Confronting Murderers
Published by Stanley Pouw in 2022 · 7 August 2022
There is no justification for anti-Semitism, for hatred of Jewish people. Unfortunately, throughout history replacement theology, that have the church replacing Israel, really were born in an anti-Semitic attitude long ago. In Christ, there’s neither Jew nor Gentile. And even outside of Christ, we love unconverted Jews just as we would anyone else. We long for them to acknowledge their Messiah.
And we have immense respect for Jewish leadership. We know that study Bibles are being distributed throughout Israel to Jews. We desire to have an impact on that nation. We long for the salvation of Israel. My heart toward Israel would be the same as Jesus when He wept over their unbelief. But having said all of that, we still know what Israel did to their Messiah is history.
It is reality. It doesn’t do any good to try to cover it up or eliminate it. They rejected their Messiah. They put Him in the hands of the Romans to execute Him. That’s an enormous crime. Any rejection of Jesus Christ brings about the severest eternal judgment. So we don’t want to bring unique judgment on Israel. It’s the same judgment for anybody, Jew or Gentile, who rejects Christ.
But neither do we want to deny what Scripture says. When Scripture tells us that it was the people of Israel who rejected their Messiah. That is in no way the projection of some anti-Jewish attitude. So let’s look at Acts 3. In the opening ten verses, it describes a miracle around 3:00 in the afternoon. Peter and John went there, and they came across a lame beggar, handicapped from birth.
And they healed him, raised him up, verse 7, “Immediately his feet and ankles were strengthened. With a leap he stood upright and began to walk; and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.” And all the people saw him walking and praising God. They were all taking note of him as being the one who used to sit at the beautiful gate of the temple to beg alms.
They were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. The last scene was in verse 11. Peter and John are standing there, and the man is clinging to them, and all the people ran together to the so-called porch colonnade of Solomon, full of amazement. This miracle gathers a crowd. And Peter begins to preach to these people in verses 12 – 16.
So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go.”
14 But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. 16 And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.”
All the early apostolic preaching centered on Jesus Christ. Peter is also preaching Christ Jesus. At the very time of the miracle in Acts 3:6, Peter says, “I don’t possess silver or gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene – walk!” They vary the glories of Christ. They vary the themes concerning Christ, but it is Christ Himself of whom they speak.
In the New Testament, He is called Jesus 800 times. But, there are in Scripture nearly 200 different names or titles for the Lord Jesus. Why? Because that allows us to explore all the facets of His majestic glory. Every one of those names is like an edge of a cut diamond. He is the subject of all faithful apostolic preaching and continues to be the subject for all faithful preachers.
Now, the first person to ever preach in the name of Jesus Christ was Peter. And since that first sermon, all who faithfully and accurately preach the gospel stand in the tradition of Peter. The Catholic Church talks about the succession of Peter. But the succession of Peter is not the papacy, not that corrupt assembly of heretics who speak in their own name and who usurp His authority in the church.
The succession of Peter is the long line of godly faithful preachers of the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Anybody who doesn’t preach Christ is an antichrist, is an unfaithful preacher. On the very day the church was born, the theme was the Lord, Jesus Christ. For that first sermon, God provided a stunning introduction. Fire, wind, and different languages gathered the people.
Peter preached the gospel and 3,000 people were divinely enabled to believe, were baptized and constituted the church its first day of birth. This is the second sermon here in Acts 3. And God again provides His introduction to draw the crowd. God healed that lame man. The healed man was a living testimony to divine power in the name of Jesus. The crowd has come together.
All the people came together by the wall that was once a part of Solomon’s temple, full of amazement. All good preaching not only focuses on Christ, but all good preaching is a careful argument that leads to an inescapable conclusion. Preaching is not lining up all kinds of interesting illustrations. Preaching is a captivating argument so that the hearer has no way out except to accept or reject.
It’s not about making people feel good. Not about creating some kind of religious feeling experience. All good preaching is like a courtroom. It’s always a systematic argument that Jesus is the Son of God, the Savior. And they were always proving that. The Jews couldn’t understand why if He was Messiah, He died. So they had to show from the Old Testament that Messiah had to suffer, die and rise again.
Verse 12, “So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?” Men of Israel, that’s courteous. Why are you amazed at this? You know God’s power from the Old Testament. You know God’s power exhibited through the person of Jesus.
Furthermore, you know that only God can do this. As Nicodemus said on behalf of all of them, “Nobody can do what You do unless God is with Him.” Miracles aren’t done by people. Second question, why do you gaze at us as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk? We’re a couple of Galilean fishermen. You know that people don’t have the power to create what you’ve just seen.
This is God operating through the power of Christ, which proved His resurrection that He’s still alive, who has done this. Peter draws them immediately to Christ, verse 13, “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go.”
