5  The First Christian  Sermon—part 2  The Theme:  Proclaiming  the Risen Lord (2:22-36)

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 up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. And 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 was always beholding the Lord in my presence; for He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue exulted; moreover my flesh also will abide in hope; because Thou wilt not abandon my soul to Hades, nor allow Thy Holy One to undergo decay. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; Thou wilt make me full of gladness with Thy 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 upon 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 Thine enemies a footstool for Thy 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. (2:22–36)

Ever since God’s covenant with Abraham, in which He promised to bless all nations through Abraham’s seed (Gen. 12:1ff.; cf. Gal. 3:16), the Jewish people have longed for messianic times. They believe that when Messiah comes all wrongs will be made right, and He will lead them to victory over their enemies and usher in the blessings of His promised kingdom.

Viewed in that context of intense Jewish expectation, Peter’s announcement that the last days, a name for messianic times, had already begun (2:16–21) was shocking. That startling claim, made by the apostle in the introduction to his sermon on the Day of Pentecost, directed his hearers logically into his sermon’s theme. For if the messianic times had indeed begun, then Messiah must have come. That is precisely the thesis Peter develops in the main body of his sermon. He presents the truth that Israel’s long-awaited Messiah has come in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.

It is difficult for twentieth-century readers to appreciate how profoundly disturbing that claim was to the Jews. Messiah was the central figure in Jewish thought. Of Him God had revealed, “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes, and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples” (Gen. 49:10). Of Him the psalmist warned, “Do homage to the Son, lest He become angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath may soon be kindled” (Ps. 2:12). He was the great descendant of David, of whom God said, “I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever” (2 Sam. 7:13; cf. Luke 1:31–33).

In light of that, for Peter to boldly proclaim Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah had to both shock and outrage his listeners. After all, less than two months earlier they had executed Jesus for claiming to be the Messiah. Now his upstart followers were making that same claim on His behalf. To the Jewish mind, there could be no greater expression of blasphemy.

That same antipathy toward Jesus Christ persists in our own day. I’ll never forget the time when, as a young man, I visited the office of a local rabbi. We had a pleasant discussion until I asked him what he thought of Jesus Christ. He brought his fist crashing down on his desk and glared at me. Pointing his finger at me he said vehemently, “Don’t ever mention that name in my presence again!”

For Peter to proclaim Jesus as Israel’s Messiah was to raise the most dynamic, powerful and forceful issue possible. By so doing, Peter showed a boldness and courage that he had previously lacked. That is once again evidence of the transforming power of Pentecost in his life.

Knowing that his hearers would demand compelling evidence before accepting such an audacious claim, Peter proceeds to provide it. Having explained the miracle of Pentecost in his introduction, he now launches into his theme, namely that Jesus of Nazareth is the divine Messiah. Peter establishes Jesus’s credentials by demonstrating how His life, death, resurrection, and exaltation prove Him to be the Messiah. As his sermon unfolds, Peter flows through those four elements in chronological order. In keeping with apostolic custom, however, he focuses primarily on the resurrection of Christ (cf. Acts 3:15; 5:30; 10:40; 13:30, 33, 34, 37).

THE LIFE OF CHRIST

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—(2:22)

As he did at the beginning of his sermon (cf. 2:14), Peter boldly challenged the men of Israel present to listen to his words. His boldness was predicated on two undeniable truths: God had worked miracles through Jesus, and they had seen them. That salvation was being offered to Israel despite their unbelief and rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ is a testimony to the magnanimity of God’s grace.

Jesus the Nazarene was the name by which our Lord was commonly known during His earthly ministry (Matt. 21:11; Mark 10:47; 14:67; 16:6; Luke 24:19; John 18:5, 7). It identified Him with His hometown of Nazareth; in fact, the phrase is sometimes translated “Jesus of Nazareth.” It was the name on the inscription on His cross (John 19:19). Peter used it several other times in Acts (3:6; 4:10; 10:38), as did Paul (26:9). It was even used in derision by some (cf. John 1:46), thus Peter’s use of it constitutes a mild rebuke. This name for our Lord reflects His wonderful condescension in leaving the glory of heaven to live in a humble Galilean village.

Peter further describes Jesus as a man attested to them by God (cf. John 5:32–37; 8:18). Apodeiknumi (attested) has various shades of meaning. It is used in 1 Corinthians 4:9 to speak of exhibiting something. In Acts 25:7 it conveys the idea of proof. Second Thessalonians 2:4 uses it in the sense of proclamation to high office. All those shades of meaning are applicable to Jesus. He was exhibited as God in human flesh, and that was confirmed by “many convincing proofs” (Acts 1:3). Finally, God “highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name” (Phil. 2:9). There is no higher office than that of Messiah, God’s anointed King.

