Read
““Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.”
(Acts 2: 22-24)
Think
The Spirit has fallen on the believers, and led by the Spirit they have begun declaring the wonder of God in all manner of languages. A crowd – largely Jewish – gathers at the hubbub – some amazed and confused, some writing them off as drunk. Peter, wanting to help them understand, speaks to the crowd – and what he wants to make clear is that all this is just exactly what God has promised.
The pouring out of the Spirit on all people, as Adam wrote about last week, is just what God had promised, and is now coming about.
Jews across the nation had been waiting centuries for the messiah – the one sent by God to rescue them – and, please don’t miss this – the man Jesus of Nazareth IS HIM. There have been other would be messiahs, always a let down, but this man Jesus was confirmed by signs and wonders, the greatest of which is this – he died, but he came back to life again. I love those words –
“it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him”
I get the image of a perplexed and bewildered enemy – up until now nobody escapes death! Yet with Jesus we see his power over an enemy we are powerless against. Death frustrated, confused, defeated as Jesus effortlessly slips through its grasp – the first of many who will one day be raised with new bodies when Jesus returns.
Peter shows the gathered crowd that Jesus is the one the scriptures had always pointed to, always promised, and his aim is not just to inform. If the messiah has come, everything changes.
Brothers, what shall we do?
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 will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off – for all whom the Lord our God will call.
Acts 2: 37-39
If he is the messiah, it changes everything. Brothers and sisters, what must you do in response? Be baptised, and go on repenting daily of all in your life that doesn’t line up with his ways.
Pray
Father God, thank you for this promise – we were those who were far off! But you called us, you saved us, you showed us that you are the messiah, the rescuer, the saviour. Fill our hearts again with wonder at what you haev done for us, and show us just how you would have us response. Our lives are yours Lord – help us to live them as we ought.
Amen
