Acts 2:22-24. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on June 26, 2022.
Today, we continue with Peter’s address to the crowd following the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the disciples of Jesus almost 2,000 years ago.
As a quick reminder, Peter is essentially answering the question that the crowd has. “What does this mean?” He starts by countering the mockers who were saying that they were just drunk. After this, he points them to the Promise of God in Joel 2:28-32. There God promises to pour out His Holy Spirit upon all people in the last days.
Let’s look at our passage and continue Peter’s message.
In these verses, Peter explains how this outpouring of the Holy Spirit is connected to what happened with Jesus, especially the events concluding 50 days prior to Pentecost.
The religious authorities felt that they had dealt with the “Jesus-Problem” once and for all. Of course, Jesus isn’t actually a problem. Jesus is a solution, salvation. Their true problem was that his activity and words kept highlighting how unrighteous they had become. It is only a problem for the proud who refuse to admit that they need to repent.
Of course, within a matter of three days rumors began circulating in Jerusalem that Jesus had risen from the dead. The tomb was empty and the guards had no helpful explanation of how Jesus escaped their watch.
During these 50 days, the disciples basically kept a low profile due to the fact that they were fearful of the authorities, and Jesus had been appearing to them. Ultimately, he had told them to wait until this event of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit before they proceeded to spread the Gospel.
Now, we have this strange event on the Day of Pentecost. What gives? Peter gives the crowd understanding of how all of these events are connected and what God is doing through them. They are not just random strange events that make no sense, if you understand what God is doing. So what was God doing through Jesus?
In verse 22, Peter reminds the crowd that Jesus of Nazareth was no ordinary man. He had been “attested by God” to Israel. The word “attested” has the sense of proving something through demonstration. God had publicly demonstrated to Israel that Jesus was an exceptional prophet, and that they should listen to him. These public attestations, or proofs, were not done in a corner and hidden from anyone, and they were not mere tricks that could pull the wool over the eyes of simpletons.
Peter mentions that God used miracles to prove Jesus. Miracles are acts of supernatural power. He also mentions wonders and signs. These are essentially the same thing, but seen from a different purpose. A wonder is that which leaves your jaw dropped. It is an amazing thing that gets your attention. However, God is not in the business of merely trying to impress humans with what He can do. These wonders have purpose and meaning. They are signs that are intended to point us in the right direction, and even explain God’s purpose to some degree.
Peter also makes it clear that these miracles, wonders, and signs were done through Jesus. This is not just saying Jesus was only a conduit. Jesus is the effective agent on the ground by whom these things are being done. Jesus had done many spectacular healings of people who had been blind and lame since birth, and these healings were immediately upon command. He powerfully cast out demons that plagued individuals who could not be handled by others. He fed 1,000’s in the wilderness with only a handful of food. Probably the most amazing was his resurrection of Lazarus. A man who had died, was buried for 4 days, and was brought back to life by Jesus on command, and in front of a crowd.
I could add on top of this that many of the things Jesus did parallel what God did through Moses and the children of Israel. For the sake of time, I will just mention that there is a contrast to the 10 plagues of Egypt. The waters were turned to blood in judgment of Egypt, but Jesus turns water into wine as a blessing. The flies, lice, and gnats seem to be symbolic of demonic hordes that Jesus dismisses. The death of the firstborn in Egypt is countered by the death of the Son of God who becomes the Lamb of God protecting us from the destroying angel. He fed the people miraculous bread in the wilderness. All of these things are signs that tell Israel that Jesus is the prophet that Moses had told them would come. He was publicly proved by God.
How could the religious leaders reject such proofs? We should issue a caution that even the apostles highlight in the New Testament. Satan does have supernatural power though it pales in comparison to God. 2 Thessalonians 2:8-11 makes it clear that people who reject the love of the truth that God is trying to give them will become deluded by lying signs and wonders. Thus, it is important to note that the only “sin” the religious leaders could pin on Jesus was that he put himself on a level with God that they felt was heretical. Of course, Jesus points them back to the Scriptures they claimed to follow and neutralized their accusation (see Psalm 82 and John 10:33 and following). Jesus was pointing people back to proper worship of God the Father in spirit and in truth, not superficial actions that covered lives that were anything but godly.
Peter in verse 22 says that Jesus was “delivered” over to them. He was handed into their power. From a standpoint of authority, Jesus is essentially their higher authority, so they would have no authority to do what they did. From a standpoint of power, Jesus could not be seized by them and held without his cooperation. He who created the universe can only be arrested, tried, and crucified if he allows it to happen. In this sense, Judas is immaterial. Yes, he opens the door for Jesus to be arrested in secret, but it is the purpose and plan of God the Father that puts Jesus under their power. This is why Peter mentions God’s foreknowledge (He knows what people will choose to do before they do it), and His determined purpose.
Of course, the test of putting Jesus in their power is to prove publicly what they would do with the God they claim to worship if He came down to their level. It is easy to say that you love and worship and invisible being, but if He comes down and becomes visible in a way that we can’t control, we may find that we don’t love Him nearly as much as we put on, if at all. The shocking reality that they had executed a man whom God had publicly proved to them is being highlighted.
We should notice that, even though they made it look like they were merely following the Law, their hands were “lawless” (vs 23). No number of judges, prosecutors, police, lawyers, military, politicians, etc. can make something righteous that God has defined as unrighteous. In the name of law, we can become a lawless people. Whether these are actions that are done under the color of law, i.e., we make it look like we are only following the law, or we make up laws that are contrary to God’s Law, i.e., the laws we follow themselves are lawless against God’s law, God will always bring such actions to account.
They had put Jesus to death, a public execution. However, Peter declares that God raised up Jesus from the dead. Essentially, God had overruled their decision and Pilate’s decision. Jesus was raised up and freed from the “pains of death.” This is not talking about the physical pain of dying. Jesus experienced that to the hilt. It could be translated the sorrows of death. There is a sorrow of being separated from loved ones, and the fact that even righteous souls were held in the grave, unable to directly enter the presence of God.
Peter even states that it is not possible that He should be held by death (i.e., death and the resultant residence in the grave-Hades/She’ol). Jesus is not just able to give life. He is the source of all life and by definition could not be held by death, or Hades. We might say that it would be impossible for God to truly die, and yet through the incarnation, it became possible for God to die a physical death. Jesus took on the nature of a man so that he could truly die. Thus, God could truly die and enter Hades, but Hades had no power to hold Him. The Lord of Life could not stay among the dead. Those righteous souls who had been held in the grave could now enter into God’s presence because Jesus had paid the price for their sins, for the atoning of their sins. Jesus is quite unique among the righteous because he was the only one to enter into Hades who had never sinned.
We are going to press pause on Peter’s discourse for now. Peter is going to point forward from the resurrection to the fact that Jesus is now seated at the right hand of the Father, and he is the one who is responsible for this outpouring of the Holy Spirit that they are witnessing.
Today, it may seem like this has no connection to our world, having happened so long ago. However, we must ask what Jesus is doing now? He is still pouring out the Holy Spirit upon those who believe upon him and want to serve him. It is important for us as Christians to be focused upon the purpose and will of God, and to be empowered by the Holy Spirit he is giving. However, if we are not expectant, repentant, and waiting upon the Lord, we can cruise through our life with a thin veneer of religiosity and not empowered by God’s Spirit. Friend, don’t settle for being religious in your flesh. Ask God each day to fill you with His Holy Spirit, and then share the good news of Jesus with a lost world that is in danger of judgment every day.