Jesus, Whom you crucified
Acts 2:25-36 · Vern Peterman · Feb 12, 2017
Acts (2017-18), No. 06
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://www.hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/4926548238007

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

Good morning. It's been with great anticipation that we come into this passage here in Acts chapter 2. We've been proceeding through this day of Pentecost. This is now essentially the third week and the third passage looking at it. This is a momentous event as we presented it. for a long period of time and actually have an impact on into eternity future and so Peter here who is demonstrating that he is a radically changed man as of this day and so as we look at that he is speaking to these Jews in ways that we have no precedent. In other words, he did not speak before with such power and certainty. And so we'll be taking a look at that too.

So what has happened is this day of Pentecost has begun with the noise of, not the vision of, but the noise of a mighty rushing wind. It has come about with the disciples, they're speaking in foreign languages, apparently with the Galilean accent, and talking to these people in languages that they recognize from other areas around the Roman Empire and even outside of the Roman Empire. And they understood that, even through the Galilean accent. And so now Peter has begun talking to them and has begun laying out things to them that in fact they're finding rather shocking and stunning.

And we're going to continue to see that pattern as he speaks today. One of the things we have available as a supplement that's kind of a touch point here This is the chronological table of Christ's life, which we have in the cabinet in the lobby to the right. And the points of contact here, we've been saying the evidence, especially in recent years, has been mounting to say that the day of Christ's ascension is recorded in Acts chapter 1, Thursday, May 14, 33 AD, and the day of Pentecost, this day that we've been studying, Sunday, May 24, 33 AD. So here's Acts 2, 25-28, Peter's saying this, David says of him, I saw the Lord always in my presence, for he is at my right hand, so that I will not be shaken.

Therefore, my heart was glad and my tongue exalted. Moreover, my flesh also will live in hope, because you will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor allow your Holy One to undergo decay. You have made known to me the ways of life. You will make me full of gladness with your presence."

So the Apostle Peter here quotes from Psalm 16 verses 8 through 11. That was a psalm that was written by David. David wrote almost half of the book of Psalms. And so this is one of those over 70 Psalms that he wrote. It speaks of more, however, than the events of the life of David. This is not one of those things where the language reflects David's life, but in fact what you see is heavenly things, heavenly conversations going on that David would not, except by miracle, be party to.

So this psalm speaks of the resurrection of the Messiah, and who in fact be one that he He would be the father of, physically speaking, and would be descended from Him, and He calls Him the Holy One. It is a resurrection specifically of the Messiah, Christ. It's not just David, and it's not just a general resurrection. It is a specific resurrection. So we know that David wrote this, but you'll notice that the pattern in this passage is God is speaking using I, me, and my in these verses. So very personal talking from relationships between persons of the Trinity here.

We're going to see as we step into verses 27 and 28 that the Son of God speaks directly to God the Father as He speaks in first person. The Son's incarnation is also clear in these verses as already having taken place. Here's Galatians 4, 4, and 5 where the Apostle Paul sometime later writes an anticipation of Christ's incarnation. So he says, but when the fullness of the time came, and that was determined by the Father, the Father determines the points of time and the spans of time, God the Father sent forth His Son, born of Mary, and Mary is a descendant of David, born under the law, that's the law of Moses, all 613 individual statutes, so that He, Jesus Christ, might redeem those who are under the law of Moses, that we might receive the adoption of sons. That is, the adoption of sons is severing from the old family and all of its obligations, establishing a new family of God with Christ as our brother. That's putting in brackets some of the intended and additional meanings there.

Here's Romans 5 and 6 where Paul very succinctly puts it this way. While we were still helpless at the right time, the father picks the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. David wrote that God the Father saw the Son as always in God the Father's presence. Always. And then the Son had been in the presence of the Father in eternity past. So we're going to see in this passage here, it has a specific context and time reference.

And we're going to see that in the very next words here in Acts 2.25. So one is at my right hand. So we'll look at the next words in verse 25.

God the Son is seated at the Father's right hand. The New Testament lays that out based on the Old Testament more than two dozen times. That God the Son is seated at the right hand of the Father. God the Son there is seated at the Father. And why would that be? The Father is the one who is giving authority to the Son.

And that will be extended into his rule over Israel and as King of Kings and Lord of Lords at a future time. Jesus said in Matthew 28, 18, All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth from the Father at whose right hand he would be sitting now. I'll not be shaken.

Now, one thing, you think about it, Jesus during his physical life on earth appeared from all earthly viewpoints to be very vulnerable. He appeared to be in a position where lots of things could go wrong. Did anything go wrong? No. Nothing went wrong, right? None of them, the Father, not the Son, not the Holy Spirit, none of them are shaken by the events on earth, even when things look physically, from a human standpoint, precarious.

