Acts 2:22-24

Acts 2:22-24

Men of Israel, hear these words.  Jesus the Nazarene, was a man having been demonstrated into you as being from God by powers and wonders and signs – which God made through him in your midst, just as you have known.  Through a hand of lawlessness after affixing to a cross you all murdered this man delivered up by the purpose and foreknowledge of God which has been definitively set; whom God raised after unbinding the pangs of death, inasmuch as it was not powerful enough under him to firmly grasp him.

Thoughts for Today:

First Thought:

Jesus had lived and breathed among the people to whom Peter now speaks.  In some respects, it is tough to talk about the faith now because we’ve never really seen Jesus physically face to face – we’ve only seen the fruit of His Spirit.  On the other hand, Peter knows that these are the very people who wanted to see Jesus dead.

Do you think it is easier to talk to people about the benefits of something they’ve never experienced or to talk to people about the benefits of something they’ve experienced and hated it enough to end it?  Why?

Second Thought:

Peter is pretty bold here.  It takes some guts to look someone in the face and remind them that they are directly responsible for killing Jesus.  Peter is potentially putting his neck on the chopping block.

Do you think this is a good approach for Peter to take?  What is the benefit of confronting people with the consequences of their actions?  What are the potential hazards of confronting people with the consequences?

Third Thought:

Here Peter confesses to believing that Jesus was raised from the dead.  We do the same thing every time we worship God on Sunday.  But let’s think about this.  If you met someone who claimed to have been dead for 3 days but suddenly made alive – would you believe them?

In what way does our claim to believe in the resurrection make our faith unbelievable to the world around us?  Is this necessarily a bad thing?  What does believing in something “impossible” prove to the world?

Passage for Tomorrow: Acts 2:25-32