Acts // Part 9 - Peter's Sermon At Pentecost

April 29, 2012 Speaker: Phil Baker Series: Acts

Topic: Book Exposition Passage: Acts 2:22–24

Last week we began to examine the beginning portion of Peter’s great sermon in Acts 2. We focused on verses 14-21 and looked at how Peter applied portions of Joel’s prophesy to the miraculous events of Pentecost. This morning we will be continuing with Peter’s sermon in verses 22-24. In our text we will see how Peter gave his audience 3 proofs for Jesus’ messiahship.

Read Acts 2:22-24

Pray

Discuss

Proof #1

The Miracles of Jesus

(verse 22)

Verse

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—

Commentary

After attributing the miracles of Pentecost to the prophetic word of God in Joel 2, Peter calls for his listener’s attention once again by saying “Men of Israel” and then he brings Jesus to the front and center of his address. Peter said, “Jesus of Nazareth”. This was the name by which our Lord was commonly known during His earthly ministry. It identified Him with His hometown of Nazareth. It was inscribed on the cross above His head, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews”. Nazareth was held in very low regard. The Romans had a military base there with garrisons which lead many Jews to view its towns-people as supporters of their enemy. In John 1:46, a future follower and apostle of Jesus, stated his low view of Nazareth by saying, “Can anything good come from Nazareth.” Peter’s used this title as a mild rebuke against those who rejected the Lord because of where he came from. It also reflects His wonderful condescension in leaving the glory of heaven to live in a humble Galilean village.

Peter describes Jesus as “a man attested to them by God.” This was Peter’s way of saying that Jesus had been sent and authenticated by God.

He continues by giving a list of miraculous proofs that support this reality. He lists three things that were present during the Lord’s ministry.

Mighty works (powerful dunamis miracles)Wonders (how people responded to the miracles)Signs (things that point to spiritual truth)

Look at how verse 22 says that “God did the miracles through Him.” Jesus didn’t perform miracles on His own accord. God worked the miracles through Him. This statement is meant to do away with the notion that Jesus was a sorcerer or magician or that His miraculous abilities had come from somewhere or from someone other than God. People accused Jesus of this during His ministry. Some even tried to say that Jesus had been given His abilities by Beelzebub, the prince of demons. Peter was aware of these thoughts and beliefs and therefore boldly attributed the miracles of Jesus to God. And then at the end of 22 he reminds them of how his listeners were witnesses to the mighty works, wonders, and signs. We must remember what John recorded in 21:25 of his gospel as well.

John 21:25

25 Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

Jesus performed an incredible amount of mighty works, wonders, and signs throughout Palestine and because of this He attracted massive crowds. People in those days did not deny that Jesus had the power to perform these things because the proof was overwhelming. Even His enemies believed it. At a council meeting in John 11:46-53, the religious leaders declared, “What are we going to do with Jesus for He is performing many signs?” And then they “Plotted how to capture and kill Him.”

Did you know that there is a growing contingency of Christian scholars and theologians in the world today who believe and teach that Jesus really didn’t perform any of these things and that His resurrection was a farce? Many of these men belong to a group called the Jesus Seminar. Scholars like Bart Ehrman and John Dominic Crossan are its biggest proponents. These two guys are regulars on The Discovery Channel when it features programs about Jesus. Stay away from the Jesus Seminar and its contributors because they reject the plain truths of Scripture as well as historical evidences. Bottom line, these guys are tares amongst the wheat and someday the Farmer will separate them and cast them into the fire less they repent.

Paraphrased, verse 22 would sound like, “All of you saw with your own eyes the things Jesus did and I’m here to tell you that it was God who did those things through Him.” Peter takes it further by giving his audience:

Proof #2

The crucifixion was God’s predetermined plan

(verse 23)

Verse

23 this Jesus,delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.

Commentary

Peter had a tremendous ability to discern his listener’s thoughts. He knew that they would be asking themselves, “If Jesus was so great and powerful; if He were truly God’s anointed miracle working Messiah as you say than why didn’t He save Himself, why did He die?” This comment was actually made by some of the religious leaders and Roman guards 50 something days earlier when Jesus was on the cross at Golgotha. Peter sensed the doubts or maybe even heard grumblings and responded with an incredible statement about God’s sovereign plan and foreknowledge. In combination with God being the miracle worker through Jesus, he said, God is the one that “delivered Him up.” Delivered” is ekdotos in Greek and it means to be “handed over”. It was God who handed Jesus over to be crucified. Before Calvary, Jesus testified to this in John 10:18.

John 10:18

18 No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.

And then Peter tells them that Jesus was delivered up according to the “definite plan and foreknowledge of God.”

Definite is horizō and it’s where we get our English word horizon. It means to mark out with a boundary or to determine. Plan is boul�" and it means to decree. Taken together they indicate that Jesus Christ was delivered to death because God planned and ordained it from all eternity (Acts 4:27-28, 13:27-29, 2 Tim 1:9, Rev 13:8). Look at the word “foreknowledge”. Foreknowledge is prognōsis in Greek which basically means “foreordination”.