Let's ask this question. Would you choose to have Jesus be born under King Herod? You and I probably wouldn't pick that, would we? Would you and I choose to have a time when the Jews are under the thumb of Rome? Probably not. That would be a little too precarious.

But that's what God chose at the right time. God sent a son. Christ had been born of a woman by the plan of God. None of that was a surprise. And it made himself by all appearances vulnerable to the things of man and of the earth for a time. Even being subject to time was God's own choosing and designation. One of the other things we see in this passage as we examine it, God the Son who had been born of a woman speaks of his human body parts in this passage, even the preservation of his body in the grave. His heart was glad, his tongue exalted, his flesh living in hope instead of hopelessness. Most important, the body of our Lord did not suffer decay while in the tomb.

Here's the Apostle Paul speaking in Acts 13. This is in Paul's first missionary journey, Acts 13, 34-7. In this he quotes Psalm 227. As for the fact that he raised him up from the dead, no longer to return to decay, He has spoken in this way, I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David. Therefore he also says in another psalm, Psalm 227, you will not allow your holy one to undergo decay. For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid among his fathers and underwent decay.

But he whom God raised did not undergo decay. So we have here, not only was there this personal expectation that the Father would not allow the physical body of Christ, the Holy One, as he's called here, so that's Jesus Christ, the Son of God, to be clear, to undergo decay in the tomb. The Father also didn't abandon the soul. So undergoing decay would be the physical body. He didn't abandon the soul of the Son in Hades, which is a term for the place of the dead. Instead, the soul and spirit of the Son were with God the Father in paradise.

Today you'll be with me in paradise. Jesus used that word as he was speaking to the thief on the cross. Today you'll be with me in paradise where the Father is. You're going to go there too with me. The word paradise is also used by the Apostle Paul in 2nd Corinthians. He said basically in disguised terms he had been there, but it was forbidden to speak about it. And then thirdly, it's used in the book of Revelation. Verse 28 here speaks of life and presence. So Christ was brought to life by action of God the Father, as had been agreed upon in eternity past. Now just think about that. Is it natural for a body to be resurrected? I mean, people oftentimes will speak in terms of what's natural is good, right? But actually it's not natural for a body to be resurrected. This was very unnatural. This was supernatural.

So he speaks again of the presence of God the Father here and his response to the presence of God the Father is gladness. You can also understand him as we can well understand for him and also for ourselves. Here's Acts 2.29 as Peter continues on.

Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried in his tomb is with us to this day. The word brethren, it's important to recognize was a term that the Jews would use as they spoke among themselves. Even later on we're going to find the Apostle Paul as he speaks to fellow Jews who are not believers in Christ, he still calls them brethren. We're also going to see, as we continue through the book of Acts, that the word brethren is used for speech among believers in Christ as well. So you're going to see it both ways. In this context, he's talking about those who are not believers yet, but as we'll see, soon will be.

So the exact location of David's tomb is not apparent to us today, at least not at this point in time. It had been actually referenced several times in the Old Testament. Peter here makes note of the fact that the tomb is still with them. It appears to have been continuing to be present through the end of the first century and on into the beginning of the second century, at which time it seems to have been destroyed. It was apparent to the apostles and to all the Jews who were gathered, however, there at the time of Peter speaking, they could have gone a short walk and gone and seen David's tomb. So the evidence is clear that David had been and remained buried. Peter appeals to it. He says that David died. His body is here. You know, his body has obviously undergone decay. It's been about a thousand years since David has died and been buried here.

You have on page two this map that we've been referring to of different things. And you'll find some evidences in Jerusalem now that indicate David's tomb is kind of off in this southwestern area of the old city. And some of them will be, and we saw this over there, here's King David's tomb marked with some tile and some custom tile that indicates it's right here. You will see this, they're claiming to be David's tomb and even Jews gathering by it and all that. You'll see statues in brass, saw that. Statues in brass saying, okay, here's where David was. You'll even see at the north end there of that kind of area that we have circled, here's David's tower as it's called. But it turns out none of that appears to be correct.

The actual location that the Bible describes of David's tomb is more than likely over here in just the east part of the Kidron Valley, and that has more reliability and fits with the rest of scripture. Here are the tombs of the kings across the Kidron from the city of David, although David's tomb does not appear to be among them. Somewhere in this area, just off to what would be the right, was where David's tomb likely was. This pool of Siloam, right across the little valley, the Kidron Valley there, would be approximately the location of where David's tomb was. As a matter of fact, I hadn't looked at it, but the picture Nancy is taking of my picture of her might even have the location of David's tomb in it. It's right about where Courtney parked the car.