Peter describes the means by which God attested Jesus as miracles and wonders and signs. The many miracles performed by our Lord provide overwhelming evidence that He is who He claimed to be. From His miraculous birth to His miraculous resurrection, to all the miracles He performed during His earthly ministry, the miraculous element was central in our Lord’s life. Nicodemus no doubt spoke for many when he exclaimed, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him” (John 3:2).

It should come as no surprise if the God Who super naturally created the universe should choose at times to super naturally intervene in it. Yet it is the claim of miracles that many in our culture find most objectionable in biblical Christianity. The many attempts by rationalistic critics to invent the “historical” (that is, nonmiraculous) Jesus have inevitably ended in frustration. If the miracles are removed from His life, there is very little left.

Many would agree with the eighteenth-century British philosopher David Hume, who rejected the possibility of miracles. Hume argued that since the laws of nature are uniform, and a miracle is by definition a violation of the laws of nature, miracles are impossible. There is a fatal flaw in Hume’s argument, however. C. S. Lewis writes,

Miracles, wonders, and signs all describe God’s miraculous works. Miracles is from dunamis, a term that describes the powerful, supernatural character of the works. Wonders is the plural form of teras. It describes the marveling that takes place in the mind of the one who witnesses a miracle. Signs derives from sēmeion and gives the intent of God’s miraculous works: to point to spiritual truth. It should be noted that “throughout Acts the term ‘wonders’ only occurs in conjunction with ‘signs,’ a testimony to the fact that mere marvels have no value in themselves except as they point beyond themselves to the divine power behind them and so lead to faith” (John B. Polhill, The New American Commentary: Acts [Nashville: Broadman, 1992], 112).

The miracles of our Lord were thus mighty manifestations of God’s power designed to get people’s attention and point them to spiritual truth. For example in John 6 Jesus followed the miracle of the feeding of the multitude by offering Himself as the bread of life. Similarly, He used the miracle of Lazarus’s resurrection to illustrate the spiritual truth that He is the resurrection and the life (John 11:25).

Jesus did not do His miracles on His own; God performed them through Him (John 5:17–20, 30, 36; 8:28; 14:10). They showed both His deity and the Father’s approval of Him (Matt. 11:1–6; Luke 7:20–23; John 3:2; 6:14). Peter repeatedly emphasizes God’s involvement in Christ’s life, death, and resurrection (vv. 23, 24, 32, 33, 36). He drives home the point that ample evidence reveals that Jesus Christ was no impostor but was indeed God’s chosen Messiah.

The miracles God performed through Jesus Christ, Peter reminds them, were done in your midst, just as you yourselves know. They could not claim ignorance. Their rejection of Jesus was not based on lack of information but on hatred and love of sin.

That hatred appears in many passages. In John 10:37–38, Jesus said, “If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.” What was the response? “Therefore they were seeking again to seize Him, and He eluded their grasp” (v. 39). Note that, although they rejected His claims, they did not deny the works He did.

After Jesus’ resurrection of Lazarus, “some of the [crowd who had witnessed the raising of Lazarus] went away to the Pharisees, and told them the things which Jesus had done. Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council, and were saying, ‘What are we doing? For this man is performing many signs’” (John 11:46–47). Even His most bitter enemies did not deny His miracles. Their response, however, was to plot His death (vv. 48–53).

At the triumphal entry, “the multitude who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb, and raised him from the dead, were bearing Him witness. For this cause also the multitude went and met Him, because they heard that He had performed this sign” (John 12:17–18). A few days later, this same multitude cried out before Pilate, “Let Him be crucified” (Matt. 27:22–23).

Perhaps the clearest statement of this truth comes from our Lord’s words in John 15:24–25: “If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well. But they have done this in order that the word may be fulfilled that is written in their Law, They hated Me without a cause.’”

The evidence from Jesus’ life and works that He was the Messiah of God was conclusive and undeniable. But because “men loved darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil” (John 3:19), they committed the greatest sin that can be committed—they rejected Jesus Christ.

THE DEATH OF CHRIST

this Man, delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. (2:23)

Peter’s emphatic use of the phrase this Man brings out the stark contrast between his hearers’ evaluation of Jesus and God’s. The very One whom God had honored as Messiah, they had rejected and crucified.

In this verse Peter answers an objection that would arise in the minds of his listeners. If Jesus was the Messiah, why was He a victim? Why did He not use His power to avoid the cross? Peter’s reply to this unspoken objection is that Jesus was no victim (John 10:17–18; 19:10–11); rather, He was delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God.

