A Study of Acts: Peter Cites Psalm 110
A Study of Acts: Peter Cites Psalm 110
Acts 2:34-36; Psalm 110:1-7; Matthew 22:41-46; Mark 12:35-37; Luke 20:41-44 - The proof is made of the Christ and Peter looks to us as those who crucified Him.
“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.””
Acts 2:34-36 NASB1995
First, a little story of me trying to find a good lead-in artwork for this devotional. I went and searched for art showing Jesus and God in Heaven together, with Jesus sitting at God’s right hand. Quite honestly, our puny human imaginations cannot possibly capture this phenomenal vision. Most of the artwork was woefully strange, some quite cheesy, or even unintentionally humorous. I settled on a beautiful cloud picture instead, because, quite frankly, we believers should stop worrying and wondering what this scene will look like, but just know in our hearts that it WILL exceed anything that we can imagine. We can be patient in our anticipation of that Glory.
So, Peter reminds the crowd that it was not David who ascended into heaven, and quotes from Psalm 110:1. This Psalm verse, according to commentary, is the most quoted OT scripture in the New Testament (quoted at least 27 times directly or inferred). I think we should look at the entire Psalm, which is fairly short and full of prophecy pointing directly at Jesus:
“The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand
Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”
The Lord will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion,
saying, “Rule in the midst of Your enemies.”
Your people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power;
In holy array, from the womb of the dawn, Your youth are to You as the dew.
The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind,
“You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek.”
The Lord is at Your right hand;
He will shatter kings in the day of His wrath.
He will judge among the nations,
He will fill them with corpses,
He will shatter the chief men over a broad country.
He will drink from the brook by the wayside;
Therefore He will lift up His head.”
Psalms 110:1-7 NASB1995
There is so much to unwrap in this Psalm. I may to have to put it on my list for a future deep dive!
Jesus used this first verse (Psalm 110:1) in all three synoptic Gospels as a way of pointing to Himself as the Son of God, so apparently Peter was listening. Here are the relevant passages:
“Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question: “What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?” They *said to Him, “The son of David.” He *said to them, “Then how does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Until I put Your enemies beneath Your feet” ’? If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his son?” No one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him another question.”
Matthew 22:41-46 NASB1995
“And Jesus began to say, as He taught in the temple, “How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? David himself said in the Holy Spirit, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Until I put Your enemies beneath Your feet.” ’ David himself calls Him ‘Lord’; so in what sense is He his son?” And the large crowd enjoyed listening to Him.”
Mark 12:35-37 NASB1995
“Then He said to them, “How is it that they say the Christ is David’s son? For David himself says in the book of Psalms, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.” ’ Therefore David calls Him ‘Lord,’ and how is He his son?””
Luke 20:41-44 NASB1995
No one had an answer to the question that Jesus posed. The only right answer is that He is indeed the Messiah and is Lord and the Christ. I like this commentary from Precept Austin quoting John MacArthur:
Jesus' point was that the title "Son of David" alone was not sufficient for the Messiah, that He is also the Son of God. David would not have addressed a merely human descendant as "Lord." Jesus was saying, in effect, "I am not giving you any new teaching or revelation. You should have been able to figure it out for yourselves, and would have done so if you truly believed Scripture."
The religious elite of Judaism had never seen that obvious truth, because, like many people today, they did not look to Scripture for truth. When they looked to it at all, it was for the purpose of trying to shore up their humanly devised religious traditions and personal preferences. Jesus did not mention the most important conclusion the Pharisees should have made from what He had just said: that He Himself was the divine Messiah, the Son of David and Son of God. It was unnecessary for Him to do that, because He had been presenting His divine messianic credentials for three years.
He had done so many things to prove He was the Son of God that unbelievers had to deny the obvious to conclude anything else. The signs and miracles recorded in the gospels are but a part of the countless others than He performed. "Many other signs therefore Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book," John tells us; "but these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name" (John 20:30-31; cf. 21:25). (MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Matthew).
The blindness of the Pharisees is something to see, but they were so caught up in justifying their elaborate traditions and rules that they couldn’t look up into the Face of God who was standing there with them. I think the key point in this commentary is that we should alway look to Scripture for truth, not for personal preferences or justifications for rules.
