Tag: Bible Study

Acts 3:11-26 New International Version (NIV)

Peter Speaks to the Onlookers

¹¹ While the man held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon’s Colonnade. ¹² When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? ¹³ The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. ¹⁴ You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. ¹⁵ You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. ¹⁶ By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see.

¹⁷ “Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. ¹⁸ But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer. ¹⁹ Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, ²⁰ and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. ²¹ Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. ²² For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. ²³ Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from their people.’

²⁴ “Indeed, beginning with Samuel, all the prophets who have spoken have foretold these days. ²⁵ And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.’²⁶ When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”

Solomon’s Colonnade was like a long walkway with a wooden roof, on the east side of the Temple. Jesus had walked there and he had taught there (John 10:23).

In verse 12, the people were staring at Peter and John. They had just seen Peter and John heal the lame man. But Peter gave all the glory to God. God may use us to help someone or witness to someone. But we must remember to give all the glory to God. God is the one that gave us the means and opportunity to do what we do.

Peter used the words ‘The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob’. These are the same words that God used in Exodus 3:6, This was when God introduced himself to Moses. The miracle here in Acts had happened because God had glorified Jesus. Jesus was in a special place in heaven. He had given power to his disciples to act in his name. When Jesus was on earth, he had done miracles. Now the disciples had his authority to do miracles like those.

Peter wanted to convince the Jews that Jesus was their Messiah. So, he used language from the book called Isaiah in the Old Testament. It was from a part where the writer describes the Lord as a Servant who suffers (Isaiah 52:13-53:12). Like Isaiah, Peter said first that God had glorified his Servant (Jesus). Then Peter talked about how the Servant had suffered. He blamed the people for this. They were responsible. Pilate (a Roman ruler) had wanted to free Jesus. But the people had asked for Barabbas instead. They had wanted Jesus to die. Jesus was their Savior. He was completely good. But they had chosen a criminal instead.

The Jews had not expected the Messiah to die like a criminal. But Peter was saying that Jesus was innocent. God had known already how Jesus would die. The prophet Isaiah had described it all when he wrote about the Servant. This was the Servant who suffered. (See Isaiah chapters 42, 49, 50, 52 and 53.) The Servant who suffered was Jesus, the Messiah. God had proved this. He had made Jesus alive again after he had died. Peter and the apostles knew that this was true. They knew because they had seen it.

Everyone could see that the man’s legs were now strong. The man had not been able to walk. But Peter had told the man to walk by Jesus’ authority. And the man had done this. Christ’s power had made the man strong because of the man’s faith. Jesus was the Servant that God had glorified. This was evidence that they could all see.

The people in Jerusalem had killed their Messiah. But they had not known that he was their Messiah. Even their rulers had not realized this. They had not expected that their Messiah would suffer. Jesus’ death on a cross was one part in God’s purpose. Isaiah spoke about God’s Servant who suffered. The Old Testament also contains the stories about men like Joseph (Jacob’s son) and Elijah. These are examples of God’s servants who suffered. So, it should not surprise the people that the Messiah should suffer too.

They knew that they had done a terrible thing. They did not have an excuse. God wanted to forgive them. But first, they had to repent.

To repent means to realize you have sinned and turn away from that sin. We apologize for sins that we have done. And we decide not to do any more sins. We do what God wants. We change how we think and we change how we live.

Peter said that if the Jews repented, three good things would happen.

1.  God would forgive their sins (verse 19). The Greek word here for ‘forgive’ means that God will ‘wipe off’ their sins.

2. The Lord will give to you times when you have spiritual strength (verse 19). God would not just take away their sins. He would give rest to their spirits. And he would give relief to them.

3.  He would send Jesus. Jesus was the Messiah that God had already chosen for them (verse 20). Jesus will forgive them and he will give them strength. But he ‘must remain in heaven until a certain time. Then God will put all things back as they should be’ (verse 21). Christ would return. Then God would do wonderful things (Romans 8:19-21; Isaiah 11:6-9).

