\u201cThe Crucifixion of St. Peter\u201d (Caravaggio)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Regarding Acts 3, I simply want to point to three stunning verses from Peter\u2019s impromptu speech to the crowd in the temple at Jerusalem. \u00a0Their contrast with the scene of the dispirited apostles hiding out on the Saturday between Friday\u2019s Crucifixion and the events of the Resurrection that commenced sometime on Sunday morning could not possibly be any more clear. \u00a0Something must have happened! \u00a0Anyway, here they are, in the ESV or English Standard Version:<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant\u00a0Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him.<\/span> 14\u00a0<\/sup>But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you,<\/span> 15\u00a0<\/sup>and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses [\u03bc\u03ac\u03c1\u03c4\u03c5\u03c1\u03ad\u03c2]. (3:13-15)<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n- 3:13 \u2014 \u201cThe God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers\u201d \u2014 Here, Peter very deliberately invokes the great patriarchs of the Israelite tradition in order to make as strong as possible his accusation, which follows closely hereafter, that, in rejecting Jesus, the Jews had rejected their God and his servant.<\/span><\/li>\n
- At the conclusion of his speech, at 3:22-25, Peter will likewise invoke the prophets of the Old Testament, and then link them with the patriarchs \u2014 and with Jesus. \u00a0And he will, again, suggest that, in rejecting Jesus, the people of Jerusalem have rejected God\u2019s plan for them and, accordingly, need to repent: \u00a0\u201cMoses said, \u2018The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/sup>And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.\u2019 \u00a0<\/span>And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days. \u00a0<\/span>You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, \u2018And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.\u2019<\/span>\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
- 3:13 \u2014 \u201chis servant Jesus\u201d \u2014 I don\u2019t see how anybody reading this phrase can fail to see a distinction between Jesus and \u201cGod.\u201d \u00a0This is not a classical-trinitarian verse.<\/li>\n
- 3:13 \u2014 \u201chis servant Jesus, whom you delivered over\u201d \u2014 Again, Peter boldly casts in the face of his temple-attending Jewish audience the fact that, in rejecting Jesus, they have opposed the God whom they purport to worship. \u00a0Please note, too, that Peter more or less lets Pilate off the hook, saying that, while the Roman governor \u201chad decided to release [Jesus],\u201d he was persuaded to crucify Christ by the Jews of Jerusalem.<\/li>\n
- 3:14 \u2014 \u201cyou denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you\u201d \u2014 Could Peter\u2019s words possibly be any more damning or accusatory? \u00a0You might think not. \u00a0But then comes the next verse:<\/span><\/li>\n
- 3:15 \u2014 \u201cyou killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead\u201d \u2014 To have \u201ckilled the Author of life\u201d must surely be about the worst sin of which anyone could be accused. \u00a0And then Peter points to the astonishing divine rebuke, directly on point, that followed that act of life-denying deicide: \u00a0\u201cGod raised [him] from the dead.\u201d \u00a0They opposed God\u2019s plan, but God defeated their opposition.<\/span><\/li>\n
- 3:15 \u2014 \u201cTo this we are witnesses [\u03bc\u03ac\u03c1\u03c4\u03c5\u03c1\u03ad\u03c2].\u201d \u2014 Peter takes personal responsibility for the charges that he is making, and includes his companion, John, and perhaps the other apostles as well, in the lodging of the accusation. \u00a0It\u2019s a bit like the American Founding Fathers putting their signatures to the Declaration of Independence. \u00a0I can\u2019t help but think of\u00a0John Hancock\u2019s large and flamboyant signature on the Declaration: \u00a0A later, apocryphal story has it that Hancock signed his name so largely and clearly with the explanation that he hoped that King George would be able to read it without his spectacles. \u00a0That story may not be true, but it rather fits Peter\u2019s boldly defiant statement here in Acts 3:15. \u00a0Something \u2014 the Resurrection, perhaps? \u2014 has absolutely transformed the cowering apostles of the Saturday before Easter.<\/span><\/li>\n
- 3:15 \u2014 Again, \u201cTo this we are witnesses [\u03bc\u03ac\u03c1\u03c4\u03c5\u03c1\u03ad\u03c2].\u201d \u2014 The Greek word behind the ESV\u2019s witnesses<\/em> is martyres<\/em>. \u00a0That is, perhaps, not without meaning.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
One final observation on the setting of Acts 3:<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. \u00a0(3:1)<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n- This occurs at 3 PM \u2014 the count of the hours begins at sunrise, around 6 AM \u2014 at the time of the afternoon prayer.<\/li>\n
- The fact that Peter and John were attending afternoon prayers in the temple is highly significant: \u00a0Plainly, the early post-Resurrection Christian movement had\u00a0not<\/em>\u00a0utterly rejected the temple, as some modern Christians maintain.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 Regarding Acts 3, I simply want to point to three stunning verses from Peter\u2019s impromptu speech to the crowd in the temple at Jerusalem. \u00a0Their contrast with the scene of the dispirited apostles hiding out on the Saturday between Friday\u2019s Crucifixion and the events of the Resurrection that commenced sometime on Sunday morning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[67,10940,11612,10213,4889,11627,10573,446,1582,3016,11624,3343,11621,11618,1917,1366,6621,11615,11347,641,1573,4003,921],"class_list":["post-85142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-abraham","tag-acts","tag-acts-3","tag-beautiful","tag-gate","tag-isaac","tag-jacob","tag-jerusalem","tag-jews","tag-john","tag-patriarchs","tag-peter","tag-porch","tag-portico","tag-prophets","tag-resurrection","tag-solomon","tag-solomons","tag-speech","tag-temple","tag-testimony","tag-witness","tag-witnesses"],"yoast_head":"\n
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![\"Caravaggio's](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2015\/03\/463px-Caravaggio-Crucifixion_of_Peter.jpg\")
<\/a>