WATCH

LISTEN

READ

Main Idea

Though we reject Jesus, he still calls us to repent and believe

Today, I want to begin by discussing light filters. Videographers and Photographer’s use transparent colored film that they attached over their lights so that they can achieve a particular, visual outcome. If they want to portray a melancholy mood, they can use a blue light filter. If they want calmness, they can use green, or attach a red filter for a sense of danger or warning. They use a standard light, but then cast that light through a specific filter so that they can enhance and dramatize whatever shot they want to create.

Today, I will begin by reading Isaiah 53, because this is the filter in which Peter will deliver his second sermon to the gathered Jewish crowd.

Isaiah 52: 13 – 53:12 (ESV)

¹³ Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. ¹⁴ As many were astonished at you— his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind— ¹⁵ so shall he sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths because of him, for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand.

¹ Who has believed what he has heard from us?  And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? ² For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. ³ He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. ⁴ Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. ⁵But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. ⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. ⁷ He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. ⁸ By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? ⁹ And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. ¹⁰ Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. ¹¹ Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. ¹² Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

Outline and Passage

•     Explanation to the people [12-16]

•     Application for the people [17-26]

Acts 3:11–26 (ESV)

¹¹ While he clung to Peter and John, 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 back, 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. ²² Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. ²³ And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’ ²⁴ And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days. ²⁵ You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ ²⁶ God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”

I – Explanation

This section has a chiastic structure, which is a literary device that notes a progression, then repeats a mirror image with the main thrust of the story being in the middle.

v.12 – Miracle (not by my power)

v.13 – God glorified Jesus

v.13 – You denied Jesus

v.14-15 – You killed Jesus

v.15 – God raised Jesus

v.16 – Miracle (done in the name of Jesus)

Through the explanation of this miracle, Luke is trying to drive home the deity of Jesus while also laying out the realization that they are culpable for rejecting and killing Him.

1. The section is sandwiched between a definition of the miracle:

•     top layer – not man’s power

•     bottom layer – done through the power of God in Jesus

2. The second layer, of veggies let’s say, is the person of Jesus:

•     Jesus is glorified by God and

•     Jesus is raised to life by God

3. Finally, the meat of the sandwich is the sinful actions of the people:

•     You denied Jesus

•     You killed Jesus

This was the point that Luke was highlighting and that Peter was driving into the hearts of the people. But, Peter also laid the Old Testament filter over the light he was shining. Four filters, in fact, for this section.

4 OT parallels in this section:

1. The God of Abraham/Isaac/Jacob

This is found throughout the Old Testament books as a reference to the founders of the Jewish faith. If you are extremely patriotic and love the stories of how the USA came into being, you would likely have a special place in your heart for people like George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson. These men are our founding fathers. Likewise, these men were the founders of the Jewish faith.

Not only would this have sparked national pride for the nation of Israel, but also a deep appreciation for the role they played in God’s redemptive history. Speaking their names would recall all of God’s promises to Abraham of making Israel into a great nation. Peter is trying to show them that what he is saying is in agreement with these men and performed by the same God who spoke to these men, and therefore should be received.

2. Glorified His Servant

Isaiah 52:13 from the section of the Suffering Servant:

¹³ Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted.

The section of the Suffering Servant in Isaiah begins in chapter 52 and runs through 53. The Jews would have immediately recognized the language of God’s holy servant being exalted and Peter used this knowledge to build a bridge from that Servant in Isaiah to Jesus of Nazareth.

It’s kinda like if I said the phrase, “Four score and seven years ago…” you would immediately think of Abraham Lincoln. Saying phrases like this would have had a similar affect, drawing their mind to the Messiah.

3. Holy and Righteous One

Isaiah 1:4 + many more describes the Messiah as God’s holy and righteous man.

⁴ Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged.

The ‘Holy One of Israel’ and the ‘Righteous One’ were titles for a specific person and Peter’s audience would have known that. So, if I asked you who the Italian Stallion was, many of you would answer Rocky Balboa. This is similar. This was the title given to the coming Messiah, and now, Peter is helping them connect the dots that Jesus is this anticipated Messiah.

All of these light filters working together to cast a shadow of Jesus.

4. Author of Life

Genesis 1 & 2 show God as the creator of all things and the creator of human life.

Decades later, (+65 years or so from this point in time), John 1 shows Jesus as God and the one by whom all things have been made.

This word ‘author’ is rendered differently in other translations. For example:

•     ESV – Author of life

•     CSB – Source of life

•     NASB – Prince of life

•     LEB – Originator of life

The word in Greek is ἀρχηγός archēgŏs, ar-khay-gos´ and can mean author, a chief leader, a captain, a founder, or a prince.

Perhaps another way to see this is how the author of Hebrews highlights Jesus as the founder of our faith, in Hebrews 12:2:

Hebrews 12:2 ESV

² looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

So, in essence, the creator of all things, the one who gives light and life to mankind, the founder and perfecter of our faith… that is the one you handed over to Pilate to be crucified. Peter is getting the people to understand and feel the impact of their egregious mistake.

But thankfully, he didn’t stay dead, because God glorified and raised Jesus to his right hand and because Jesus is alive and well, this man was able to be healed.

Do you see how masterfully Peter explained the situation. He didn’t just say, “Hey, you know what? This guy was healed because Jesus loved him so so much, he couldn’t bare to see his darling in such a pitiful state.” Nor did he make it about himself or the beggar, like so many people we see today. Peter didn’t, for example, take off his Argyle Blazer and start smacking people with it to daw attention to himself. He made it solely about the person of Jesus Christ and he did so by appealing to what he knew his audience would understand.

