A Study of Acts: Another Sermon by Peter
Acts 3:11-16; John 10:22-39 - Peter boldly addresses the crowd, telling them that they killed the Prince of Life, who restored health to the man who was healed.
“While he was clinging to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them at the so-called portico of Solomon, full of amazement. But when Peter saw this, he replied to the people, “Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this, or why do you gaze at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus, the one whom you delivered and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him. But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, but put to death the Prince of life, the one whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses. And on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.”
Acts 3:11-16 NASB1995
Peter and John, with the healed man staying very close to them (clinging), are in the area of the temple known as the portico of Solomon. Let’s look at the information available in the Blue Letter Bible about this portico:
Portico comes from the Greek noun στοά or stoa, with the following Biblical usages:
a portico, a covered colonnade where people can stand or walk protected from the weather and the heat of the sun
the portico built by Solomon in the eastern part of the temple (which in the temple's destruction by the Babylonians was left uninjured), and remained down to the time of King Agrippa, to whom the care of the temple was entrusted by the emperor Claudius, and who on account of its antiquity dare not demolish it and build anew.
Jesus preached in this very same portico, with different results, as noted in the Gospel of John:
“At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place at Jerusalem; it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the portico of Solomon. The Jews then gathered around Him, and were saying to Him, “How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me. But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him. Jesus answered them, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?” The Jews answered Him, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.” Jesus answered them, “Has it not been written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.” Therefore they were seeking again to seize Him, and He eluded their grasp.”
John 10:22-39 NASB1995
Peter likely remembers this event, as Jesus and the group narrowly escape being stoned by the religious leaders. He uses the opportunity, with the crowd standing in amazement and awe at the healing they witnessed, to preach to them. He has a golden opportunity to witness to the power of God.
Peter begins by asking them why they are amazed at what they have witnessed. He questions their gaze upon him and John and denies that they are the source of piety and power in this healing. Here is commentary from Enduring Word:
When Peter saw it, he responded to the people: Peter wisely took advantage of the gathering crowd. Yet he knew that the phenomenon of the miraculous in itself brought no one to Jesus, it merely aroused interest. Though they were greatly amazed, they weren’t saved yet.
This might have been a good time for a testimony service, for the healed man certainly had a great experience. Yet Peter knew that what the crowd needed to hear – even more than the healed man’s experience – was the gospel of Jesus Christ, and a call to repent and believe. The healed man didn’t know enough yet to share that, so Peter did the talking.
Peter knew that saving faith did not come by seeing or hearing about miracles, rather faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17).
Why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? Peter denied that the healing was due to either his power or godliness.
Many evangelists or preachers today who would never claim to heal in their own power still give the impression that healing happens because they are so spiritual, so close to God, or so godly. Peter knew that it was all of Jesus and nothing was of him.
Why do you marvel at this? Peter’s point was simple: Jesus healed all sorts of people when He walked this earth, so why should it seem strange that He continues to heal from heaven?
There are good cautionary words in this commentary about those today who give the impression that they heal because they are so close to God. Peter knew that this healing was entirely from Jesus and not from him.
The next part of this sermon by Peter is completely centered on Jesus and what happened to Him. Peter does not mince words and points the finger at his fellow Jews and the religious leadership. He relates Jesus to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. From Precept Austin, Charles Spurgeon disavows any possibility that the God of the Gospel is anything other than the OT God:
I want you to note here how Peter will have it that the God of the gospel is the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. I do not hesitate to say that the god of a large number of professors now is not the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob; and the reason I say so is this, — that they often treat the Old Testament as if it were an altogether secondary volume, and speak about the imperfect ideas of God which the Hebrews had, and the imperfect revelation of God in the Old Testament. I believe that Jehovah — that very Jehovah who clave the Red Sea, and drowned the Egyptians, — the terrible God of the Old Testament — is the same God who is the God and Father of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; and we are to take the Godhead as it is revealed, not alone in the New Testament, but in the Old Testament also. There are some who would pick and choose that part of Scripture which they like best, and construct a god for themselves out of those chosen texts. These be they who have other gods before Jehovah; and these be they who make unto themselves an image which, if it be not graven upon stone, is yet made out of their own imaginations, which they set up, and worship in the place of the one living and true God. “The God of our fathers hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied.”
