Acts 2:34-39. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on July 10, 2022.
Today, we will finish Peter’s sermon at the Day of Pentecost when Jesus first poured out the Holy Spirit on His followers. Let’s review the main points so far.
This brings us to verse 34.
Peter brings up Psalm 110 verse 1 to the crowd. It goes to the heart of just who this Jesus is.
There is much debate within Judaism today just who exactly is being referenced in verse 1. The first issue is that the phrase, “a psalm of David,” could also mean a psalm for David. One must solve this first, and then the issue becomes the identity of the one whom the writer address as “my lord.”
When it comes to the writer of this psalm, Jesus solves that for us in Matthew 22:41-45. He asks the Pharisees whose son the Messiah (Christ) would be. They answer correctly that Messiah would be the son of David. Jesus then brings up Psalm 110:1 by saying, “How then does David in the Spirit call him, ‘Lord?’” Notice that Jesus attributes this to be a Psalm written by David, which is the normal translation. Moreover, Jesus points out that David is not just writing a song that he imagined. The message of this Psalm is a revelation given to him by the Spirit of God. David is speaking about the Messiah, and calling him “Lord.”
If this was simply a misinterpretation by Jesus, then the Pharisees would have surely put him in his place. However, they are stumped because they too believe David wrote this psalm and that he was talking about Messiah.
Let’s look at Psalm 110 for a bit. I will insert some Hebrew words in verse 1 to help us catch what is being said by David. “The Lord [Yahweh] said to my lord [adoniy], sit at my right hand until I make [the imperfect tense that speaks of a process that will begin later] your enemies your footstool.”
David speaks of one who is his lord being told, by the God that Moses addressed at the burning bush (The I Am), to sit at His right hand, i.e., at his throne in heaven. This psalm pictures a king from the line of David whom God will make all the nations his footstool. However, the king will have to wait at the right hand of the Father until the Father is ready to begin the process of making the enemies of Christ His footstool. The word “make” has a sense of putting, or setting. It can be legislative as well as enforcement. From the rest of Scripture, we know that the Father will give the go ahead, and Jesus will come back to enforce his rule on the earth.
Ps 110 pictures this unique king of Israel, who would therefore be of the line of David, also being a priest (vs 4) and a judge (vs 6). Though David was anointed as a king and prophet, the Law of Moses kept a clear line between the priesthood and the kingship. This is not just a son of David, but the quintessential Son of David, who would be the Messiah (anointed one) who would fix all things, and whose coming Israel longed for.
The reason Peter brings this verse up is because it is one thing to declare that Jesus has resurrected. At least, they had had some recent evidence with Lazarus that this is not such a preposterous thing, and it was backed up with the prophecy of Psalm 16. Yet, here is Psalm 110 speaking of the Messiah being at the right hand of the Father until the day when the Father decrees to make his enemies his footstool. They weren’t just making up a strange story. These things were prophesied by David 1,000 years before.
Now, back in Acts 2:36, Peter gives the summation. The Father has made Jesus both Lord and Christ. There is a level in which every king of Israel had been both lord and christ (messiah/anointed). David was anointed to serve as king just as the high priest was anointed to serve in his role, and prophets were anointed by prior prophets to take their place (remember Elijah anointing Elishah). This oil on their head represented the help of the Holy Spirit for them to do their role. All of these kings, high priests, and prophets fell short of the perfect God of heaven. However, God had promised David a special descendant who would be King, Prophet, and Priest. He would so perfectly satisfy what these roles represent that it would fix all that is wrong with Israel and the nations. Of course, each son of David who ascended to the throne held the hope of being The One. One by one, they proved that they were not the one. Yes, they were anointed and a lord over Israel, but they were not The Anointed, The Messiah, The Christ of God for Israel. Israel had developed this concept of one who would fulfill perfectly what these roles represented. He would legislate and execute the perfect will of God. He would be the ultimate mediator between God and man, and He would be the perfect Word of God.
This is what Peter means, and it is what they would understand. They hadn’t had a king of David’s line for about 600 years. Herod was not Jewish, and the Hasmoneans of the 2nd century B.C. were Levites. They had waited all of these years, and now Peter is declaring that God has made Jesus to be the one who was Anointed to sit on the throne of David over Israel and the nations.
He then hits them with the zinger, “whom you crucified.” This phrase should come last in that verse. The point is that God declaring someone to be Lord and Christ is an amazing thing. Yet, they had just crucified him.
The crowd then breaks in on Peter’s sermon in verse 37. The conviction of the Holy Spirit has pierced them to their hearts. They recognize that they are in a precarious situation. Centuries of waiting are now replaced with the guilt of having rejected what they had always said they were waiting for. In John 16:8, Jesus says that one of the jobs of the Holy Spirit is to convict people, to prick their heart, with the truth of their sin. Yet, we can be hard-hearted, and put to death the feeling of guilt and what the Spirit is saying to our hearts. This will only make you harder, less sensitive, the Lord’s conviction next time.
They did not deserve a Messiah, but God sent Him anyways. Even more so, they now did not deserve forgiveness, but nonetheless, God makes it available. In fact, if you noticed in Joel 2:28-32, there is the promise that, “And it shall come to pass that those who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Calling on the Lord is a cry for help. It is the initial phase of one who responds to conviction by repenting. This is exactly what Peter tells them to do in verse 38.
“Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” It is amazing enough that they could repent and be forgiven, but to also receive the promise of the Holy Spirit is grace beyond measure. To repent is to change your mind. Essentially, you are letting go of what you think, what rabbi so-and-so thinks (pastor so-and-so), and listening to what God says. It involves a subsequent change of life, due to using the wisdom of God (Christ) instead of your own.
Here is the thing about repentance. These were observant Jews who were in Jerusalem obeying the Law of Moses by holding the feast of Pentecost. However, it is not enough to be doing what God told us to do in the past. It is easy to point to a general list of things that we are doing as cover for why we are not listening to the particular thing that God is saying right now. No matter how much Israel followed the cloud in the wilderness, if one day they decided not to follow, then they would be repenting of following God (backsliding). Dietrich Bonhoeffer made this point regarding Germany leading up to WWII. If we follow Christ in everything except in what he is saying right now, then we are not really following Christ. We are simply following ourselves, or wise people that we look up to.
Peter mentions water baptism because a public association with Jesus would be a litmus test of true repentance. They would be identifying with a man who had been executed by the “authorities.” Yet, it would open the door for them to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Peter emphasizes that it would be for them and their children. I believe this is not talking about their existent children, but to their children to come, later generations. He also mentions that the promise is for those who are afar off. This would immediately bring to mind all of the Israelites who had been dispersed (the Diaspora) throughout the nations. However, it also means those who are afar off in that they have been separated from God (the Gentiles).
Let us know that until the day of making his enemies his footstool arrives, Jesus is in the business of pouring out His Holy Spirit upon the repentant remnant of this world. Does that describe you? It is not enough to have a checklist of all of the things you think you are supposed to do. God is moving by His Spirit today. He is convicting us of all the areas in which we must repent. We need to repent of fornication, hard-heartedness, materialism, and laziness. We don’t even want to do the natural chores of freedom, much less the spiritual chores of knowing God’s Word, and through prayer maintaining our daily relationship with Him. Christians in America must rise up as a repentant remnant, or we will perish holding on to an old tattered remnant of a relationship with God long ago.