Chapter 3
Chap. 3:1-11—Looking for opportunities to share their faith in Christ, “Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer” when many people would be there. Their attention was directed to a “lame” man who begged at the gate. He was there “daily,” and therefore, well known to all who frequented the temple. This poor man is a picture of the moral and spiritual condition of the nation at that time. Israel had its beautiful religious ceremonies and elaborate rituals under the legal covenant (of which the temple was the center) that signified their favoured relationship with God. But they had fallen out of fellowship with the Lord through sin, and were morally and spiritually far from Him (Matt. 15:8). The nation had failed to keep the Law, and like the lame man outside the temple, they had no strength to enter into the blessings and privileges that that religion offered.
What the nation needed was the miracle of God’s grace to save and restore them. This is depicted in the healing of the lame man. Peter said to him: “Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God” (vss. 6-8). This miraculous healing was used to draw attention to the fact that the power of God was present to forgive and restore the guilty nation. Had the man in question been some unknown stranger in Jerusalem, the people could well have written off the incident as being a hoax of the apostles to give false authenticity to their new doctrine. But the apostles could not possibly be accused of deception here—everybody knew the man! He was at the temple gate daily, and that for years! The miracle became a platform for Peter to address the hearts and consciences of the people concerning the nation’s guilt in the death of Christ.
The Diminishing Hours of the Day Depicting the Window of Opportunity for the Nation to Have the Kingdom
It is significant that in giving this account the Spirit of God led Luke to note various times in a 24-hour day. In chapter 2:14, he speaks of “the third hour of the day.” This is nine o'clock in the morning—early in the day. Then, in chapter 3:1, "the ninth hour" is mentioned, which is three o'clock in the afternoon. Then, in chapter 4:3, we read of "eventide," which is dusk. Then, in chapter 5:19, it was "night." This progression of diminishing daylight points figuratively to the fact that the window of opportunity for the nation to repent and be blessed in the kingdom of the Messiah was closing. The day of God’s longsuffering patience with the people was drawing to a close.
The first seven chapters of the book of the Acts reflects this patience with the nation. The Lord’s parable in Luke 13:6-9 makes reference to this time. He spoke of “a certain man” (Himself) having “a fig tree” in his vineyard (Israel) that failed to produce fruit “three years” in a row (the period of the Lord’s ministry on earth up to that time). Consequently, the man gave orders to “the dresser” (the Holy Spirit) to “cut it down.” But the dresser interceded and suggested that they “let it alone this year also,” during which time he would give it special treatment, and then, if there was no fruit on it, he would cut it down. The extra time given to the fig tree answers to the Holy Spirit’s work with the nation through the testimony of the apostles in the first seven chapters of this book.
The period of God’s longsuffering patience with the Jews closed at the end of the 7th chapter with the responsible leaders of the nation formally rejecting Christ and the Holy Spirit in their stoning of Stephen. They refused his word to their consciences and took him out and killed him (chap. 7:54-60). In doing so, they fulfilled another parable of the Lord in Luke 19:11-27. The “citizens” (the Jews) hated the “nobleman” (the Lord) who had departed into “a far country” (heaven) and sent a messenger (Stephen) after him with the message: “We will not have this man to reign over us.” This sealed the nation’s doom in regard to having the kingdom in its power and glory at that time. As the parable indicates, judgment would fall on the Jews and the nation would be destroyed (Luke 19:27). This judgment was carried out by the Romans in A.D. 70. A number of the Lord’s parables reflect this (Matt. 21:33-44; 22:1-10).
Thus, their national blessings promised by the Prophets would be suspended. From the 8th chapter onward in the book of the Acts, the narrative chronicles the gospel going out to the whole world and many Gentiles being blessed by it and brought into the Church, while unbelieving Israel is left outside (Luke 13:24-30). This does not mean that individuals from the nation of Israel can no longer be saved. There is still “a remnant according to the election of grace” from that nation that is being saved through the call of the gospel (Rom. 11:1-10). Acts 9 shows this in the salvation of Saul of Tarsus, a Jew. All such are brought into the heavenly blessings of the Church (Eph. 1:3). But as far as Israel’s national blessings in the kingdom are concerned, they were all over for the time being.
Peter’s Second Address
Chap. 3:12-26—Peter’s first address in chapter 2 had been predominately to the Jews from other lands (Hellenists) who had come to Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost. This second address was to those who lived in Jerusalem and in the surrounding area of Judea. These people had firsthand knowledge of the nation’s rejection and crucifixion of Christ. Many of these very ones who heard Peter speak could well have been among the number who cried, “Away with Him” (John 19:15); “Let Him be crucified” (Matt. 27:23).