Jesus is referred to as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in Matthew 24. Stephen refers to Jesus as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in Acts 7 when he gave that great sermon and recited the history of Israel. Glory only belongs to God. God in the Old Testament says, “My glory will I not share with another, will I not give to another.” But God the Father gives it to Christ.
Jesus, prayed in John 17, “Restore to me the glory I had with You in eternity past.” So, the miracle draws the crowd. Where did this power come from? It comes from God through the name of Jesus in order to glorify Jesus. For all His ministry, God glorified His Son by miracles, a display of creative power, power of demons, power over nature, power over disease and power over sin.
Now, this sermon has two parts. First is guilt, and then is grace. And Peter is like a prosecuting attorney. And his indictment is this: Israel murdered the Messiah. You have slain the Son of God. The word “delivered” is a technical term for being arrested. And then in verse 14, “But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you.”
You denied Him as your Messiah. So, you turn Him over because you had denied Him, and then in verse 15, “and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.” The Romans are not indicted here. The men of Israel are. You put to death the Prince of life. The culpability of the Jews, is not an anti-Semitic invention. It is exactly what Scripture says.
Yes, Herod was involved. Pilate was involved. The Gentile Romans were involved. They all played a role. But the indictment in Acts 3 is clearly Israel. The Jews forced the issue with Pilate when Pilate wanted to release Him. The Jews chose Barabbas over Jesus when they had an opportunity. The Jews forced Pilate against his will to crucify Jesus. That was a blatant miscarriage of justice.
Pilate actually declared Jesus innocent six times. The Romans had a very strict code of justice. In Acts 22:25, when Paul was stretched, he said to the centurion, “Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman?” The commander came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman?” And Paul said, “I was actually born a citizen.” Therefore, those immediately let go of him.
No, it was the Jewish people who pressed the issue, who pushed Pilate all the way to the death of Christ, their own Messiah. In Matthew 27:24, Pilate took water, washed his hands in front of the crowd saying, “I’m innocent of this man’s blood.” See to it yourselves, and all of the people said, “His blood be on us, and on our children.” Then he released Barabbas for them.
The indictment is absolutely true and devastating. And to strengthen the indictment, Peter refers to the Lord, by glorious names. You see in verse 13, that He’s called “His servant Jesus,” the servant of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers. In verse 14, He is called the Holy One and the Righteous One. Verse 15 says, The Prince of life. These designations raised the crime.
Let’s look at these terms. The first one you see in verse 13 is servant. Actually, that’s the Greek word P-A-I-S. It could mean servant. But it’s the Greek word for son. You delivered and denied the Son of the God. You killed God’s Son. Not only the Son, but you killed the Savior, Jesus. What does Jesus mean? Jesus is a word that means “Jehovah saves” or “the Lord is salvation.”
Thirdly, you delivered and denied the Holy One. Psalm 16 calls Messiah the Holy One. You will not allow your Holy One to see corruption. Luke 1 describes the baby born in Bethlehem as the Holy Child. He is the Holy One, the one who is without sin. Psalm 16:10 is quoted by Peter in the first sermon, Acts 2:27, “You will not abandon My soul to hades, nor allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.”
Fourthly, the Righteous One. You denied the Just One, and you wanted an unjust murderer to be released instead. He was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners by nature. And He was without sin in behavior. The only Holy One, the only Righteous One. You did it against the cries of justice, and you did it in exchange for a thief and a murderer named Barabbas.
Fifthly, in verse 15, “You put to death the Prince of life.” You destroyed the one who is life itself. You took one who took life in exchange for One who gives life. Prince of life, used in Hebrews 12, the author, the initiator and the source of life. Jesus is the author of life. Nothing was made without Him. By Him was everything made that was made in Him, the only one who can provide life.”
You killed Him, and God raised Him, and we have seen Him. Why does God bring in the resurrection? Because Jesus has to be alive to be the power that healed the lame man. Verse 16, “And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Jesus has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.”
Jesus is alive and He is powerful, so powerful that He gave back to this man a body that he had never known in his entire life. Salvation comes to those who recognize the reality of their wretched sinfulness. When people cling to their sinfulness, there’s no hope. But I want to close with verse 17, “Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers.”
Here’s the first glimmer of grace. Please notice that it wasn’t only the rulers, the Jewish religious leaders, who rejected Christ. They did this, but this also clearly indicts the whole country. You acted in ignorance just as your rulers did also. Good preaching is a systematic, reasoned argument leading to an undeniable conclusion. Peter started out like a prosecuting attorney with his forceful, powerful indictment.
And when they are literally pinned to the wall with no escape, in the darkness of their own deed, he opens a window in verse 17, “You acted in ignorance. So did your rulers.” He follows that up in verses 18, “But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled.” God is sovereign but all people are still responsible for their sins, Amen? Let us pray.