Acts 2:22-36 “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. David said about him: “‘I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand. I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest in hope, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, you will not let your holy one see decay. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.’ “Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. 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. 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. God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. 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. For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said, “‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”’ “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”
In the above focus, Peter ministers to the people who heard the terrific sound of a rushing wind and also observed the phenomenon of people speaking in other languages all at once. Each of them heard someone in this group of tongue speakers glorifying God in his or her own language. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. (Acts 2:6) Now they are listening to Peter explain to them what just happened so early in the morning on that day. He speaks to them about Jesus and his resurrection. He tells him that Jesus, not David, fulfills David’s prophesy: I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand. I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest in hope, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, you will not let your holy one see decay. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence. Jesus went to the grave with great agony because He had been tortured, brutalized in many ways and then nailed to a cross. His side was pierced to assure his death. Even under this horrendous experience of death, Jesus understood the Father’s love for him. As David stated, He understood God, his Father, would not abandon him in the grave. He knew the Father would come to give him once more the path of life and the joy of living in the presence of the eternal God. Peter tells his audience that you know David’s body is rotting in the grave, so he was not the recipient of this prophesy. No, someone much greater than David fulfilled these words given by the Spirit to David. That man is Jesus, whom you crucified, He who did no evil but went throughout Israel doing only good. As John the Baptist's disciples saw and heard, confirmed by Jesus’ own lips, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.” (Matthew 11:3-6) But the leaders of Israel stumbled over Jesus' popularity with the people. He was a threat to their leadership. Huge crowds followed this man of miracles: Jesus Christ. So they had the Romans execute him on a rugged cross, but as David prophesied, his body would not rot in the grave as all who are born of dust. 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, the Holy One of Israel. God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah. Peter went on to say, what you see this day is what the resurrected Jesus promised to his followers, Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. (Acts 1:4-5) The Holy Spirit today revealed this commandment of Jesus. These people are not drunk as you might have supposed, but filled with the Spirit of God.
Peter knew that all they had seen and heard had been predicted long ago by the prophet Isaiah. Christ's death was the will of God for the salvation of men and women. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:3-6) He suffered the penalty of death for all mankind, but through his suffering man has found peace with a righteous God. Peter was announcing to the people that they no longer have to experience the pain of eternal death. No longer do they have to have their souls disappear from God’s presence, but through his death, Jesus has brought all mankind close to God. All believers will experience a new life, a born again life that will never end. For Peter and Jesus’ followers on the day of Pentecost, this reality of eternal life was in their understanding, and now they are receiving the eternal presence of God through the infilling of the Holy Spirit. This story of life eternal would be the primary message of the apostles. They were to announce the Good News that Jesus Christ rose from the dead and will save the people from their sins. Even the twelfth disciple, Matthias, chosen by lot, was given the apostolic message of announcing the Good News that Jesus has been resurrected. For one of these ( Barsabbas or Matthias) must become a witness with us of his resurrection.” (Acts 1:22) Paul said this message of the resurrection was so important that no other idea of Jesus would justify anyone giving their lives for him. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. (1 Corinthians 15:17-19) Peter tells his listeners that God’s presence in Jesus’ believers confirms that Jesus is alive and that his presence through the Holy Spirit is revealed today. Jesus promised these believers that God would send them the Holy Spirit. Therefore, all He said about his Father and his own eternal nature is true. And they must believe that Jesus is the Messiah, sent from God. If they do, they will be saved from the consequence of sin in their lives, which is eternal death.
Pentecost confirms that the presence of God has come to all humans if they put their trust in Jesus. These people who were speaking in tongues on Pentecost were believers. Most of them had actually seen Jesus after his resurrection. They knew the reality of the resurrection, and now they are experiencing the intimate presence of God through the infilling of the Spirit. Paul, who was a disciple out of season, approximately two years after the resurrection, also met Jesus on the road to Damascus. Therefore, he knew that Jesus was real and that He was alive for evermore. Because of that fact, he was placing his whole life on the line for Jesus. He knew salvation, being right with God, could only come through the resurrected Jesus. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. (1 Corinthians 15:3-8) For Paul the Good News was distilled down to the fact that Jesus died for our sins and was resurrected the third day. And because of the Good News, the Holy Spirit would come to occupy all who believe in Jesus’ work on the cross. No other message was worthy dying for. All of the apostles propagated this Good News. They were ridiculed, harassed, persecuted and killed for this message, but they knew the truth, and they were willing to go all the way for God. Because Jesus had been resurrected, they knew they too would be resurrected. The promise to Jesus was their promise too, he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead. They will not be abandoned by God. God does not abandon his children. His love for mankind was adjudicated through his beloved Son. He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. God could now accept wholeheartedly the followers of his beloved Son, for they have become new creatures because of Christ's righteous blood. Jesus ransomed the souls of people born in slavery. Not only did He ransom their souls, He presented them the Holy Spirit to walk with them through their lives. No longer would they be alone, fighting the world on the terms of the flesh, but now the voice of God would be IN THEM, directing them through the journey of life. They would speak in the tongues of the new people, no longer hanging on to the voice and language of the flesh. Peter was announcing that a new covenant has arrived, the placing of God in the hearts of men and women because of the work of Jesus Christ. The grace of God fully given to men through Jesus' sacrifice has come to whosoever will believe on the name of Jesus Christ. Amen!
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