The people looked with amazement on the man who had been healed and likewise on the two apostles—thinking that the apostles had done this miracle by some power of their own. Peter recognized it and defused the idea immediately, giving all the glory to “the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob” and “His Servant Jesus” (vs. 13). This is God’s name in connection with His unconditional promises to Israel. Since the offer to Israel to have the kingdom was still being held out to the nation, it was right that Peter should use this name here. It is noteworthy, though, that in keeping with the transitional nature of the book, this is the last time that it is used. In the epistles, where we get Christian truth, He is called, “The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
The KJV says, “His Son Jesus,” all through the opening chapters of the book, but the text should read “Servant,” which is in accord with many prophecies concerning the Messiah (Isa. 42:1; 49:5; 52:13, etc.). Since at that time the kingdom was still being offered to Israel, it was right that Peter would use the word “Servant” in reference to the Lord. While he had confessed the Lord as “the Son of the living God” and knew Him as such (Matt. 16:16; John 6:69), the subject of the Sonship of Christ was left for John (John 1:18, etc.) and Paul to teach (Acts 9:20).
The whole story of the nation’s wickedness and guilt is then briefly rehearsed and pressed home to the hearts and consciences of the people by Peter. Their guilt could hardly be denied. He said, “Ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; and killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses” (vss. 14-15). We could accuse Peter of having done the same thing (Matt. 26:69-75), but his sin had been repented of, forgiven, and blotted out—and theirs could be too! The great thing that Peter had to announce in his address was that God in mercy, love, and grace had made a way for them to be forgiven! This was good news indeed!
The Fateful Vow Annulled
The people were so sure that the Lord was not the true Messiah of Israel that they vowed to take full responsibility for His execution, saying, “His blood be upon us and our children” (Matt. 27:25). But in that legal system which they were under, a vow could be disallowed by a responsible party who heard it (Num. 30). There were two conditions: it had to be done on the same day that the vow was made, and the one who disallowed it had to bear the iniquity. This is exactly what happened. On the same day in which the leaders of the nation made their fateful vow, the Lord Jesus made it void, saying, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). This turned their presumptuous sin into a sin of ignorance, as Peter says here: “Now, brethren, I wot [know] that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers” (vs. 17). A sin of ignorance could be forgiven in the Jewish religious system with a sacrifice (Lev. 4:13-21), but a presumptuous sin could not (Num. 15:29-31). This meant that the Jews’ national sin of crucifying their Messiah was forgivable, if the people repented and were converted, as Peter goes on to say. However, it also meant that the Lord would have to bear their iniquity—which He did! Isaiah reports: “For the transgression of my people was He stricken” (Isa. 53:8).
Two Sides to the Messianic Scriptures
Peter then gave support to these things by pointing to the Scriptures. That “Christ should suffer” in this way was plainly stated long before in the writings of “all the prophets.” It had now been “fulfilled” in Christ’s death (vs. 18). This line of truth in the Messianic Scriptures which concern the sufferings of the Messiah was not understood by the Jews, and it led them to make their terrible blunder of rejecting Him. The Old Testament clearly speaks of both the sufferings of the Messiah and of the kingdom glories of the Messiah. The Jews reveled in the glories but somehow overlooked the sufferings. The Lord explained these two sides of the Messianic Scriptures to those who went down the road to Emmaus. He said, “Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Luke 24:26-27). Peter mentions the same thing in his first epistle. He said that the Spirit of Christ in the Old Testament Scriptures “testified beforehand” of “the sufferings of Christ, and the glory [glories] that should follow” (1 Peter 1:11).
These references show that, historically, the sufferings would precede the glories. In fact, since the Jews rejected Peter’s word here and Stephen’s word in chapter 7, the offer to the nation to have the kingdom with its many glories was suspended. Almost two thousand years have now transpired since the sufferings of Christ, and His kingdom glories still haven’t come to pass. In the interim, God has been reaching out to the Gentiles with the gospel of His grace, and is calling those into blessing who have been chosen to be part of the Church (Acts 15:14). When “the fulness of the Gentiles be come in” (that is, the full number of elect persons are saved and brought into the Church), God will take up with Israel again with their blessing in mind (Rom. 11:25-27). At that time, Christ will appear out of heaven to judge the world in righteousness, and to save a remnant of Israel. He will then set up His Messianic kingdom with all its promised blessings and glories.