Peter ends his sermon with a gut punch: Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.”” Peter has just delivered a magnificent proof of the divinity of Jesus through scripture and eyewitness testimony. Hearts in that crowd were pounding, eyes were filling with tears, and heads were bowed down as the truth rolled over them in waves. Those who mocked the disciples earlier for speaking in tongues are now silent in humble introspection. I like this commentary by Ray Stedman in Precept Austin about this passage:
Lord means ruler of all things, king over all men, the One who holds the key to life and death, heaven and hell, in his hands. All power in heaven and in earth is committed unto him. And there is no authority or power that exists which does not take its direction and its limitation from him. "Christ," of course, means "Messiah." We say the words, "Jesus Christ," and many of us think that Jesus is his first name, and Christ his last. But that is not the case. Jesus is His name; Christ is His title. Christ means Messiah -- the promised One, the Deliverer, the only hope that mankind has ever had. Suddenly all this made perfect sense to this multitude. The full force of Peter's arguments thudded home, and they realized that they were in a very precarious position. This One whom he had proven, by indisputable evidence, to be Lord, was the One they had crucified 50 days earlier. (Jesus the Christ).
The whole sermon by Stedman is at the link; it is superb!
So here is something to think about. We are sitting here in the year 2024 and the events of this Pentecostal day were nearly 2000 years ago. It is interesting, perhaps, but so remote in history, to read about Peter chastising the crowd and making the case for Jesus as the Christ. But you and I helped crucify Him, just like those people did who were there. We crucified Him because of our sin and because so many reject His hope as our deliverer. Two commentaries give clarity to these thoughts. The first excerpts are from a sermon from John Piper entitled “Did you kill the King of Glory?”
I am going to ask you this morning if you killed Jesus, the Lord of glory. And I am going to assume that your first reaction will be a feeling of denial and resentment that something so far away could even begin to be laid at your feet. But the reason I ask it anyway is because I think that would have been the reaction of hundreds of the people Peter was talking to when he told them they had killed Jesus.
Remember that he is talking to several thousand Jewish people in Jerusalem (3,000 are going to be converted, v. 41!). Many of these people had nothing directly to do with the death of Jesus. Even if many of them were among the mobs that shouted, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" you know that in a crowd this large there were a good number who did not do that—they weren't even there on that day. But Peter doesn't seem to be worried about that. In verse 23 he says, "This Jesus YOU killed by the hands of lawless men." And at the end, in verse 36, he says, "This Jesus YOU crucified." How can he say that?
He can say it because everybody in that crowd was involved in the crime against Jesus that brought him to his death. The essence of the crime against Jesus was not the ending of his physical life. The essence of the crime against Jesus was the rejection of God in Jesus' life. Think with me carefully about this. It is tremendously important and has major implications for us today.
Jesus was handed over to be crucified on the grounds of blasphemy. He claimed to be the Son of God (Luke 22:70–71). He claimed that God was endorsing him as Messiah (Luke 22:67–69). But the Jewish rulers rejected this role of God in Jesus' life. They called him a blasphemer. Therefore, if a person rejects the true role of God in the life of Jesus, that person votes for the charge of blasphemy. And to cast your vote on the side of blasphemy—to reject God's endorsement of Jesus—is to say in your heart, "Crucify him! Crucify him!"
So what I am asking you this morning is not: "Were you bodily there on Good Friday voting against Jesus and sending him to his death?" I'm asking, "Do you join God in his affirmation of Jesus, or do you stand against God in the life of Jesus? Do you agree with God about Jesus? Or do you reject his endorsement of Jesus?"
Second, this short excerpt from Gotquestions.org tells us how we sinners are all responsible for His death:
All who have come to Christ in faith are guilty of His blood, shed on the cross for us. He died to pay the penalty for our sins (Romans 5:8; 6:23). In the movie The Passion of the Christ, the director, Mel Gibson, was the one whose hands you see actually driving the nails through Christ’s hands. He did it that way to remind himself, and everyone else, that it was our sins that nailed Jesus to the cross.
Peter gets an amazing reaction from the crowd, as we shall see in my next devotional that explores Acts 2:37-42.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer;
Dear Lord - Thank you for the remarkable insights into the sermon that Peter gave on that Pentecostal day when the Holy Spirit came to the apostles. My atonement is through the blood shed by Jesus on the Cross and the truths revealed through scripture and the eyewitnesses to His victory! 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
Precept Austin was accessed on 8/3/2024 to review commentary for Acts 2:34-36
Gotquestions.org was accessed on 8/3/2024 to answer the question “Who crucified Jesus?”
Include this author bio, where appropriate:
John Piper is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For more than thirty years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis. He is author of more than fifty books, and his sermons, articles, books, and more are available free of charge at desiringGod.org.
In all cases of republishing, the following attribution must be included:
By John Piper. © Desiring God Foundation. Source: desiringGod.org