Okay, so here's Acts 2, 30 and 31, and so, Peter continues, because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants on his throne, he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, and I've added the word there, that he was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh suffer decay.

So Peter makes reference there to God's covenant with David. That's recorded in 2 Samuel 7, 1 through 17. This is where the prophet Nathan is speaking directly to King David and makes the promise from God regarding one of his descendants will be on the throne. Now, what he says there, he was not only king, but also a prophet. Here is King David writing almost half of the Psalms that we have, which is Israel's national hymn book. So David is the author of these, and in those, David makes prophecies. David makes prophecies actually about Christ's first coming, and he makes prophecies about Christ's second coming.

This particular one that he's referring to, Psalm 16, 8 through 11, is referring to Christ's first coming and then his being ascended and seated there. Now, so what happens here is King David, through the prophet Nathan, is given a promise, and David spells things out having really, really long-term impacts. These are not short-term impacts, but impacts about things that have even not happened yet. Impacts on the future of the nation of Israel, of the people of Israel, and the future of this whole planet. God's got promises about that.

Matter of fact, one of the things we can ask, why doesn't God just say, you know, this humanity thing isn't working out real great. I think I'll just wrap it up and call it quits. Why doesn't God do that? It's because he has made promises to Abraham. He's made promises to David. He's made promises to others. And so it's because God has made those promises that he can't just simply say, OK, I'm going to wrap it up now. This is enough. I'm going to call an end to all this.

Not only did God make a really, really big and important promise to David, but David was also a prophet speaking for God as he wrote these psalms. writing on God's behalf about Christ the Messiah, in which he actually wrote about both Christ's first coming and second coming in the various psalms that he wrote, in this case about Christ having been resurrected and ascended and seated. So, David looking ahead to the time when his descendant would come to earth about a thousand years later, would be born, and looked ahead to the resurrection of Christ. Can you imagine Here is David, there's a lot that he probably doesn't understand about even what he's writing, but he writes at the Lord's inspiration. David wrote, and Peter clearly understood, that God the Father would not allow the body of Christ to decay in the tomb, nor his soul and spirit to go to Hades.

And one of the points we make here, the word Hades is the Greek word here, actually more literally pronounced Hades, but Hades is our Anglicized pronunciation. The Hebrew there is Sheol, and they basically, though they're different languages, mean the same thing. Both of those mean the place of the dead. That's the literal understanding of both of those terms, whether Greek or Hebrew.

So here's Acts 2.32, this Jesus God raised up again to which we are all witnesses.

David had written about the long-anticipated resurrection of Christ about a thousand years before. Now Peter declared with confidence that God had raised up Jesus from the dead. So this is an astounding thing. This declaration here that Peter makes In keeping with what David had written and recorded there in Psalm 16, a thousand years earlier, Peter told these Jewish men about that day, offering insights into what the passage meant.

You see, I'm sure that they were actually familiar with this, but not understanding how does this apply to Jesus. Here's the other ingredient that Peter puts out here. We are all witnesses. He's referring to himself, the other 11, and possibly to others who are present there at that very same time. Matthias, as we saw in Acts chapter 1, had just been put in as an apostle to replace Judas Iscariot, the betrayer, right?

And the purpose for that, Acts 1.22, one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection. So they couldn't just pick anyone to take Judas' place, but actually someone who was a witness of the resurrection to share in that testimony. So Peter declared before this audience on the day of Pentecost that all twelve of the apostles who are all present at that day, as it said, he took his stand with the eleven, so all twelve of them were present that day, were witnesses of the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ.

At a minimum, those twelve were present and possibly others along with them. Now we have this kind of a summary available here of the first of all the empty tomb recordings in the Gospels and then post-resurrection appearances that is after Christ was resurrected appearing sometimes individuals as in Mary Magdalene and Peter himself, Jesus' half-brother James, and then into groups of multiple people, sometimes just the 10 or 12, excuse me, 11 of the apostles, sometimes a smaller group, seven in one case up in Galilee, but as many as 500. And anyway, those are all recorded in the scripture references given in a supplement that's available in the cabinet to the right here. And so feel free to avail yourself of that.

Here's Acts 2.33. Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God and having received from the father the promise of the Holy Spirit He has poured forth this which you both see and hear So once having been ascended and seated in the heavenlies Jesus took his place at the right hand of God the father and So this is this is very clear again more than two dozen scriptures in the New Testament testify to that the right of Christ being seated at the right hand of God the Father, we shouldn't take his position as stuck. When we say, okay, we're seated with Christ, does that mean we can't move? This isn't a superglue on the chair trick. Ever seen that or heard about that? It's really nasty. You sit on a chair and you can't get up from it. Just all sorts of terrible things have happened of that sort. That's not what this is. Christ is not superglued to his seat. And one of the ways we know that, that he's not superglued to his seat, is one, Jesus is said to be standing.