Peter tells the crowd that they delivered and disowned Jesus in front of Pilate, who was willing to let Him go free. Peter is not tiptoeing around his audience and is remarkably bold. The people asked for a murderer to be freed in the place of the Prince of Life and demanded His crucifixion. It’s very likely that some of those standing there on that day listening to Peter were also in the crowd demanding His death; this true accusation must have been hard to hear. But God raised Him from the dead! I like what Enduring Word says about this:
Whom you delivered up and denied: Peter boldly set the guilt of Jesus’ death squarely where it belonged. Pilate, the Roman governor, was determined to let Him go, but the Jewish mob insisted on the crucifixion of Jesus (John 18:29-19:16).
This does not mean that the Jewish people of that day alone were responsible for the death of Jesus. The Romans – Gentiles – were also responsible. The Romans would not have crucified Jesus without pressure from the Jewish leaders, and the Jews could not have crucified Jesus without Roman acceptance of it. God made certain that both Jew and Gentile shared in the guilt of Jesus’ death. In fact, it was not political intrigue or circumstances that put Jesus on the cross; it was our sin. If you want to know who put Jesus on the cross, look at me – or look in the mirror.
Peter was not afraid to confront their sin, and he showed amazing boldness. “One commentator says that the miracle of the speech of Peter is a far more wonderful one than the miracle wrought in the healing of the man who lay at the Beautiful Gate.” (G. Campbell Morgan)
Yet notice the contrast. In God’s estimation Jesus is the exalted Servant, promised centuries before in the Hebrew Scriptures. In man’s estimation Jesus was only worthy to be tortured and crucified.
Holy One: Here Peter exalted Jesus as God. The term Holy One is used more than 40 times in the Old Testament as a high and glorious title for Yahweh, the covenant God of Israel.
Asked for a murderer to be granted to you: One of the ironies of the crucifixion of Jesus is that while the crowd rejected Jesus, they embraced a criminal and a murderer named Barabbas (Luke 23:13-25, John 18:39-40). Peter boldly confronted this audience.
When Peter spoke of sin, he used the word you several times. In the sermon on the day of Pentecost it is recorded that he only used it once (Acts 2:23).
You delivered up and denied.
You denied the Holy One and the Just.
[You] asked for a murderer to be granted to you.
[You] killed the Prince of Life.
And killed the Prince of life: Of course, the Prince of life could not remain in the grave, and the apostles were united witnesses of the fact of His resurrection.
Peter ends this passage telling the crowd that the servant Jesus, the most holy and righteous One, the Prince of Life was the One who gave health to the man in front of them, through the faith that Peter and John had that was transferred to the man (he also had faith when he felt his legs strengthen).
There are many names that Jesus is called in this passage, hearkening back to Isaiah 52 and 53. Calling Him the Prince of Life should cut to the heart in those who were listening. You and I are alive because of Him. I’ll share one more commentary, this one from Precept Austin quoting John Phillips (Exploring Acts) in the first paragraph and from the author of Precept Austin in the second paragraph:
Life from nothing began through Him. It was His idea; He was its Creator and Sustainer. There was not a man, woman, or child in that audience who did not owe life itself to Him. The very breath they breathed was in His hand. This One, the Prince, the Author of life, had come into the world as a man, and they had killed Him. Could [any] crime be greater? The enormity of their sin had to be brought home to them. Not indeed that they were worse than we. Any rejection of Christ in any age is a manifestation of the same spirit. (Exploring Acts)
As the Prince or Author of life, Jesus was the one who prepared the worlds by His Word (Heb 11:3) Through Jesus the Creator God breathed life into one created from the dust of the earth (Ge 2:7). And finally, and most importantly, Jesus is the Author of Eternal Life, declaring "I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand." (Jn 10:28)
Think of how many in our culture today mock and deride Jesus, if they even believe that He existed. His name is not the Name above all Names, but a common swear word. These hearts that are full of evil and hate would eagerly take their place in that crowd that wanted Him dead. I used to be in that crowd. May God forgive me for being blind to the truth for so many years. I tremble at the thought of my ignorance.
My next devotional examines Acts 3:17-26 - Peter continues his sermon and pleads with the crowd for them to repent and turn away from their sins.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - Today I pray these Names for You, my Lord and Savior, the Prince of Life:
Jesus, Name above all names,
Beautiful Savior, glorious Lord.
Emmanuel, God is with us,
Blessed Redeemer, Living Word.
Amen
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
The Blue Letter Bible was accessed on 8/14/2024 to review the lexicon for portico.
Commentary in Enduring Word by David Guzik is used with written permission.
Precept Austin was accessed on 8/14/2024 to review commentary for Acts 3:11-16.