Moses was the first prophet for the Israelites. The words in verses 22-23 are from Deuteronomy 18:15. People believed that these verses were a prophecy about one particular prophet. This prophet would be like Moses. He would be like a bridge between God and the people. He would tell the people what God was saying. And he would tell God what the people wanted to say.

Samuel was the prophet who anointed David as king. To anoint means to mark a person with oil. And this shows that God has chosen that person. God made promises to David about a new kingdom. These promises became true when Jesus came. Many things that the other prophets had said about God’s kingdom happened, too.

Peter called the Jews the ‘sons of the prophets’. He meant that God’s promises belonged to them too. Abraham’s ‘children’ meant the Jews. Jesus, the Servant who came to save all the people on earth, was a Jew. He had gone to the Jews first but they had rejected him. God was giving a second chance to them. They had to accept Jesus as their Saviour. Otherwise they would not share in the blessing that God had promised.

Acts 1:12-14

¹² Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city. ¹³ When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. ¹⁴ They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

Verse 12 ‘The Mount of Olives’ was very significant in the Bible.

Old Testament references

The Mount of Olives is first mentioned in 2 Sammuel15:30, David’s flight from Absalom: “And David went up by the ascent of the Mount of Olives, and wept as he went up.” The ascent was probably east of the City of David, near the village of Silwan. The sacred character of the mount is alluded to in the Book of Ezekiel (11:23): “And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city.”

The biblical designation Mount of Corruption, or in Hebrew Har HaMashchit (I Kings 11:7–8), derives from the idol worship there, begun by King Solomon building altars to the gods of his Moabite and Ammonite wives on the southern peak, “on the mountain which is before (east of) Jerusalem” (1 Kings 11:7), just outside the limits of the holy city. This site was known for idol worship throughout the First Temple period, until king of Judah, Josiah, finally destroyed “the high places that were before Jerusalem, to the right of Har HaMashchit…”(II Kings 23:13)

An apocalyptic prophecy in the Book of Zechariah states that YHWH will stand on the Mount of Olives and the mountain will split in two, with one half shifting north and one half shifting south (Zechariah 14:4).

Many Jews have wanted to be buried on the Mount of Olives since antiquity, based on the Jewish tradition (from the Biblical verse Zechariah 14:4) that when the Messiah comes, the resurrection of the dead will begin there. There are an estimated 150,000 graves on the Mount, including tombs traditionally associated with Zechariah and Absalom. On the upper slope, the traditional Tomb of the Prophets Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi is situated. Notable rabbis buried on the mount include Chaim ibn Attar and others from the 15th century to the present day.

New Testament references

The Mount of Olives is frequently mentioned in the New Testament as part of the route from Jerusalem to Bethany and the place where Jesus stood when he wept over Jerusalem (an event known as Flevit super illam in Latin).

Jesus is said to have spent time on the mount, teaching and prophesying to his disciples (Matthew 24–25), returning after each day to rest (Luke 21:37, and John 8:1, and also coming there on the night of his betrayal. At the foot of the Mount of Olives lies the Garden of Gethsemane. The New Testament tells how Jesus and his disciples sang together – “When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives” Gospel of Matthew 26:30. Jesus ascended to heaven from the Mount of Olives according to Acts 1:9–12.

‘A Sabbath day’s walk’ was the distance that Jews could walk on the Sabbath day. The Sabbath is the day when Jews rest. On that day, they must not walk further than 2000 cubits. (This is about two thirds of a mile.)

Verse 13 The disciples had eaten the Passover meal with Jesus in a room upstairs (Luke 22:7-13). This was probably the same room.

Here Luke names all the disciples except Judas Iscariot. But he mentions only Peter, James and John again in Acts.

Verse 14 Luke shows that women were important. These women had traveled to Jerusalem from Galilee with Jesus and his disciples (Luke 8:2-3, 23-55). Mary, Jesus’ mother, was also there. This is the last time that anyone mentions her in the New Testament. For the first time, Jesus’ brothers were together with the disciples. Jesus’ brother James became a leader in the church in Jerusalem (Acts 12:17; 15:13-21; 21:18).