We're going to see this in Acts chapter 7. at near near the death of Stephen that he sees Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father. Isn't that something? Not sitting like he's stuck there with superglue, but he is standing at the right hand of the Father at the death of Stephen. And Stephen is even given a glimpse of heaven with that.

So one is Jesus not stuck in a seated position. We see later on in the book of Revelation when Jesus is receiving the seven-sealed scroll And having that handed to him, he appears to be in a standing position. He stands as a lamb, as if slain. So he's not stuck in this position, seated next to the Father with superglue, right?

And also, Jesus is our heavenly High Priest. So when we talk about seated next to the Father, that's not a stuck position, but in fact it's a flexible position. We see him standing, we see him carrying on an ongoing ministry. Hebrews several times has references to it. We have a couple of those there. We see him also standing. So it's to talk about his position, not the position in which he is stuck, that he can't stand up. But he's at the right hand of God.

And by the way, I've looked for really good graphics to show that, and I have not seen anything. It's really amazing how poor the representation of that is. So anyway, I apologize. This is a scene from supposedly depicting Revelation, you know, chapter four and five and that sort of thing. But actually a good one showing him seated at the right hand of the Father, I have not found yet. And I have looked far and wide.

Now, he talks about the promise of the Holy Spirit. So the promised Holy Spirit, you know, for whom the apostles and all these disciples had been waiting, right there in Jerusalem, not knowing the time of the Father's choosing, but of course we know the Father chose the day of Pentecost to be the day, but they didn't know that in advance. But this was the chosen day. Jesus had told them all some of the purposes and ministries of the Holy Spirit who would be given to them at the right time of the Father's choosing in Jerusalem. Now it says here, and Peter uses the language, he has poured forth, Peter declared God the Father had poured forth the promised Holy Spirit on the disciples that day. That's the language that he uses, and the Holy Spirit is going to continue to be used, already has been, and will continue to be used in the book of Acts in that way, and one of the places we're going to see it is in 1045 when the Holy Spirit is given with the first believing Gentiles there in the house of Cornelius.

And that all draws from the figure of speech given in Joel 2.17 and 18.

To pour as a figure of speech for the giving of the Holy Spirit shouldn't cause us to think of the Holy Spirit as a fluid, such as pouring, filling, and similar verbs should be taken literally. The giving of the Holy Spirit to those who believe today is not accompanied by the gift of tongues, which are known earthly languages.

As a matter of fact, we're not going to see that as consistent throughout the book of Acts. Here on the day of Pentecost, some unique transitional occurrences and events take place. The Jews listened as the disciples spoke known, but foreign, human languages that many there present that day could identify having a background in those languages. But there's no evidence that this continued to go on and on and on among the Jews who were gathered, or that they should expect to see it again and again, or even once again. Here's Acts 2, 34 and 35. And so the Apostle Peter is speaking here boldly.

For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says, The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. And this is this is reflected out of Psalm 110, 1 through 3. The Lord says to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. And then verse 2, the Lord will stretch forth your strong scepter from Zion saying rule in the midst of your enemies and your people will volunteer freely in the day of your power and holy array from the womb of the dawn your youth are to you as the dew.

So Psalm 110 here is the most referenced and quoted Old Testament passage in the entire New Testament. So in this one that Peter begins to make reference to, we saw it several times as we went through the book of Hebrews, beginning in Hebrews chapter 1 all the way into chapter 12.

Here's Acts 2.36 where the Apostle Peter is continuing, Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. So, this day there were gathered Jews there from Jerusalem and many of them, as it says earlier in the book of Acts chapter 2, were long-term dwellers settled down there in Jerusalem. Jews who were also from all over the Roman Empire and also outside the Empire, in the most part areas to the east, to the Parthian Empire off to the east. So Peter's words here were for all the house of Israel, no matter where they are and no matter where they're from. His declaration to all the house of Israel, no matter where they were from or scattered or whether they were settled right there in Jerusalem and city and nearby, he had something to tell them.

Know for certain. Now, in our day, there are people who tell you that you can't know anything for certain. Ever run into them? They will tell you, by the way, with absolute certainty, that you cannot know anything for certain. And that's something very notable. They would be very insistent upon that. So they're very sure of their uncertainty. We're not. That is not Peter's message here this day.

