Lesson 4 - Acts 3:12-19 - PETER'S SECOND SERMON
Introduction: Last week, in Acts 2:41-47, we covered Luke's report on life and events in the early Jerusalem church that took place soon after Peter's Pentecost sermon, when the church added about 3,000 new believers to the 120 that had included the apostles and other disciples of Jesus. We learned that these early Christians set the example that we should be following in our own churches today. Luke reported that they continually devoted themselves to four basic elements of church life: (1) The Apostles' teaching - which for us, means both the Old and New testaments of the Bible, according to apostolic interpretation and teaching. This must be the handbook for all churches. (2) Fellowship - this goes far beyond ordinary socializing to actively loving, building up, encouraging, accepting, forgiving, caring, being kind, helping, and comforting one another, and even loving correction where needed. (3) Breaking of bread - in the church, it means regular observance of the Lord's Supper, which can also include common meals shared together. (4) Prayer - These early Christian prayed regularly together. Dr. David Jeremiah said, "Prayer is the way you defeat the devil, reach the lost, restore a backslider, strengthen the saints, send missionaries out, cure the sick, accomplish the impossible, and know the will of God."
This week, in Acts 3:12-19, we'll continue our study of Luke's report on the activities of early church in Jerusalem. Acts chapter 3 is comprised of two sections; (1) Peter's healing of a lame man and His explanation of how he was healed in vv. 1-11; (2) followed soon afterward by Peter's second sermon preached on Solomon's Portico at the Temple in vv. 12-19, which will be our text for today.
Synopsis of skipped verses 1-11: While Peter and John were on their way to the Temple for the hour of prayer, they encountered a man who had been lame (totally crippled) since birth. It was customary in those times for beggars to beg for alms (money or property) at the entrance to the Temple. Instead of giving him alms, Peter commanded the cripple to look at him and said, "I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene-walk!" (v. 6). Peter reached down and brought the man to his feet, whereupon the man began to walk and "entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God" (v. 8). And the nearby crowd of people who saw and recognized this formerly crippled man "were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him" (v. 10). Then Peter and John, with the healed man clinging to them, moved into the Temple to the area known as Solomon's Portico (or porch, see map), and the large crowd, being astonished by the healing they had witnessed, followed them (v. 10-11). This porch was called Solomon's Portico because ii was built on the foundations of the original Temple.
Note: In his Pentecost sermon (Acts 2:14-36), Peter had testified to the power and the presence of the Spirit of God at work in a new way in the lives of people through salvation in Jesus Christ. Now he proclaims the power and the authority of the name of Jesus with which his disciples have been empowered to continue His ministry on earth. In both sermons, there is a call to repentance for the crime of crucifying the Messiah, but here Peter stresses Jesus' role as the suffering servant and as the new leader of the people who must be accepted and obeyed.
Read Acts 3:12 - WHY ARE YOU AMAZED?
12 But when Peter saw this, he replied to the people, "Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this, or why do you gaze at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk?
v. 12: It is the healing of this lame man that has drawn this large crowd of people and presented Peter with a golden opportunity to proclaim the risen Christ. The evidence of a miraculous healing was above reproach insofar as the man was a cripple they had frequently seen begging at the Temple for many years, who was now up walking and leaping around all over the place. Since there was no cure for someone crippled since birth, everyone in the crowd completely understood that his condition had been utterly hopeless. The crowd would naturally attribute this miraculous healing to Peter and John; however, Peter's first act was to correct that misconception and make it clear that it was neither their power nor their goodness that had made it possible for this man to walk.
Read Acts 3:13-15 - THE GOD OF OUR FATHERS HAS GLORIFIED HIS SERVANT JESUS
13 The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus, the one whom you delivered and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him. 14 But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 but put to death the Prince of life, the one whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses.
v. 13a1: "The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers," - Peter spoke to his audience as a fellow Jew. First, he denied that it was the power of the good character of himself or John that was responsible for this healing. Instead, it was the God of the patriarchs, the God of their fathers, who was responsible. This phrase would have reminded Peter's audience of the long relationships they had enjoyed with Almighty God. God had been with them through thick and thin, through times when they were faithful and times when they were not.
v. 13a2: "has glorified His servant Jesus," - The LORD GOD of Israel (YHWH) had performed this miracle specifically through the apostles to glorify "His servant Jesus." This would remind them of the suffering servant prophesied in Isaiah 52 and 53, a servant who was despised and rejected.
v. 13b: "the one whom you delivered and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him." - To fully understand the healing of the crippled man, the people must first understand Jesus, who made the healing possible-so Peter tells them. To this crowd, he makes the emphatic point that they-the Jews of Judea and Jerusalem and their religious leaders-were responsible for handling Jesus over to death; for rejecting their Messiah.
v. 14: "But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you," - Here, we should notice that Peter repeats his original accusation, "you disowned the Holy and Righteous One," to underline the injustice that these Jews had perpetrated: That they had condemned Him in spite of Pilate's verdict of not guilty (Luke 23:14-15) and in spite of Pilate's repeated recommendation that Jesus should only be flogged and then released. (Luke 23:16, 22). Instead, this crowd of Jews had demanded that Pilate release Barabbas, a murderer, rather than Jesus (Luke 23:18-19). They needed to fully grasp the enormity of what they had done-killed the Messiah.
v. 15: "but put to death the Prince of life, the one whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses." - They needed to fully understand the person of Jesus: They had killed the "Prince of life," the one who had come into the world to give them life. He was holy-a man set apart from the world into which he had been born. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and lived a sinless life (Luke 1:35; Heb. 4:15) and was confirmed and declared to the Son God with power by His resurrection from the dead, of which Peter, John, and many others bore witness (Heb. 13:12). This is Peter's first proof.
