Scripture
Acts 2:22-36
Peter proclaims Jesus' public ministry, crucifixion, resurrection, exaltation, and lordship.
Men of Israel, listen to this message: Jesus of Nazareth was a man certified by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs, which God did among you through Him, as you yourselves know. He was delivered up by God’s set plan and foreknowledge, and you, by the hands of the lawless, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross. But God raised Him from the dead, releasing Him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep Him in its grip. David says about Him: ‘I saw the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will dwell in hope, because You will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay. You have made known to me the paths of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence.’ Brothers, I can tell you with confidence that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that He would place one of his descendants on his throne. Foreseeing this, David spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that He was not abandoned to Hades, nor did His body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life, to which we are all witnesses. Exalted, then, to the right hand of God, He has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. For David did not ascend 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 Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ!”
The public apostolic claim
Peter names Jesus’ public works, death by crucifixion, resurrection, and exaltation. The apostolic claim is historical and theological at the same time.
Where this passage comes up
- God's Kingdom began ruling in 1914The 1914 date needs links the Bible does not supply, and Jesus warned against hidden comings and against fixing times the Father keeps to himself.
- Jesus did not bring world peaceThe peace the prophets promised has not come, and Christians do not say it has. Their claim concerns the order of events, and it turns on the resurrection.
- Jesus rose as a spirit creatureJesus showed his crucifixion wounds, ate, and said a spirit has no flesh and bones; Scripture describes his risen body as changed, not as left behind.
- Liar, lunatic, or LordJesus taught about himself as well as how to live. If he made those claims, 'only a good teacher' does not fit, and the question is whether they are false, invented, or true.
- The crucifixion of JesusPaul's early sources, the movement's beginnings in Jerusalem, hostile Roman and Jewish writers, and the embarrassment of a crucified Messiah all point to a real execution under Pilate.
- The resurrection as messianic vindicationA crucified Messiah looked like a contradiction to Jesus' own followers. They read his resurrection as God overturning that verdict, and argued it from the Psalms and Isaiah.
- The bodily resurrection of JesusLuke, John, Paul, and Acts all tie the risen Jesus to the body that died. Paul's "spiritual body" describes a body made new, not a body left behind.