Now, how can we take this and make it applicable to our own lives? What are the dynamics of this town like? Agricultural? Maybe explaining the gospel in those terms, using agricultural parables might work:

•     The concept of sowing and reaping

•     The parable of the soils

•     Explaining God as if He were a Gardener who lovingly tends to each plant in His garden?

What about livestock?

•     Jesus is the Great Shepherd who tends to his flock: protects them, feeds them, guides them.

•     Jesus destroys the wolves who come to hurt the sheep

•     Jesus is Himself the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world through His shed blood on the cross.

What about our youth? They are dealing with a lot: anxiety, depression, the corrupt ideals of the culture

•     The Holy Spirit is our Counselor who guides us into the beautiful truth of who Jesus is.

•     The Spirit (so long as you receive Him) is always with you and will never leave you. You are never on your own!

•     Jesus’ yoke is easy and His burden is light

•     Jesus experienced all things and as your High Priest (or heavenly representative), he can sympathize with anything you are going through right now.

We need to learn to contextualize the gospel and make it relevant to our listeners. We need to speak truth, even when it is a difficult truth told in tough love. Peter didn’t let the crowd off the hook. They were guilty. But what about you and I? Aren’t we guilty of sinning against a perfectly holy God? Don’t we deserve righteous condemnation for our offense? Of course we do! That is what makes the gospel so glorious and God’s grace so magnificent!

And that is where Peter goes next. He doesn’t just hang the guilt around their neck like a noose. He shows them that despite their denial and rejection of Jesus, He still desires for them to repent and be forgiven.

II – Application

Peter calls them brothers. He does not distance himself from the crowd, but rather further relates to them. Peter was himself a Jew and also like recalled his own denial of Jesus, which would have certainly caused him to be even more sympathetic.

Peter then applies the Old Testament light filters, showing that this was predicted through the Prophets.

There are two imperative verbs here (a command to do something)

1. Repent – a heavy, sorrowful rejection of sinful action… turning a full 180 degrees toward righteousness.
2. Turn – similar to repent in the sense that you turn from bad in pursuit of good, but also has a sense in which one is to flee. In the Old Testament law, if you accidentally killed someone, certain cities were established as refuge cities where one could flee to and not be killed by the Avenger of the slain. Likewise, Peter is encouraging them to flee. You killed Jesus, therefore, repent from that sin of ignorance and flee to a refuge. The only difference is that the one in whom to take refuge is the very one they killed!

This is the ultimate second chance!

They are to repent and turn back for three reasons:

1.   Sins to be wiped out. Your guilt has been covered. You don’t have to relocate to a city of refuge until the Avenger is dead. You can be forgiven now and be fully restored to the God you claim to love through the forgiveness of sins purchased by the blood of the very one you rejected. You are no longer guilty!

2.   Refreshing can come from the presence of the Lord. Images of the river flowing from God’s throne in Ezekiel 47 which refreshed and restored the land would have likely flashed through their minds.

3.   That He (meaning the Lord) may send Jesus, who is the Messiah. The man was healed in His name, therefore, you must fully accept Jesus as the promised Messiah before the sins can be wiped out and the refreshing come.

Even through Peter was calling everyone to the carpet, he didn’t do so in a divisive way. His goal in exposing their guilt, albeit it was done in ignorance, was so that it would bring about repentance and faith in Jesus.

That is what every interaction should be about – whether it is witnessing to unbelievers, holding a brother or sister accountable, an encouragement to a friend in a difficult season of life, or a friendly reminder to dive deeper into the scripture – everything should point to (1) repentance from whatever bad thing is being pursued, and/or (2) encouragement to grow in faith in Christ. 

And it is Jesus, whom Heaven has Him until all things are restored. Do you remember the Psalm from a few weeks ago that spoke about this? Psalm 110:1. All things will come under Jesus Christ. To expand on the refreshing that come from knowing Him, the Jews are encouraged to recognize that eventually, ALL things will be restored… just like this man’s legs. Fully and completely. This surely would have conjured up any number of prophecies of restoration and renewal, even perhaps the peace spoken of by Isaiah where the lion will live side-by-side with the lamb  – which again – God said from the beginning through the prophets.

What Prophets, you might ask? How about the ones you most admire – Moses & Samuel:

1. Moses spoke about Jesus (Deut. 18:15-19), when he said:

²² Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. ²³ And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’

2. Samuel spoke of Jesus as well, and then even those after Samuel spoke of Jesus. In fact, hopefully the crowd is finally starting to realize that the whole of the Old Testament scriptures speak of Jesus!

Full circle. And to really drive the point home, Peter comes full circle back to Abraham. You are the sons of the prophets and of the Abrahamic covenant (Genesis 12:3; 18:18; 22:18). All nations will be blessed through Abraham’s offspring, which is:

1.   You – you are the physical offspring

2.   Jesus – Jesus is also the physical offspring, but more importantly, the fulfillment of the offspring that will eternally sit on David’s throne. Faith in Jesus means you are also the spiritual offspring, which as Paul will later tell the Galatians, is the true offspring.

God sent Jesus, this servant from Isaiah 53, to bless you by turning you from your wickedness.

In closing, we need to ask ourselves the question: “Are we turning from our wickedness? Can we honestly say that we are repenting and turning away from our sinful desires and fleeing to Jesus? God is a God of second chances.

If we eagerly desire the refreshing that is spoken of here and the weight of our wrongdoing to fall from our shoulders, then we must embrace true faith in Jesus and commit ourselves fully to him. My call here will be the call Peter gave nearly 2,000 years ago. Repent and believe in Jesus and you will know peace.