are the same for all generations and nationalities: Everyone God calls to himself through his son Jesus are also called to repentance, and the only appropriate response from us is true repentance and baptism. For that God responds with the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit! There is one more call he puts on ALL of us who have been saved by Him, and that is the call to His Community!
6) His New Community - 2:40-41 - Luke adds that this was not the end of Peter's sermon, "...with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them...", What did he exhort them about, to save yourselves from this crooked generation. What in the flip was Peter talking about? I thought only Christ could save us? Peter was not asking them nor telling them to convert themselves as individuals, rather he was calling them to what ALL followers of Christ are called to, a public identification with other believers. Being saved into Jesus meant being saved into his Body, the community of Jesus, the church! Peter was calling them to change communities, to transfer their membership from the world to the church, from the one that was crooked to the one that being saved!
Outside of being historical, what does this have to do with me: Peter really gives the first Gospel Call after the death of Jesus, so we may be wise to make sure we are daily dwelling on these six aspects so that when our time comes to herald the gospel, we don't short change the Jesus that Peter called sinners to...let's summarize:
- There is no gospel call without the declaration of the death, burrial, resurrection of Jesus himself: If there is not the cross or resurrection in our gospel, then Jesus is an olden day Oprah, asking us to make ourselves better - may the cross haunt you! However, may we take the cross way beyond a 'verbal presentation,' rather may everyday we ask God, how is my life showing that it is what it is, because of your death and resurrection? Are my worldly/selfish ambitions, attitudes, thoughts, dying every day, and are the new ambitions, attitudes, and thought being resurrected to the glory of God?
- There is not gospel call outside o the context of scripture:If we are proclaiming a calling TO Jesus, then we need to know the scriptures that point to him. Our responsibility is to preach Christ from his scriptures and to point people to them, which means, you and I need a steady diet of scripture as well.
- There is no gospel without gospel conditions: The gospel demands a radical turn from sin to Christ, which takes the form inwardly of repentance and faith and outward baptism, which leads to joining the 'new' community which we are saved to, in order to be on mission with God in this world.
- There is no gospel without the gospel promises: The gospel is not only good news because of what Jesus did (died for our sins and raised from the dead), but also of what he offers as a result (forgivness and the Spirit). Together these two make up the freedom for which we ALL are searching.
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