Read Acts 3:16 - ON THE BASIS OF FAITH IN THE NAME OF JESUS
16 And on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.
v. 16a: "And on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know" - This proclamation part of Peter's sermon places greatest emphasis on "the name of Jesus." The name of Jesus summarizes everything about Him here as elsewhere in the Scriptures. In Jesus' name the healing itself was made possible.
v. 16b: "and the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all." - In response to Peter's command "walk!" (v. 6), the crippled man demonstrated his faith "In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene" (v. 6) and once healed, he began "walking and leaping and praising God" (v. 8). Jesus had given him faith. If he'd had no faith in the divine power of Jesus, he would never have responded to Peter's invitation to walk. Bible scholars speculate that this cripple might have previously seen and heard Jesus around the Temple prior to his crucifixion.
Read Acts 3:17-19 - BRETHREN...THEREFORE REPENT AND RETURN
17 "And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers did also. 18 But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. 19 Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;
v. 17: "And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers did also." - Peter's accusations against his Jewish audience had been severe (vv. 13-15), but now, he introduces a note of grace, and the scope of it is breathtaking: He acknowledges the ignorance of not only the crowd, but also of their rulers-the chief priests, the Jewish elders, and the Sanhedrin-all those who opposed Jesus and were directly responsible for His trial and crucifixion. By this statement, Peter is opening the door to God's forgiveness even to those who played a instrumental role in Jesus' death.
v. 18: "But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled." - These prophecies would have included Isaiah's passages about the "suffering servant" (Isa. 52 and 53) along with Jeremiah's "gentle lamb led to the slaughter" (Jer. 11:19) and Zechariah's "they will look to me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for his only son..." (Zech. 12:10). Even Christ had pointed to His own death, saying "So it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem". (Luke 24:46-47). This is Peter's second proof. The stumbling block for many of these Jews was not believing that Jesus was a miracle worker; but their problem was with believing that Jesus was in fact the Messiah come. They were expecting a warrior king who would take up his sword and restore the former glory of Israel among the nations.
v. 19a: "Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away," - The word for "repent" (Gk. metanoeó [met-an-o-eh'-o]) literally means to change one's mind or purpose, and in the spiritual context, to change the inner-person with respect to accepting the will of God. So, here, Peter is calling for the members of this Jerusalem crowd to repent from their sin of 'disowning' their Messiah by changing their mind about him and believing in Him in order to obey the will of God. The "return" to a proper relationship with God would only be possible by belief-accepting Jesus as Messiah. The result would be forgiveness-their sins would be "wiped away."
v. 19b: "in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;" - A religious Jew might ask, if Jesus was the Messiah, then where is his Messianic Kingdom? Since they had rejected Jesus at His First Coming, the "times of refreshing" refers to the blessing of Christ's future kingdom on earth at His Second Coming.
APPLICATION-Proclaiming the Gospel:
1. To proclaim the gospel, we must lift up the Lord Jesus, as follows:
(a) To lift up the Lord Jesus, we must deflect any glory away from ourselves. Peter begins his sermon by deflecting the glory for the miracle away from himself and John.
(b) To lift up the Lord Jesus, we must tell people who He is. - Peter uses numerous titles that apply to Jesus, but they are all summed up in the phrase, "the name of Jesus."
(c) To lift up the Lord Jesus, we must tell people what He did. - Peter makes it clear that the Lord Jesus died on the cross; He was raised from the dead and ascended into heaven; and, He is coming back again to fulfill God's promises to Israel and to judge all who have rejected Him.
2. To proclaim the gospel, we must confront sinners with their guilt. Peter didn't hold anything back when he hit his audience with the terrible sin that they had committed in crucifying Jesus.
Any person who "disowns" (renounces) Jesus is, in effect, crucifies Him.
3. To proclaim the gospel, we must offer God's grace to the repentant. After Peter's indictment of his audience, you would expect him to say, "You're all going to burn in hell for crucifying Jesus," and walk off and leave them. But instead, he exhorts them, "Repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away" (v. 19).
POSTSCRIPT: According to Acts 4:2: But many of those who had heard the message believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand. Peter's second sermon had added about 2,000 men to the church. Notice that it doesn't include wives and children, so that the total number of the saved might have been much greater.
ENDNOTE: So whenever we are given the opportunity to talk to someone about spiritual matters, we must seek to lift up the Lord Jesus Christ. The unsaved sinner needs to know who Jesus is and what He did. Don't hesitate, out of fear of giving offense, to confront the sinner and warn him or her of impending judgment-the consequence of unbelief. He or she needs to feel his guilt so that they clearly realize their need for a Savior. And don't fail to tell them that God's offers grace and forgiveness to everyone who will repent. And whether God uses your witness to save 2,000, as He did with Peter's sermon, or maybe just one, you will be filled with joy to know that by turning a sinner from the error of his way, you have been used to save his or her soul.
