Acts 3:11-21
11 ...All the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon's. 12 And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? 13 The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. 14 But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. 16 And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.
17 “And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. 19 Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, 20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, 21 whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.”
The author, Luke was very much involved in the Christian movement at this time, and we know that as a doctor and an author he was rigorous about recording things accurately as a witness for others. This passage is an impromptu sermon by Peter which follows his very first miracle after Pentecost (Acts 2). Peter encapsulates the entirety of the gospel message here (Jesus’ role as Saviour and our own need to repent), and ties it firmly to the Old Testament scriptural prophecies (which he goes on to elaborate in the rest of the passage). There is no doubt that he fully understands the weight of those prophecies and Jesus’ fulfilment of them. Those who claim that Christianity was a creation of Paul and that he somehow convinced the other apostles should take a look at this passage, the manuscript evidence, and their own convictions.
It was not just these incredible words that I found amazing about this passage, but more so a particular turn of phrase in verse 15 – “and you killed the Author of life”. In this one passage, Peter so clearly spells out what so many cults have twisted and convinced millions to believe falsely. Not only is Jesus the fulfilment of the scriptural prophecies, and the culmination of Jewish history up until this point, he is also the full embodiment of God incarnate. Not “a god” or “a major prophet” as many corruptors would claim, but fully God, made flesh and the one who died, killed as a substitutionary sacrifice, and raised to life again. In repentance and faith, we find healing and salvation. Praise God.
