Slices
Prepare
‘Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law’ (Psalm 119:18).
Bible passage
Acts 2:29-41
29 ‘Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. 30 But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. 31 Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay. 32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. 33 Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. 34 For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,
‘“The Lord said to my Lord:
‘Sit at my right hand
35 until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet.’”
36 ‘Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.’
37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’
38 Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off – for all whom the Lord our God will call.’
40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, ‘Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.’ 41 Those who accepted his message were baptised, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
Explore
And it suddenly got real. Having demonstrated that the events of Jesus’ life matched the key indicators of the promised Messiah, then preaching about Jesus and his current glory (vs 32,33), Peter decisively moved to his hearers’ guilt: ‘whom you crucified’ (v 36). It’s a curious phrase because the pilgrims weren’t in town when the Jewish authorities dragged Jesus to Pilate (see John 18:28), when Pilate asked whom he should release (Matthew 27:20–26). The pilgrims weren’t at Golgotha as Jesus was crucified (Mark 15:22). So what did Peter mean? The Israelites as a whole (vs 22,29) were responsible. More soberingly, we are all involved. Every one of us is guilty of sin through breaking God’s law, even if only ever on just one point (James 2:10). Through his love and mercy, Jesus ‘gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own …’ (Titus 2:14).
Peter’s hearers know this to be true and call out in desperation, ‘What shall we do?’ (v 37). The answer was as true then as it is today: repent, be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ, receive forgiveness of your sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit (v 38).
Respond
‘The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off’ (v 39). Thank God that although we were far off, through Jesus, he has now brought us close.
Deeper Bible study
‘Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all!’1
Some writers (including Robert Eisenman2) have accused the New Testament of being anti-Semitic. Indeed, passages like verse 36, in which Peter talks to a Jewish crowd of ‘Jesus, whom you crucified’, have unfortunately been misused to hold all Jews accountable for Christ’s death.
However, far from rejecting the Jews here, Peter addresses them warmly as his brothers and sisters (v 29, TNIV). Furthermore, as Jon Weatherly points out,3 he was addressing Jerusalem Jews here and not all Jews everywhere. Some of these would have been among those who had called for Jesus’ death, but even so his purpose was not to condemn them. As Acts 3:17 shows, Peter believed they had acted in ignorance and in this speech he sought to correct their lack of understanding by explaining that Jesus’ death and resurrection were foretold in their own Scriptures. Indeed, he stressed that the door remained wide to them, declaring that the ‘promise is for you’ and ‘your children’ as well as those far away (v 39). Rather than portraying Peter’s listeners as unresponsive and uncaring about what had happened to Christ, Luke says that they were ‘cut to the heart’ (v 37). These Jews even called the disciples ‘brothers’ and responded to their message by asking ‘what shall we do?’ They were so moved that about three thousand of them turned to Christ.
There is a wider message here, too: Christianity is good news. The purpose of repentance is not to highlight how worthless we are, so that we remain stuck for ever in our guilt. Rather we acknowledge our mistakes, so we can move on from them, knowing God’s forgiveness and receiving the Spirit’s help to change in the future. Is this joyful message the impression of Christianity we convey to the world? May we be known for demonstrating grace and forgiveness rather than judgement and condemnation.
Sometimes we do need to challenge someone for wrongdoing. How can we do that without being unloving or appearing ‘holier than thou’?
1 Rom 11:11 2 James the Lord’s Brother, Watkins, 2002, p58–9 3 Jewish Responsibility for the Death of Jesus, Sheffield Academic, 1994, p83
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: 2 Kings 15,16; Psalms 64,65
Pray for Scripture Union
Local mission partner Archway Trust organises Pizza, Praise and Puppets for unchurched families, on the first Sunday afternoon of every month. After a recent session covering the stories of Hidden Treasure and A Precious Pearl from Matthew 13, one child wrote: ‘Dear God you are brave and strong. Please live in my life for ever and ever. Amen.’ Please pray for that child, who is known to God.
