14

Acts 3:12-18 SIMON PETER WITNESSING TO THOSE WHO KILLED JESUS

Introduction:

In our previous text Peter and John encountered a lame man who was begging

at the gate of the temple at Jerusalem. The man had been born lame and had

never been able to walk in all of his forty plus years. The Apostle Peter

called upon the man in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth to rise and walk,

which the man did. A great crowd of people quickly gathered around them being

astonished at this great miracle.

In our text today the Apostle Peter speaks to the crowd and witnesses to

them about Jesus Christ.

I. The killers of Jesus marveling at the healing of the lame man

V. 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?” You will note that

Peter asked them two questions. First he asked them, “Why marvel ye at this?”

Let me say to you that Peter was not asking this question for information. He

knew full well why they were standing around gazing in wonder. These people

knew this man. They knew that he had been born lame and had been lame all the

years of his life. They knew that he sat at this temple gate every day begging

coins. Many of them had at one time or another given him coins. How could they

help but marvel at seeing him walk and leap in the air?

The second question was, “Why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our

own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?” It was quite apparent to

the crowd of people that Peter and John had something to do with the miracle.

The man had been lame until Peter and John started talking to him. He had been

lame until Peter took him by the hand and lifted him up. As far as the crowd

was concerned that man was made whole by some mighty power which Peter and John

possessed.

But Peter wanted the people to know that neither he nor John possessed the

power to make the lame man to walk. It was by the power of God that the man

was able to walk. It was not by the hand of the Apostle Peter who had reached

out and caught him by the hand and lifted upward. It was by the unseen hand of

God that he had been healed.

It was not by their power nor was it by any special holiness on their

part. The power that healed the man did not belong to them. Neither had the

power of God worked through them because of any holiness on their part. He and

John were sinners even as the people in that crowd were sinners. Peter did not

say so at this time, but the chief difference between Peter and John and the

folks in that crowd was that Peter and John were saved sinners. They had been

saved by that same Jesus Christ who had made this lame man to walk.

II. Jesus identified as the Son of God

V. 13, “The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our

fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus...” The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob

had promised to send His Son to the nation of Israel and that through Him all

the nations of the world would be blessed. Peter said that God has glorified

His son. To be more specific Peter said that God had glorified “His Son Jesus.”

Thus God had glorified Jesus by raising Him the dead. And God had glorified His

Son Jesus by the many miracles that Jesus had done during His ministry. God had

now glorified His Son by healing this man in the name of Jesus Christ. Since

Peter had instructed the man in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth to rise and

walk and he did.

Peter proclaimed to all this great crowd that Jesus is the Christ. He is

the Christ whom God had promised Abraham and He is the Christ that all of the

Old Testament prophets had spoken and written about. He said that Jesus is the

Christ whom the people in this very crowd had hoped for and had looked for all

of their lives. Peter said that it was Jesus who had worked this miracle.

III. The people in the crowd identified as killers of the Son of God

(V. 13),“...whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of

Pilate, when he was determined to let him go”. Peter proclaimed Jesus to be the

Christ in spite of the fact that the people who made up this very crowd had

earlier denied that Jesus is the Christ. They had joined with the chief priests

and scribes in delivering Jesus up to Pilate and making accusations against Him.

They joined in with the Jewish leaders denying that Jesus is the Christ. Even

after Pilate had proclaimed that he found no fault in Jesus they joined in with

the Jewish leaders demanding that Pilate put Him to death.

V. 14-15, “But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer

to be granted unto you; And killed the Prince of life...” Peter placed great

emphasis on the fact that Jesus is the very Holy One of God. Peter stressed

that Jesus is no criminal. He is the Just One. He is altogether just. Yet

when given the opportunity by Pilate to set Jesus free, they chose instead to

request Pilate to release Barabas who was a murderer. Peter said, “You have

killed the Prince of Life.” He is the Creator who made man and gave life to man

in the beginning. He is the Savior who gives eternal life to those who trust in

Him for salvation. But they had killed Him.

IV. The Christ raised from the dead by the power of God

(V. 15),”...whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.”

Peter said, “You have killed Him, but God has glorified Him. God has glorified

Him by raising Him from the dead.”

Now I want to point out to you that after Jesus arose from the grave He

never appeared to the general public. They never saw Him after He arose from

the grave. He could have appeared to the public, but He chose not to do so.

But He did make numerous appearances to His disciples. Peter said that “We are

witnesses that He arose from the grave. We are eye-witnesses that He arose from

the grave.” He was an eye witness. John was an eye witness. The rest of the

disciples of Jesus were eye-witnesses that Jesus had risen from the grave.

V. Jesus identified as the One who healed the lame man

V. 16, “ And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong,

whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect

soundness in the presence of you all.” Peter now gets around to answer their

question about how this man was healed. Peter had earlier said to the lame man,

“In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.” Now he said to this

entire crowd of people who were wondering how this man was made whole, that it

was through Jesus whom they had killed that this man stood before them whole.