Ekdotos (delivered up) appears only here in the New Testament. It describes those surrendered to their enemies, or betrayed. God gave His Son to be the Savior of the world, which entailed delivering Him to His enemies. By the design of God, Jesus was betrayed by Judas into the hands of the Jewish leaders, who handed Him over to the Romans for execution.

Predetermined is from horizō, from which we get our English word “horizon.” It means “to mark out with a boundary,” or “to determine.” Plan is from boulomai and refers to God’s will, design, or purpose. Taken together they indicate that Jesus Christ was delivered to death because God planned and ordained it (Acts 4:27–28; 13:27–29) from all eternity (2 Tim. 1:9; Rev. 13:8).

Foreknowledge translates prognōsis, an important and often misunderstood New Testament word. It means far more than knowing beforehand what will happen. Significantly, the word appears here in the instrumental dative case. That shows that it was the means by which Christ’s deliverance to His enemies took place. Yet, mere knowledge cannot perform such an act. Foreordination can act, however, and that is the New Testament meaning of prognōsis:

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 (cf. Berkhof, Systematic Theology, 68).

Peter strongly emphasizes the point that Jesus was delivered to death by God’s eternal plan. That being the case, His death in no way contradicted His messianic claims.

That Jesus Christ was delivered to death by God’s predetermined plan, however, does not absolve those who put Him to death of their guilt. Peter goes on to indict them because they nailed Jesus to a cross … and put Him to death. They were the instigators of Jesus’ execution, which by the hands of godless (literally, “lawless”) Romans was carried out.

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.

The heinous sin of rejecting Jesus Christ was the blackest moment in Israel’s history. Far from casting doubt on His messianic credentials, however, that betrayal was part of God’s eternal plan. And though Peter does not develop the thought here, the Old Testament clearly teaches that Messiah had to die (cf. Ps. 22; Isa. 53). The death of Jesus Christ, no less than His life, confirmed that He was the Messiah.

THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST

And 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 was always beholding the Lord in my presence; for He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue exulted; moreover my flesh also will abide in hope; because Thou wilt not abandon my soul to Hades, nor allow Thy Holy One to undergo decay. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; Thou wilt make me full of gladness with Thy 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 upon 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. (2:24–32)

As already noted, the resurrection of Jesus Christ was not only the central theme of apostolic preaching but also is without question the climax of redemptive history. It proves beyond doubt the deity of Jesus Christ and establishes His messianic credentials. It is also the guarantee of our own resurrection (John 14:19; Rom. 6:4–5; 1 Cor. 6:14; 15:16–23). The resurrection is the crowning proof that God accepted the sacrifice of Jesus Christ (cf. Rom. 4:25). Without it, His death becomes the heroic death of a noble martyr, the pathetic death of a madman, or the execution of a fraud.

The greatest proof that Jesus is the Messiah, then, is not His teaching, His miracles, or even His death. It is His resurrection. That becomes the main theme of Peter’s sermon. After spending one verse each on Christ’s life and death, he spends nine verses on His resurrection.

Verses 23 and 24 form one connected thought. Israel rejected and crucified her Messiah, but God raised Him up again. Peter forcefully drives home the point that they were guilty of opposing God—despite their boasts to the contrary (Rom. 2:17–20). That tactic was frequently employed in Acts (cf. 3:14–15; 10:39–40; 13:27–30).

By raising Jesus, God put an end to the agony of death for Him. Agony translates ōdinas, which literally means “birth pangs.” Like the pain of a woman in labor, the pain of death for Jesus was temporary and resulted in something glorious—the resurrection.

God delivered Jesus from death since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power. Death was powerless to hold Him for several reasons. First, death could not hold Him because of divine power. Jesus was “the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25), who died “that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Heb. 2:14). Second, death could not hold Him because of divine promise. John 2:18—22 records the following dialogue:

“Thus it is written,” our Lord told the disciples, “that the Christ should suffer and rise again from the dead the third day” (Luke 24:46). Finally, death could not hold Him because of divine purpose. God has designed that His people be with Him for all eternity. In order to do that, they need to go through death and out the other side. Jesus had to go first to make the way (cf. 1 Cor. 15:16–26). Because He lives, His people will live forever (John 14:19).

