“Acts 2:14-36”

Thursday, December 17, 2015

“But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: ‘Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words. For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day; but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel: “And it shall be in the last days,” God says, “That I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on My bondslaves, both men and women, I will in those days pour forth of My Spirit and they shall prophesy. And I will grant wonders in the sky above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke. The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the great and glorious day of the Lord shall come. And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know—this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power. For David says of Him, “I saw the Lord always in my presence; for He is at my right hand, so that I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue exulted; moreover my flesh also will live in hope; because You will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor allow Your Holy One to undergo decay. You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of gladness with Your presence.” Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. And so, because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants on his throne, he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that He was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did His flesh suffer decay. This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand, Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.’” Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.’”

---End of Scripture verses---

As the rule of the ignorant apologist states, if you can't deny the facts of a case, cast doubt on the credibility of the speakers. And these "devout" Jews certainly tried to do that! After being ignorantly accused of drunkenness, Peter delivers one of the most memorable homilies ever delivered by any disciple of Christ.

The text breaks down into two key sections in today's reading:

1) Verses 14-21 - Peter knew the insinuation of drunkenness could spread like wildfire so he stamped that baseless accusation out immediately. The Spirit-inspired Apostles were clearly and undeniably speaking in legitimate languages unknown and unstudied by them personally. The only proper conclusion was that the Supreme One was fulfilling His promises in them. Peter points out that these events were prophesied hundreds of years earlier by the prophet Joel (2:28-32 as quoted in Acts 2:17-21). The days of the Messiah's reign were in effect and national judgment would be meted out upon Israel as yet another typology of the divine punishment of denying God's Savior. The Jews, in Jerusalem for the Pentecost celebration and feast, could not deny the prophesy's fulfillment before their eyes. As a result, they could only rationally "call on the name of the Lord" (cf. Acts 22:16 and Romans 10:9-13)

2) Verses 22-36 - Peter draws out and boldly proclaims the message of the gospel - Jesus is the Lord (Greek: kurios) and He is the Christ (Greek: christos). Verses 22-23 review the recent events of Jesus' ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection of which they ALL were eyewitnesses. This section also points out that rather than being regarded as some failed mission of some confused mortal narcissist, the recent events were the unfolding of God's eternal scheme of redemption through His only begotten Son. God had chosen the foolishness of this world to demonstrate His eternal wisdom; He provided life through death. Verses 24-32 illustrate, through an appeal to Psalm 16:8-11 (LXX - i.e. the Septuagint), that God accomplished the impossible in resurrecting Christ from the dead - He conquered death! Although Jesus died for us, death had NO power over Him and through death, He rendered the power of death as null and void. (Of course, the fullest realization of this will be in eternity (1 Corinthians 15:54-57). This David could not do and for that reason, his body lay entombed within visiting distance for the audience. Again, he pointed to someone and something far greater. In verses 33-35, Peter quotes from Psalm 110:1 (LXX) to further substantiate His point. Peter's essential point is that David, the author of the psalm, could not possibly have been referring to his son as Lord, so there must have been a greater meaning. That meaning is that Jesus, earthly descendant of David is in actuality the fullness of God in human form. As a consequence to their aligning themselves against this One with omnipotent sovereignty, they had aligned themselves against the One Who would judge them! What a terrible realization to be confronted with for the honest soul!

Peter's sermon uses the power of fulfilled prophesy (Joel 2:28-32; Psalms 16:8-11; 110:1), eyewitness testimony with pointed rebuke (verses 22-23), and rational deduction to prove the undeniable truth that Jesus is King and Savior. The only rational conclusion is revealed in verse 36, the keystone of the sermon, "Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.”

God's plan for salvation is revealed in Peter's Pentecost sermon in a powerful and memorable way. God has provided the means and revealed the responsibilities we have in taking hold of that salvation. We will address the latter in the reading tomorrow as we proceed through the reaction of the audience.

We ask that tomorrow everyone finishes Acts chapter 2 by reading verses 37-47.

- Eric Parker

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