Louis Berkhof wrote this in his Systematic Theology.

“Prognosis in the NT does not denote simple intellectual foresight, the mere taking knowledge beforehand, but rather a selective knowledge which regards one with favor and makes one an object of love, and thus approaches the idea of foreordination (Acts 2:23, 4:28, Rom8:29, 11:2, 1 Peter 1:2). The idea that God saw in advance that Israel would reject and crucify Christ and worked that into His eternal plan is a implicit denial both of His sovereignty and omniscience.”

Basically what Berkhof said is pretty simple. God didn’t work the cross into His plan of salvation based upon some future knowledge of what Israel would do with His Son. God had foreordained for things to happen the way they did. Foreknowledge is not a decision that has made based on an assessment of what’s to come but rather a decision that has been made based upon the counsel of God’s sovereign will. Israel had carried out the very plan that God laid out from everlasting to everlasting.

If you do a syntactic or linguistics study of “foreknowledge” you will see that it is used in the instrumental dative form which takes it far beyond mere knowledge and places it in the realm of predestination. Foreknowledge is not the same as prediction as some would have you believe. Nearly everyone has the ability to predict an outcome. All you need is a little data and facts and you can be on your way.

Recently a palm reader came into my work and interviewed a couple of the employees. When he walked up to this one dude, he looked him up and down and said, “You will be having a good meal very soon…” Afterwards the dude came over and described how well the palm reader knew him. He marveled at his abilities and accuracy. I told him, no offense, but do you think it’s possible that he was able to predict your future good meal because of your size? You’re a big guy husky 325 pound guy who loves to eat, nearly everyone can tell that. I wasn’t making a fat joke, I was dead serious. He could’ve done the same thing with a skinny guy right? He could’ve looked at him and said, “You will not be having a good meal very soon or if you do, the food will not stick to you.” I told my friend to get his $40 back because the guy was a fake. The palm reader then looked at me and said, “How about you?” I said, “I’m good.” He said, “I can tell you’re a happy man”. I said, “I don’t need to pay you $40 to tell me that, I already know it!”

You see it doesn’t take much to predict things about others, a little analysis and you’re on your way. My wife is a great predictor. She’s always saying, “I knew you’d do this or that”. I usually reply, “How’d you know?” She always says that same thing, “I know how you are, I’ve watched you for years…” I think I’m going to put a turban on her head and send her into my work to make some money reading palms! $40 a victim, I mean customer! That’s pretty good money!

So foreknowledge means more than simply knowing beforehand or prediction. It means to preplan and foreordain.

Peter’s point was that the cross was God’s plan and yet he shifts the responsibility onto his audience. Look at the rest of 23.

Verse

you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.

Commentary

God used evil men to accomplish His purpose, yet never violated their will or removed their culpability by doing so. Peter thus presents the total sovereignty of God alongside the complete responsibility of man. That apparently paradoxical truth is affirmed throughout Scripture and is illustrated in Luke 22:22. Speaking of His betrayer there, our Lord said, “The Son of Man is going as it has been determined; but woe to that man through whom He is betrayed!” Men are responsible not for God’s plans but for their own sins. Those who were involved in the death of Jesus had no cognition of God’s predetermined plan. They were simply doing what their sinful hearts were inclined to do.

They didn’t reject and murder Jesus because God persuaded them to do it, no, they did it to protect their own selfish interests and to preserve their money making scheme at the temple. These guys had no concept of the true plan of God because they didn’t know Him and yet they played right into the plan of God perfectly.

Notice how Peter said, “You”. Who is he referring to? He’s referring to the Jews, the “Men of Israel”. And who are the “lawless men”? They were the Romans because they rejected the Mosaic law.

The third proof of Jesus’ messiahship is:

Proof #3

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ

(verse 24)

Verse

24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.

Commentary

The resurrection was the central message in apostolic preaching because it is the climax of redemptive history. The resurrection proves beyond a doubt the deity of Jesus Christ and it solidifies His credentials as the Messiah. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is also the rock-solid guarantee of our own future resurrection. The resurrection is the ultimate proof that God accepted the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Without the resurrection, Jesus’ death becomes nothing more than the death of a noble martyr, or the death of a madman, or the death of a common criminal.

MacArthur

“The greatest proof of Jesus’ messiahship, is not His teaching, His miracles, or even His death. It is His resurrection.”

We need to spend a little time defining what resurrection is and isn’t according to the Scriptures. Hopefully this will help to undergird our theology.

Resurrection is not revivification. Revivification occurs when someone who dies comes back to life only to die again. This is what happened with Jesus’ friend, Lazarus. Resurrection means to die and to be brought back to physical life forever. The Bible calls this eternal life.