The disciples were doing actually as they were told. They were to be Jesus’ witnesses in Jerusalem and they were waiting for the Holy Spirit to come on them.

Think about the last three months or so of these peoples lives and what an emotional roller-coaster it was? They were 3 months earlier listening to Jesus teach and watching him perform miracles. Then he was betrayed, arrested, beaten and crucified. Then they had buried him, he arose and had fellowship with him for 40 days. Finally they saw him ascend into heaven.

Acts 1:1-3

1 In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach ² until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. ³ After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.

Verse 1 Luke referred to his Gospel here as ‘my former book’. Acts is the second book in the history that Luke wrote. He wrote both books for Theophilus. This Greek name means ‘someone who loves God’. Perhaps Luke was using it to mean any Christian reader. But it is more likely that Theophilus was a real person. In Luke 1:3, Luke called him ‘most excellent’. Therefore, Theophilus might have been an important man that worked for the government.

Verse 2 Luke wrote that his Gospel was about everything that Jesus began to do. And it was about everything that Jesus began to teach. After he had returned to his Father, Jesus continued to do things. And he continued to teach. Luke’s second book describes these things. Jesus continued his work by his Holy Spirit, by means of his apostles. The Greek word ‘apostolos’ means a person with a message. That person (an apostle) had special authority from the person who had sent him. Therefore an apostle could act for the person who sent him. So, the apostles too would be leaders of Christians, as Jesus was their leader. Jesus chose his 12 disciples to be his apostles.

Verse 3 The disciples were sure that Jesus had overcome death. He had proved to them many times that he was still alive. His resurrection had really happened. It was true. This was the most important part in their message.

Jesus continued to teach them about his favorite subject. This was God’s kingdom. God’s kingdom had come by means of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.

Acts 1:4-8

⁴ On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. ⁵ For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

⁶ Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

⁷ He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. ⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Verse 4 Jesus was eating with his disciples after his resurrection. He also did this on other occasions after the*resurrection (Luke 24:30-31, 42-43). This was not because he needed food. It was to prove that he was real.

In his Gospel, Luke recorded the Father’s (God’s) promise. The Father had promised that power from above would come to the disciples (Luke 24:49).

Verse 5 In this verse, Luke reminds us about John the Baptist’s words. John said this about Jesus: ‘He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and he will baptise you with fire’ (Luke 3:16).

Verse 6 The Jews were proud that God had chosen them as his people. They wanted other nations to know that they (the Jews) were important. The Jews seemed weak and the Romans ruled over them. The Jews wanted God to prove that they were superior. They wanted him to give them power over all the other nations. So, the disciples asked Jesus, ‘Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’

Verse 7 Jesus did not answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to the disciples’ question. Instead, he said that this information belonged to the Father only. He did not want them to think about political power. He wanted them to preach the gospel. He wanted them to concentrate on that.

Verse 8 The power that they would receive was not power over other people. Instead, it was power from heaven. This power would make them able to continue Christ’s work on earth.

‘You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem. You will also be my witnesses in all Judea and Samaria, and all over the earth.’ A witness has seen something with his own eyes. Therefore, he knows that it is true. The Greek word for ‘witness’ is ‘martus’. It also means ‘*martyr’ (a person who is willing to die for his or her beliefs). A witness must be willing to die for Christ if this is necessary. In verse 8, Luke tells us what the whole book is about. In the first 7 chapters, he describes how the good news spread in Jerusalem. In Acts 8:11-11:18, he describes what happened in Judea and Samaria. In the last part, he describes how the gospel spread through the Gentile world.

Of course, the story did not end there. Today, Christians must continue to tell people in every nation about Jesus. God wants everyone in the world to hear the good news.

Luke is writing Acts as a continuation of his Gospel that recorded the life of Christ. Acts is to be a record of the acts of the apostles after Christ’s death and resurrection.