Peter’s Sermon, Part I
TRANSLATION
(14) Then Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd saying, “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you. Listen carefully to what I say. (15) These people are not drunk as you may think, for it is only nine in the morning. (16) However, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: (17) ‘In the last days,’ God declares, ‘I will pour out of my Spirit on all people. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy, and your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. (18) Yes, and on my male servants and on my female servants I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. (19) And I will display wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. (20) The sun will be darkened and the moon be turned into blood before the coming of that great and glorious Day of the Lord. (21) And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
(22) “My fellow Israelites, listen to these words. Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited to you by God by the miracles and wonders and signs which God did through him among you just as you yourselves know. (23) This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge. You, with the help of wicked men, had him crucified and killed. (24) But God raised him from the grave, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was not possible for death to hold on to him.”
OBSERVATIONS
It was Peter, now the leader and spokesman for the disciples, who stood up to explain to the crowd gathered in Jerusalem the significance of what had just taken place on the Day of Pentecost. Repetitions help us grasp the essence of his first public sermon. “Day” is found three times, once referring to the time when the miracle occurred (vs. 15) and then twice to “the Day of the Lord” (vs. 20). The phrase, “I will pour out my Spirit,” twice used in connection with the phrase, “shall prophesy” (vss. 17 & 18), helps us grasp the significance of this event. The only other repetitions were the names of deity: “Lord” twice (vss. 20 & 21), “Jesus” twice (vss. 22 & 23), and “God” four times in three verses (vss. 22-24).
OUTLINE
I. Peter explained to those gathered that what was taking place fulfilled Joel’s prophecy. (14-21)
II. It was part of God’s eternal plan that Jesus would be crucified and then rise from the dead. (22-24)
IDEA STATEMENT
In his first sermon, Peter explained to the crowd gathered in Jerusalem the significance of the Holy Spirit’s manifestation as well as the meaning of Jesus’ recent death and resurrection.
APPLICATION
We witness two great miracles on this Day of Pentecost. First, we see how the Holy Spirit came with a rushing wind and tongues of fire to fill every believer in the newborn church with power, giving them the ability to proclaim the Gospel in languages that they had previously not known. Then we see the transformation that took place in Peter, turning this unschooled fisherman who, before the resurrection, was known for putting his foot in his mouth into the spokesman for the apostles. His first sermon, given with remarkable eloquence and spiritual insight, became a model for heralding the Gospel message.
Two aspects of Peter’s sermon show how the apostles’ understanding had matured over the several weeks since Jesus’ crucifixion. First, we see that Jesus had trained his disciples to recognize how Old Testament prophecies had been fulfilled not only in Jesus’ life and ministry and but also in the events taking place on the Day of Pentecost. Peter’s extensive use of Joel 2 on this occasion indicated that the apostles had become fully acquainted with prophecies about the Messiah’s person and work. Then we see that the early church had come to understand how Jesus’ death and resurrection fulfilled God’s sovereign plan and purpose for his Son. The crucifixion had not happened by chance but was rather the deliberate offering of the Lamb of God as a sacrifice of atonement who, by his death on the cross, had made possible the forgiveness of all who put their faith in him.