ACTS 3:12

Starting in Acts 3:12 we have what we can call the second sermon given by the apostle Peter. After the lame man had been healed in front of the temple, the people who saw it were amazed and astonished at the miracle that had taken place. Peter is reacting to the astonishment of the people and the Bible says in Acts 3:12, “And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? Or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?” Peter asked the crowd two questions in order to make two important points. If the people had understood the scriptures and remembered the things that God can and will do for His people, they should not be so surprised at this miracle. Also, Peter did not like the way the people were giving attention to him as if he had healed the man. Jesus healed this man, and Jesus should receive the honor and glory for it. Too bad that there are not more preachers today who refuse to allow people to give them too much honor or attention. If you want the name of Jesus to be honored, then you also will not try to draw attention to yourself.

Peter said in Acts 3:13-15, “The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. But 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 has raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.” In these few verses Peter accomplished several things. Peter emphasized who Jesus was. He called Jesus the Son of God. He called Jesus the Holy One and the Just One, names that are reserved for God. And Peter called Jesus the Prince of Life. You had better know who Jesus really is. Your eternal destiny depends upon it.

When Peter called Jesus the Just One, it was probably partly to emphasize to the people of Jerusalem how unjust they were in comparison. This point Peter will state several times in this small sermon: that the people of Jerusalem were guilty of the blood of Christ the Son of God. In Acts 3:15 Peter said that they “denied the Holy One,” and they “killed the Prince of Life.” Peter did not say this to condemn them, but sometimes you need to be blunt in order to give people a chance to repent. If you do not face the truth of your own sinfulness, then you will be doomed forever. Jesus said, “Except you repent, you shall all likewise perish.”

Peter spoke of the resurrection of Christ in these verses, and Peter also spoke of the connection between Jesus and the Old Testament forefathers. Peter said, ““The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his Son Jesus.” There is one God, and those who worship the one true God must also worship His Son Jesus. Christianity was not a departure from Judaism. Judaism as it existed in the first century departed from the worship of the one true God. Christianity was a continuation of the true worship. Christianity did not split off from Judaism. Judaism split off from the truth. It no longer does any good to claim a lineage to Abraham only. If you do not worship the Son of God, your connection to Abraham does you no good. Both Jews and Moslems in our day have this problem. Both religions find reasons to reject Jesus as the Son of God, and that is their undoing and that is their greatest error. Those who are today great enemies of each other, are in reality actually in the same boat, and the boat is sinking. Christ is the cornerstone for those who believe, but He is the stumbling block for those who do not.

Peter returned to the subject once again of the lame man who was healed and just how he was healed: through faith in Jesus. In Acts 3:16 Peter said, “And His name through faith in His name has made this man strong, whom you see and know: yea, the faith which is by Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.” The key word that Peter uses in this verse is the word “faith:” faith in the name of Jesus. The reason that the lame man was healed was not at all because of Peter. This makes it clear. We already know that Jesus healed the man, and now we are told more information. Jesus healed the man because the man put his faith and trust in Jesus. In other words this man was healed in the exact same way that people were healed by Jesus during the public ministry of Jesus. For example, when Jesus healed a woman from an issue of blood, He said to her in Mark 5:34, “Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole.” When Jesus healed two blind men, He said to them in Matthew 9:29, “According to your faith be it unto you.”

The way that biblical divine healing takes place is that a believer puts his or her faith and trust in Jesus, and then all things are possible. There are no guarantees. Sometimes God says no, and we must always pray, “May the will of the Lord be done, and not our will.” The Apostle Paul was not healed when he prayed three times and asked for a thorn to be taken from his flesh. In his case Jesus did not give Paul what he asked for. Instead Jesus said to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for thee.” The point that Peter is making is that faith in Christ is what is important. There were probably more miraculous healings in the first century than there are today because Jesus was proving who He was with His miracles, and Jesus was giving authority to the apostles and to their teachings with such miracles; which were not their miracles anyway. That is the point that Peter was making. Peter did not heal anyone. Jesus healed the blind man. Beware of those people in our day who claim to be divine healers. They do not have the message that Peter had on the subject. There are many false teachers, and they want your money.