This was a man whom they knew. They knew that he had been lame.

They had seen him day after day, month after month, year after year as he sat at

the gate of the temple begging for coins. They knew him to be a lame man and

yet now they could see with their own eyes that he was no longer lame.

Something had to account for the healing of this man. It was apparent to all

that Peter and John had something to do with it. Peter was the man who had

taken him by the hand and started lifting him up when he suddenly jumped up.

Now Peter tells them all that it was through the name of the man whom they

had crucified that this man has been made whole. This was astounding news to

them. It was disturbing news to them. If what Simon Peter had just said to them

was true, they had committed a very serious offense toward God. They had

crucified the Christ. They had crucified the Son of God. They had crucified

the Savior. They could assume that God was very angry at them. Furthermore, if

what Simon Peter said was true, the Christ, Himself, was now alive in spite of

the fact that they had killed Him and they could assume that the Christ was also

very angry at them.

What made it even more disturbing to them was that this man whom they knew

to be lame was now whole. This they knew to be a fact. He was walking. He was

leaping up in the air. There was strong evidence that Simon Peter was telling

them the truth.

VI. A hint of mercy

It was at this point that Simon Peter’s message turned to compassion and

consolation. V. 17, “And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it,

as did also your rulers.” Let me say to you that Simon Peter did not mean that

these people were completely off the hook or that God would count them as

innocent in the matter. They had all known that they were putting an innocent

man to his death. They had all known that Jesus was not been guilty of any

crime. They had all known that the accusations which they presented against Him

before Pilate were untrue. So they were not ignorant of the fact that they were

guilty.

What they were ignorant of was that Jesus is the Christ. They were

ignorant of the fact that the man whom they were killing is the Christ.

Therefore, because they were ignorant of this fact, God was willing to show

leniency toward them. God was not only willing to save them in spite of the

fact that they had crucified His Son, but God was anxious to save them.

Listen, there are still a lot of people who are ignorant concerning Jesus

as the Son of God and as the Savior of men. There are many who had never heard

the gospel of Jesus Christ. There are many people who live under leaders who

will not allow gospel preachers to come in among the go among their people

preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In addition to this, there are a lot of people right here in the United

States who have heard about Jesus all of their lives and yet they are still

ignorant about His saving grace. They have either not heard the truth about Him

or else they have rejected the truth which they have rejected the truth which

they have heard.

VII. The most powerful proof that Jesus is the Christ

V. 18, “But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all

his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.” There was one

last bit of evidence that the Apostle Peter presented to these people. He

presented the Holy Scriptures as evidence that what he had said to them about

Jesus being the Christ is really true. The people already knew about the

sufferings of Jesus. They had been directly involved. They had been eye-

witnesses to His sufferings on the cross. They had been largely responsible for

those sufferings. Then Peter pointed out to them that all of the Old Testament

prophets who had written about the coming Christ had predicted the very things

that had happened to Jesus would happen to the Christ. This should have been

the most convincing evidence of all that what Simon Peter was telling them was

the truth. Jesus is indeed the Christ. Jesus is indeed the Son of God.

The best news that Simon Peter had presented to them, so far as this crowd

of people was concerned, was that God was aware of their ignorance that Jesus is

the Christ and that He was would, therefore, be willing to show mercy toward

them. They could be forgiven. They could be saved.

VIII. The people to whom I preach today

Today I preach to people who were not present to see the lame man walk. I

preach to people who were not present to hear Simon Peter speak to that great

crowd of people. I speak to people who were present at the trial and

crucifixion of Jesus and, therefore, did not take an active part in His trial or

His crucifixion.

But I preach to people for whom Jesus died on that cross. I preach to

people who are just as guilty of sin as those people who crucified the Christ.

I preach to people who would surely face the wrath of God in judgment unless

they turn to God now while there is time and receive His mercy. And I preach to

you that just as it was the power of God through Jesus Christ which made that

man whole, even so it the power of God through Jesus Christ His Son which is

able to save the guilty sinner.

Just as the Old Testament prophets had predicted the crucifixion and

suffering of Jesus Christ, even so the New Testament writers have written

accounts of His crucifixion and His resurrection. They have written about the

wondrous grace of God that offers forgiveness and cleansing and salvation

through faith in Jesus Christ.

What God requires of the lost sinner is that he repent of his sin and that

he place his faith in Jesus Christ as his Savior. John 3:16 says that God so

loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in

Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Conclusion:

I call upon every person here who has never made peace with God through

faith in Jesus Christ as Savior to turn to Jesus this morning and call upon Him

from the depths of your heart and be saved. I call upon you not only to trust

in Jesus Christ for salvation, but I call upon you to come and walk this aisle

and publicly commit your life to Jesus Christ.

If there are Christians here who wish to come and make this church your

church home, we invite you to come forward and make your wish known.