The Cities of Refuge
There was a similar mercy in Israel available in the “cities of refuge” for those who killed someone ignorantly (Num. 35; Deut. 19; Josh. 20). Manslayers could be taken in and sheltered, but there was no such provision for murderers. Counting the people’s sin as a sin of ignorance, the Jews were in the position of manslayers, and thus, mercy was available to them. Peter, so to speak, opens the gate of those cities of refuge (in what they represent) and calls the people in, saying, “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when [so that] the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord” (vs. 19). Some of the Jews heeded the call and “fled for refuge” to Christ (Heb. 6:18-20) and their sins were “blotted out.”
The promise was that if the nation turned to God in repentance and were truly converted, He would bring in “the times of refreshing” right then and there! This is essentially the same thing as “the times of restitution [restoring] of all things” and refers to the many blessings God promised to bestow on redeemed Israel in the kingdom of the Messiah. (The “restitution of all things” does not mean that all persons will be saved and brought into a relationship with God in the end, as some have erroneously taught. This error has been called “Universalism.” Note carefully, it is “things,” not persons, that are in view in this expression. See also Colossians 1:20 in regard to reconciliation.) Thus, even though the Jews had killed the Lord, if they would repent and receive Him as their Messiah, God would “send Jesus Christ” from heaven at that very time, and He would bring in the kingdom with all its blessings as “God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets” (vss. 20-21). Amazing grace was being shown to the nation!
A Warning of Judgment
Peter then brings in a warning in verses 22-23. He mentions a prophecy of Moses concerning the “Prophet” whom God would raise up who would be like Moses, only infinitely greater (Deut. 18:15-19). Unlike Moses, this Prophet would be a divine Person incarnate in human flesh. This could be none other than the Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 7:16; John 6:14). The great point which Peter focuses on here is Moses’ statement that this Prophet’s words were not to be neglected. If anyone were to disregard His words, he would be “destroyed from among the people!” They needed to understand that the Lord was speaking to them at that very time from His place in heaven through the apostles on earth. And, as the writer of Hebrews said, “See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused Him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from Him that speaketh from heaven” (Heb. 12:25). Thus, the people needed to hear His voice and respond appropriately to the grace that was being shown to them by receiving the Lord Jesus as their Messiah and Saviour. If they refused to receive Him, there would be no place for them to hide from the judgment that was coming.
A Special Time in World History
Peter concludes by saying, “Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel (the first of the successional prophets) and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days” (vs. 24). Many of the Old Testament prophetical writings pointed forward to that very day when God would visit His people in the Person of His Son, the Messiah. The people needed to recognize that they were living in a special time in world history, and hence, accord themselves with what God was doing at that time through Christ.
As a further word of encouragement, Peter tells the people that the blessings that were being held out to the nation at that time were not the blessings connected with the legal covenant made at Sinai through Moses. Those were blessings conditioned upon obedience and had been sadly forfeited through the people’s failure to keep the Law. These blessings connected with the Messiah were based on the unconditional promises God had made to their “fathers” long before the giving of the Law. These things were connected with the covenant that God made with “Abraham,” which included blessing for the Gentiles, for God said to him, “And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed” (vs. 25). Since the responsibility to perform the things promised in this covenant rested solely upon God, those blessings were a guaranteed thing for Israel, because God never fails. All the people had to do was repent and be baptized and they would be forgiven their sins (chap. 2:38). Peter adds that this offer was being given to the Jews “first” (vs. 26). By receiving “His Servant Jesus” their national sin would be blotted out, and He would turn them away from their “iniquities [wickedness].” But if they wouldn’t have Him, judgment was sure to fall on the nation (Matt. 21:41a; 22:7) and the blessing God intended for them would be given to others (Matt. 21:41b-43; 22:8-10).
Through the divine attribute of foreknowledge, God knew that apart from a few who believed the message and received the Lord Jesus, the mass of the Jews would reject it, and consequently, the nation would be temporarily set aside. Knowing this would be the outcome of their unbelief, God went ahead and started the Church through the baptism of the Holy Spirit (chap. 2). Until the nation had officially rejected the testimony of the Spirit in chapter 7, God kept this fact in the shade in the first seven chapters of the book, while a last offer was being made to Israel to have the kingdom.
Hence, there is some overlap in God’s dealings with Israel and the Church, but there is no merging of the two. It is important to see this. Once the leaders of the nation sealed their doom by formally rejecting this last offer, signalled by the death of Stephen (chap. 7), Christ’s building of the Church becomes evident, as the rest of the book shows. Thus, the Church is not an afterthought with God since Israel failed. It is something that was conceived in the “eternal purpose” and counsel of God before He laid the foundation of the world and entered into a relationship with Israel (Eph. 3:11). The Church is not a replacement for Israel but an entirely new thing in the ways of God.