In this passage Peter had been blunt in pointing out the sins of the people in Jerusalem to whom he was speaking. Now Peter is going to talk about the solution for sin. God knows that we are weak, and He has provided a remedy for our sins. Peter continued to preach in Acts 3:17-19 and said, “And now, brethren, I know that through ignorance you did it, as did also your rulers. But those things, which God before had shown by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, He has so fulfilled. Repent you therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.”

This was the thing that was hard for the apostles themselves to learn: that the Messiah should suffer. In other words, He would die on the cross. The Jewish people always readily understood the Messiah as the King, and so He will be still. But the Jewish people have always had a bind eye in regards to the suffering ministry of the Messiah. Peter and the other apostles had their eyes opened, and Peter is making the point here that if you looked closely at the writings of the Old Testament, you will see that often the suffering of the Messiah was foretold. One of the most famous passages for that is Isaiah chapter 53, but there are many other passages in the Old Testament that foretell the fact that the Messiah would suffer.

Isaiah 53:5 says, “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chatisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” This was written about five hundred years before Jesus. The very first reference to the Messiah and His sufferings was written by Moses in recording a conversation between God and Satan in the garden of Eden. In Genesis 3:15 God said to Satan, “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” The seed is the Messiah. The bruising of the seed’s heel was the crucifixion. The bruising of Satan’s head will be when he is cast into the Lake of Fire. The prophet Zechariah spoke of the Messiah and said in Zechariah 12:10, “and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced…” David spoke of the Messiah’s sufferings and said in Psalm 22:16, “For dogs have compassed me; the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.” This was written a thousand years before Jesus. Many other passages in the Old Testament spoke of the Messiah. One must have one’s eyes opened in order to see that Jesus is the Messiah.

The reason that the Messiah died on the cross was for the sins of the world. You are a sinner. You have done things that you ought not to have done. But God is merciful. He sent Jesus to die on the cross. The way that you enter into the benefits of the death of Jesus is given very clearly. Peter said, “Repent you therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out.” When we repent we have a change of mind about our sins. Before we repent we accept our sins or we hide from them. But when we repent we admit that our sins are wrong and that we should not have done what we have done. To be converted speaks of turning from one way of life to another. We were following the way of the world and the way of selfishness; but we turned to the Lord in order to start going His way for life.

For those who “repent” and are “converted” there are great benefits, not the least of which is the one mentioned here: “that your sins may be blotted out.” Oh what needless burdens people bear! They could have taken them to the cross and left them there. Along with their sins and every care, their guilt would have vanished into the air! What a merciful Savior is Jesus. When He hung on the cross, He said, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” And now weeks later, Jesus sends Peter to them to give them another chance to be forgiven of their sins. God is a God of second chances. God may give you a second chance, but take it while you can. There are a finite number of opportunities in this life. Eventually Jerusalem was destroyed by the Roman legions. Jesus offers you forgiveness, but Jesus also said, “Except you repent, you shall all likewise perish.”

In Acts 3:20-21 Peter said, “And he shall send Jesus Christ, which was before preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.” Jesus died and was raised from the dead, and He will also return one day to the earth. Individuals can now in the age in which we live be forgiven of their sins when they repent; but when Jesus returns to the earth in addition to forgiveness there will be what this passage calls the “restitution of all things.”

The sin of Adam had terrible consequences not only for the human race, but also for all of the world and all of the animal kingdom. When Jesus returns to the earth, there will be no sin, no death, and no sickness or disease. The apostle Paul spoke of the wonderful result of the return of Christ in Romans 8:21-22 and said, “Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.” When you see an animal die or an insect die or anything else, remember that is part of the suffering of the world brought on by Adams’s sin, but to be done away with by the goodness of Christ at His return.

All of the problems of the world will be done away with when Jesus returns. Jesus warned His disciples not to expect the problems to go away until then. That is why Jesus said in Matthew 24:6-8, “And you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that you be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places. All these are the beginnings of sorrows.” Thank God that there are moments of peace and prosperity, but worldwide the general characteristic of what happens on this earth is just what Jesus said it would be. Thank God that all the death and suffering will end at least at His return.

Just like Peter said, the Old Testament prophets spoke of the end of sufferings and the end of the curse. It is the coming of the Messiah who will bring such a wonderful change to the earth. What it will be like on the earth once Jesus returns is told by Isaiah the prophet in Isaiah 11:6-8. Notice that even the carnivorous animals will become herbivores. It says, “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” It will be a wonderful time, and you can be part of it if you repent of your sins and turn to Jesus.

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