Scripture: Acts 3:17-4:4
17 “Friends, I realize that what you and your leaders did to Jesus was done in ignorance. 18 But God was fulfilling what all the prophets had foretold about the Messiah—that he must suffer these things. 19 Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. 20 Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will again send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah. 21 For he must remain in heaven until the time for the final restoration of all things, as God promised long ago through his holy prophets. 22 Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your own people. Listen carefully to everything he tells you.’ 23 Then Moses said, ‘Anyone who will not listen to that Prophet will be completely cut off from God’s people.’
24 “Starting with Samuel, every prophet spoke about what is happening today.25 You are the children of those prophets, and you are included in the covenant God promised to your ancestors. For God said to Abraham, ‘Through your descendants all the families on earth will be blessed.’ 26 When God raised up his servant, Jesus, he sent him first to you people of Israel, to bless you by turning each of you back from your sinful ways.”
4 While Peter and John were speaking to the people, they were confronted by the priests, the captain of the Temple guard, and some of the Sadducees. 2 These leaders were very disturbed that Peter and John were teaching the people that through Jesus there is a resurrection of the dead. 3 They arrested them and, since it was already evening, put them in jail until morning. 4 But many of the people who heard their message believed it, so the number of men who believed now totaled about 5,000.
Additional Scriptures: Psalm 125; 2 Kings 2:9-22
Some thoughts
Have you ever been in a situation where you wondered about something, analyzed it, studied it, got other’s opinions, and were dead wrong in your conclusion? I know the answer is yes. We simply didn’t have enough information, or we had a pre-determined conclusion of the way we wanted the situation to come out. Such has certainly happened to me. In Peter’s sermon to the Jews in this passage, he reminded them of the message of the prophets regarding the Messiah, whom they had killed. He made a strong plea for the people to repent of their sin and receive the Messiah. The message resonated with the people and 3,000 came to faith in a day.
Now he speaks to another crowd. In case these people had forgotten, Peter tied the powerful and familiar passage in Deuteronomy in which Moses, the greatest man of the Old Testament in the Jew’s eyes, clearly identified the Prophet, which God will raise up from the Jewish people. The admonition was to pay careful attention to this Prophet from God and hearken to his every word for he was the Messiah. Peter again drew on their knowledge of the Old Testament Scriptures in that he reminded them of the second prophet, Samuel, and his message as well as the covenant God made with Abraham that by extension included them. As to be expected the religious leaders opposed Peter’s message that through Jesus there was resurrection of the dead. The truth went against the grain of the Sadducees, who did not believe in a resurrection or in Jesus as the Messiah.
Once again, this situation is not unlike the world in which we live. Any number of people all around us reject Jesus’ atoning death for their sins. They hear some second-hand information about Jesus and form an opinion, a comfortable undemanding position, something they can live with and not have to change. You may have seen the yard sign with the phrase “science is real” and I’m thinking, “but the Creator of science isn’t?” The owner of the yard sign has put their trust in science and rejected God as is apparent from the rest of the information on their sign. However, we have since discovered some things about science in fact are not true. But this person stands by their sign being unwilling to change. By dismissing the whole idea of Jesus as the Son of God and his atoning sacrifice on their behalf, the unbeliever finds it easy to go on living their life in continued separation from God. The sad thing is this was a friend who has since passed away. The birth of Jesus upsets the apple cart, then and now. Ultimately it involves yielding my will to the Savior and bending the knee to the King of kings.
Music: “I Wonder and I Wander” by Audrey Assad
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIZjyf1jhKE
Prayer:
O God, who art faithful and just to forgive us our sins, mercifully grant unto us that we may be delivered from the bondage of our sins and may one day rejoice in perfect liberty in our very Fatherland, which is in heaven. Amen. Roman Breviary