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Acts 3 (Part 2)
Two weeks ago, in the article we examined the first verses 12 verses of Acts 3. It is such an encouraging and powerful chapter, and in this article, we are going to cover the rest of chapter 3. Just as a brief recap of what has happened in the first 11 verses, is that a lame beggar who used to sit and beg daily at a gate of the temple, has been healed. He is walking, jumping, and clinging to Peter and John as he glorifies God. The beggar understood something that the people run-ning up to see what happened, did not. This was God who had done this, while the peo-ple running over were looking at Peter and John as if this was done by their own power or godliness. Picking up in v13-26, Peter will teach these people, and this is often called “Peter’s second sermon” with the first being at Pentecost.
Peter is going to start addressing Who made this man well is, but first he is going to help them see more clearly. Peter mentions the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God their fathers. This would’ve immediately jumped out to them considering how im-portant each of these men were in their his-tory. But right after saying that, Peter says that the same God (The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) has glorified His servant
Jesus, the One whom they had handed over and disowned in the presence of Pilate when Pilate had decided to release Jesus. There are a lot of similarities with the sermon that Peter gives here and the one that he gave on the day of Pentecost. In both, Peter is showing the audience how the God of their fathers is the same God who glorified Jesus and who raised Him from the dead. Being that the audience would’ve likely been predominantly Jewish in both instances, this would be important for them to understand. Peter continues in v15 going into more detail about Jesus. That the people (both there physically and us spiritually) disowned the Holy and Righteous One. That in the case for those their physically, they asked for a murder to be released to them, named Barabbas. For us, it was looking at Jesus and saying I’d rather have something or someone else, whether it was sinful in it of itself or not doesn’t matter, because something or someone being placed over God is sinful. This action is one we are all guiltily of. Pete continues in say-ing, that Jesus, the Prince of Life, was put to death but God raised Him from the dead and this wasn’t just an opinion that Peter and John had. What does v15 call the statement that Jesus was put to death but was raised from the dead by God? It was a fact and was fact to which they were witnesses! John will write in 1st John 1:1 that he and those like him have heard, seen, looked at, and touched the Word of Life. Peter will write in 2nd Peter 1:16, how in teaching, Peter and those like him didn’t follow cleverly devised tales in teaching the gospel, but they were eyewitnesses to these events. Eyewitnesses testimony is important, and that’s seen today and was certainly seen in the 1st Century!
In v16, Peter ties up what he has been saying so far. That the God of their fathers, glorified Jesus, despite what man chose to do to Him, and it is by the name of Jesus that this formerly lame man now stands. Peter and John’s faith was necessary and important to this miracle being done, but it was by the name of Jesus that this was done. Remember back in v12 how some of the people came up to
Peter, John and the beggar. They were looking at Peter and John as if it was by Peter and John’s own power this occurred. Peter is reinforc-ing that this is not the case, that they did play a part in it, but the power is from God. Peter continues in v17, saying that he knows they acted in ignorance just as their rulers did. I imagine a number of the people, by this point had begun to feel like the people who heard Peter speak on the day of Pentecost. The feeling of “Brothers, what are we to do?”, as was said by the people at Pentecost (Acts 2:37). V19, which is similar to Acts 2:38, is the instruction that the people are to repent and return so their sins may be wiped away! Peter teaches them how Jesus will return again and also gets back to using the Old Testament to teach them Jesus. In Acts 3:22, Peter quotes from Deuteronomy 18:15, when Moses spoke of how God would raise up a prophet like him from the people and they were to listen to all that He said. This one that Moses was speaking about was Je-sus! We know even during Jesus earthly ministry; this prophecy was in some of the people’s minds (John 6:14 and 7:40). This was a known prophecy, and the fact was this was speaking of Jesus Christ. The importance to listening to all that Christ teaches was prophesied about, talked about shortly before Jesus ascends to heaven (Matthew 28:19-20), and again mentioned here in Acts 3:22-23.
This chapter will wrap up with Peter speaking of Samuel and the prophets as well as Abraham in showing again, that this was the plan. The life of Christ was prophesied about! Again, this was the plan from long ago, for God to raise up His Servant for the Jews first and send him to bless the Jews first and the Gentiles, turning everyone away from their wicked ways. What a great message that again shows the great wisdom of our God. If we were to look at Acts 4:4 we would find this message reached a lot of souls and continued the growing of the church! Let us look to do the same, in using the scrip-tures to show others that the plan always was Christ and that we need Him in order to obtain salvation, as Acts 4:12 will show.