To further confirm that the resurrection was God’s plan for the Messiah, Peter quotes a prophetic passage from Psalm 16:8–11. Although written by David, the passage is prophetically Messiah speaking in the first person (cf. Ps. 22). It describes Messiah’s confident trust in God as He looked to the cross. His declaration I was always beholding the Lord in my presence is the key to that trust. Jesus kept His focus on God no matter what trials came His way. He knew that because God was at His right hand, He would not be shaken. The right hand symbolizes protection. In a wedding ceremony, the bridegroom stands to the right of the bride. In the ancient world, a bodyguard stood on the right side of the one he was protecting. In that position he could cover him with his shield and still have his right arm free to fight.

Because of His confidence in God’s protection, Messiah could say my heart was glad and my tongue exulted. Even the prospect of the cross could not dampen Christ’s joy. As the writer of Hebrews puts it, “Jesus … for the joy set before Him endured the cross” (Heb. 12:2). Moreover, another reason for Messiah’s joy was His confidence that His flesh also would abide in hope. Flesh here refers to the physical body. Kataskēnoō (abide) literally means “to pitch a tent.” It expresses Messiah’s certainty that He could commit His body to the grave with the confident hope that it would be raised to life again.

The next statement from Psalm 16 gives the reason for Messiah’s confidence: because Thou wilt not abandon my soul to Hades. Hades is the New Testament equivalent of the Old Testament term “Sheol.” Although it can refer specifically to hell (Matt. 11:23), Peter uses it here in its more general sense of the abode of the dead. The phrase expresses Christ’s confidence that He would not remain a captive in the realm of death. Nor would God allow His Holy One (a messianic title; cf. Mark 1:24; Luke 4:34; John 6:69) to undergo decay. During its three days in the tomb, our Lord’s body experienced no corruption. The significance of this verse will be seen shortly.

Peter’s quote of verse 11 of Psalm 16 has puzzled some commentators, since it doesn’t appear to advance his argument. The phrase the ways of life (the Hebrew text of Psalm 16:11 uses the singular “path of life”), however, can be interpreted as a reference to the resurrection. It would thus have the sense of “the path to resurrection life.” The context strongly implies such an interpretation. As a result of the resurrection, Messiah would be full of gladness as He experienced God’s presence.

Peter now comes to the crux of his argument. Addressing them once again as brethren, he confidently reminds them that the patriarch David both died and was buried. In fact, his tomb provided visible evidence that he had not fulfilled the prophecy of Psalm 16. David spoke as a prophet, however, not of himself. He knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants upon his throne. That promise is recorded in 2 Samuel 7:11–16:

David, then, looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, who, in contrast to David, was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did His flesh suffer decay.

Peter’s argument from Psalm 16 can be summarized as follows: The psalm speaks of a resurrection. Since David, however, was not resurrected, it cannot speak of him. Thus, David speaks in the psalm of the Messiah. Hence, Messiah will rise from the dead. Peter now delivers his powerful conclusion: This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. The argument is conclusive: Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah.

THE EXALTATION OF CHRIST

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 Thine enemies a footstool for Thy 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. (2:33–36)

Not only did Jesus rise from the dead, but he also was exalted to the place of honor, glory, and power (cf. Phil. 2:9–11) at the right hand of God (cf. Mark 16:19; Luke 22:69; Acts 5:31; 7:55–56; Rom. 8:34; Col. 3:1; Heb. 10:12; 12:2; 1 Peter 3:22). From that exalted position, Peter says, Jesus, having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, has poured forth this which you both see and hear. Peter now brings his listeners full circle back to the phenomena of Pentecost. He tells them that what they had just seen resulted from God’s promise to send the Spirit to inaugurate the messianic age (Joel 2:28–29). Now that Christ was risen and glorified, God fulfilled that promise (cf. John 7:39).

Peter then quotes from another Davidic psalm, Psalm 110, to prove from His ascension and exaltation that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. Once again, the psalm could not be referring to David, since it was not David who ascended into heaven. In fact, David himself says in that psalm, “The Lord said to my Lord, sit at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies a footstool for Thy feet.” Placing one’s enemies under one’s feet was a figure of speech denoting their abject submission (cf. Josh. 10:24–25). David was not exalted to God’s right hand, but Jesus was (Acts 1:9–11). The proof of that was the outpouring of the Spirit that the crowd had just witnessed.

Peter has provided overwhelming evidence from Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and exaltation that He is indeed Israel’s long-awaited Messiah. He now draws his sermon to a powerful conclusion with these ringing words: Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified. Asphalōs (for certain) speaks of that which is known beyond a doubt. The same Jesus whom God attested as Messiah through His life, death, resurrection, and exaltation was the same Jesus whom they had crucified. The verdict was in, and they were on the wrong side, guilty of opposing God and rejecting their Messiah. As Peter was later to put it, “He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the very corner stone” (Acts 4:11).