Sunday, January 29, 2012

Acts 2:29-36

“Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. And so, 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, that HE WAS NEITHER ABANDONED TO HADES, NOR DID His flesh SUFFER DECAY. This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. 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. 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.”’ Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.”


spoke of the resurrection of the Christ - "St. Peter's argument was clear, consecutive, and forcible.  It ran as follows:  (a) The words of Ps 16 about the resurrection refer definitely to someone.  (b) They cannot denote David, for he died and saw corruption.  (c) But, as all Jews acknowledged, the Messiah was promised as prince of the house of David.  (d) The Psalm, therefore, refers to the Messiah.  (e) Jesus of Nazareth was raised from the dead, and so He is the expected Messiah." (Walker)

"The ascended Lord was actively demonstrating the fact of His resurrection by the wonders of Pentecost.  He had said: 'And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you:  but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high' (Lk 24:49).  This power had now been bestowed in the presence of the multitude.  What reasonable explanation could there be of the wonders which Peter's hearers now saw and heard, except that Christ had indeed risen from the dead, ascended into heaven and sent the Holy Spirit as He had promised?  To all these arguments Peter adds his own testimony and the testimony of those standing with him, that they have personally seen Christ after His resurrection.  'This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses' (Ver 32).  The multitudes listening to Peter may not have wished to think that Christ was alive again, but reason demanded it, the Scriptures had predicted it, the circumstances indicated it and now Peter and his comrades were there to bear personal testimony that they knew that it was so.  They had been with Him, had talked with Him and had seen Him with their own eyes, until the cloud had come to receive Him into heaven." (Stam)

vss 34-35 - "Peter quotes Ps 110:1.  Messiah is now at the right hand of the Father awaiting the subjugation of His enemies, at which time He will reign on the throne of David.  In the meantime, He has sent the Spirit." (Ryrie)

"This is the beginning of that sublime 110th psalm.  This psalm our Lord had used to silence His enemies.  His own testimony had brought out four indisputable facts about that psalm:  1. That David wrote the psalm.  2. That he wrote it by the Spirit.  3. That the psalm spoke of Himself.  4. That it revealed Himself as both David's son and David's Lord (Matt 22:41-46).  And now the Holy Spirit uses this psalm likewise to show that the Christ had to ascend into heaven and take His place at the right hand of God till the time should come when His enemies are made His footstool.  This exalted place Jesus the Nazarene had now taken; that He was really there was fully demonstrated by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  But we must not overlook something else which this prophecy teaches.  These Jews might have said, If Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, why does He not take the throne of His father David and begin His Kingdom reign?  The 110th psalm gives the answer.  He was to go to heaven first and sit upon His Father's throne.  He was to wait there for the promised Kingdom while His enemies are in opposition to Him.  How perfect the Word of God is!" (Gaebelein)

"And now the apostle, by the Holy Spirit, strikes home as with a hammer blow, the fact which his guilty hearers must be prepared to face:  'Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.' (Ver 36).  Surely Peter is not preaching the gospel of the grace of God here, as some would have us believe.  His message clearly concerns the kingdom rights of the Son of God.  It is Paul, the apostle of the Gentiles, who later speaks of 'the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God' (Acts 20:24).  It is Paul who bids us to 'Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel' (2 Tim 2:8).  It is he who tells us that Christ was raised from the dead because of 'our justification,' and that God 'hath quickened us together with Christ...and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:  that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus' (Rom 4:25; Eph 2:5-7)." (Stam)

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