Resurrection is not a second chance for salvation after death as reincarnation and purgatory purport. According to the Scriptures, every person will be resurrected either to everlasting punishment or everlasting life. The determining factor in this is what people do with the gospel. If they repent of their sin and place their faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ, they will receive the resurrection of eternal life in the presence of God. If they reject the gospel and choose to remain in their sin, they will receive the resurrection of eternal damnation and punishment apart from God.

According to the Bible there is no such thing as reincarnation or purgatory after death. In other words, there are no second chances.

Resurrection does not mean soul sleep as the 7th Day folks teach. Soul sleep is the idea that when a Christian dies both their body and soul remain in the ground asleep until the resurrection. The Scriptures actually teach that when a believer dies physically their body goes into the ground as a seed and their soul goes to be with the Lord. “Absent from the body, present with the Lord” (2 Cor 5:8). The two remain separated until the resurrection. And at the resurrection the body is then raised up incorruptible and the soul is rejoined to it forever.

Peter goes on to say that the resurrection of Jesus Christ, “Loosed the pangs of death”. What does this mean? Death has always been the biggest enemy of humanity. Even those who deny the existence of God and the devil and evil are troubled by it, even horrified. Death is the scariest thing known to man. People tremble in fear when facing it. Death for most is an uncertain thing and that’s why it brings great trepidation and anxiety. But Peter preached that the resurrection of Jesus loosed or removed the pangs or pains of death. Paul backed this up in 1 Corinthians 15:54-55.

“Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

Because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we don’t have to agonize over death as the rest of the world does. We don’t have to be ruled by the fear of death or by uncertainty. God has done an amazing thing for us in and through Christ. Therefore we can live in freedom from the bondages of sin, the law, and death. Christ is our victor because He conquered death and it is through Him that we have victory and resurrection. Peter takes it further. He preached, “Jesus loosed the pangs of death because…”

Look at the end of 24.

Verse

“it was not possible for him to be held by it.”

Commentary

This is an amazing and loaded statement! He said that death was powerless to hold Jesus. Why? 5 reasons:

Christ had in Himself the inherent power to die, and to live again.

John 10:18

No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.

The dignity of His Person rendered it impossible that He should be held by death.

Colossians 1:15-17

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For byhim all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Colossians 2:9

For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.

His redeeming work was complete which made it impossible for death to hold Him.

Spurgeon

Remember that the reason why Jesus died was because He took the sin of His people upon Himself and, being found in the sinner’s place, He had to suffer the sinner’s doom, which was death. But after He had endured the penalty, that is, after He had died and remained the appointed time in the tomb, how could He be held any longer in the grave? After He had said, “It is finished,” and after the predestinated hours for a full examination of His work before the Throne of God had passed, why should He be detained any longer? He was the Hostage for our debt, but when the debt was paid, who could keep Him in durance vile? Having borne the penalty, He was free forever and so, as Paul writes, “Christ, being raised from the dead dies no more; death has no more dominion over Him.” In that He has satisfied all the claims of the Law of God, what hand can arrest Him, what power can hold Him captive? He died for our sins, but He rose again for our justification! And His rising proved that all His people were accounted righteous in the sight of God!

It was not possible, while there was a just God in Heaven that Christ should remain in the tomb. As His work was done, justice demanded that He should be let go”

He had His Father’s promise that He should not be held by death.

This prophetic guarantee was given by King David 1000 years before Christ came. Peter quotes it in our next section.

Psalm 16:10

For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol (the abode of departed spirits), or let your holy one see corruption.

The perpetuity of His offices prohibited Him from being held by death.

What are His offices?

He holds the office of Priest

Hebrews 7:17

For it is witnessed of him, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.”

He holds the office of King

Psalm 45:6

Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.

When Jesus was asked if He were a king, he replied yes (Luke 23:3, John 18:36).

He holds the office of Redeemer

Job 19:25

For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Spurgeon

“Because each of His offices is everlasting, ordained of God in perpetuity—therefore He must rise from the dead. Think what the consequences to us would have been if Christ would not have rose from the grave.

First, we should have had no assurance of our own resurrection!

Secondly, there would have been no evidence of our justification. I might have said, “Yes, Christ took my debt, but how do I know that He paid it?

Christ bore my sins, but how do I know that He put them away?” So, if He had never risen from the dead, we would have had no proof that we were justified.

Thirdly, if He had never risen and gone up to Heaven in His human body, we would not have had anyone to take possession of Heaven on our behalf. Now we have a “Man in possession.” We have a wondrous Representative before the Throne of God who has taken possession and grip of the Divine estates. What a joy it is for us to know that He is there to represent us before God!

And…

Fourthly, if Christ’s body had remained in the grave, there could have been no reign of Christ, and no sitting down at the right hand of God as there now is. He would have been in Heaven in the same respect as He is here as God—but there would have been no visible appearance of the representative Man, and the once-crucified Redeemer.