Know for sure. Know with certainty. So his words meant, you must right now know in such a way as to understand and perceive what Peter is about to tell them all. You better catch this, guys. You need to know it. God did something and you also did something. Are you ready? Are you ready for that something that God did and something that you did?

That's what the rest of the passage is saying. Peter said that God, who would be God the Father, has made Jesus Lord, having full authority over everything in heaven and on earth and under the earth. And, Peter said, He is also the Messiah and God's chosen one and anointed one.

You guys know about this, right? This is the Messiah that you're expecting. This is the Messiah we've been told about, and you guys all believe in Him. David called Him, My Lord. He, that One, is the long-promised Messiah who is going to return and to reign. That's the Jesus that you just crucified. The one God, made to be Lord and Christ, you crucified on a cruel Roman cross.

You did it. You insisted that the Romans do the dirty work, but you did it. There may even have been some among here who shouted out before Pilate, Crucify Him! Crucify Him! and been guilty in that regard. But all of you of the house of Israel, you did this unthinkably awful, horrifically cruel act of massive spiritual error. The one that God designated as Lord and Christ. That's the one.

Earlier on in the passage, it says they were devout men in an actually rarely used word. We pointed out that had been previously used Simeon, the one who there at the temple recognized Christ as God's Messiah there when Mary and Joseph went to present him. These were very, very serious men, devout, Jews, devout and serious about their Jewish faith. Peter told these very devout Jews that they had crucified the very single one of God's own choosing, the one who was central to God's plan for the universe and all eternity. You crucified him. These men were terrified. They were horrified. They were stung as we're going to see in this next week's passage here.

One of the things we also see is radical here. We continue to see a massive change in Peter. In these verses, there's a huge change in the person of Peter. He is declaring things with certainty. He is declaring things he didn't believe less than two months before. And it shows the work not only in Peter, but among the others who are apostles and disciples as well. If we were to use our calendar, so here we are, today is February 12th. I sure hope I got that right. Okay? Today is February 12th. Imagine if just 50 days ago, and put yourself in a time frame, here's Peter. Okay?

By the way, that happens to be Christmas Eve. At Christmas Eve, you didn't believe that Christ was resurrected. And you didn't think that him being crucified was a good thing. Now, here, this soon, Peter has changed so much that he's turning around and declaring gospel truths, declaring Christ's resurrection, and declaring what God accomplished on that day, when Christ was crucified and on the day he was resurrected, and these things are true. Here is the one who pulled out the sword because he wanted to prevent Christ's resurrection, now realizing that this is what God has, excuse me, Christ's crucifixion and his resurrection, not realizing until later that that's exactly what God had in mind. We saw in last week's passage by the plan and foreknowledge of God, these things took place.

These men were about to be put in total shock of the realization of who Christ was and is, what God the Father made true of Him there in the heavenlies. These men were going to be in complete and total shock at what Peter had been telling them. And they were progressively getting more and more scared, more frightened, and utterly dismayed at what on earth can we do in view of these things. For us, however, a full realization of who Christ was and is and who we're made to be could even be shocking as well. Ought to be a stunning realization for us who are in the body of Christ.

But the truth is, I crucified him too. God loved me so much that he gave his only son, Jesus Christ, to die for my sins. And there really wasn't any other way. Christ himself loved me so much that he gave himself for my sins, all of them, every single one.

It wasn't really the Romans who put him on the cross. Oh yeah, we could look at it and people would say, yeah, they did. but it was me. I'm the one who put him there. What's absolutely astounding is for the joy set before him, he involuntarily endured that cross for me. Love brought him to the cross. Love for me brought him to the cross. The joy that He anticipated was beyond the cross. The joy set before Him took Him to look beyond the cross. There was no other way to deal with my sins, so I crucified Him too.

And we're really all in that same place, aren't we? We're all in that spot where here's Peter telling them, you crucified Him. And He's telling them the truth. But I did too. He did it because He loved me so very much and for the joy set before Him. Let's pray. Oh, excuse me, one more. Pardon me. Jumped ahead. The song Instead of Me.

The chorus goes, and I won't try to sing it, Sometimes I'll think about singing, and I'll think, nah. But this one, instead of me, he took the blame, the misery. Instead of me, he suffered silent agony. And in that final breath, he died alone, the sinner's death, instead of me. I put him there.

Let's pray. Lord, we do give you thanks. What an amazing, astonishing thing you've done. And we just can begin to comprehend and understand what you've done because you love us so very much. Amazing love indeed. And we thank you that just as Peter told these men, you crucified him. The recognition comes as well. I put him there and it was because of love. It was because of joy. For the joy set before him, he endured that cross. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.