Both Lord and Christ – Acts 2:22-35
In Peter’s sermon at Pentecost he shows us that Jesus is both Christ and Lord using 2 points:
1. The resurrection of Jesus showed that He is the Christ
2. Being seated at the right hand of God showed that Jesus is Lord
We will be using 3 sub-points to look at the above main points:
1. Plan of God
2. Prophesized in Scripture
3. Patriarch David
Resurrection of Jesus showed that he is the Christ (v22-32)
The plan of God (v22-24)
First of all, the resurrection of Jesus was in God’s plan and God was the one who raised Him from the dead. Peter says that Jesus was approved of God; meaning that God was the one who showed forth the worth/qualities of Jesus and this was done through the miracles, wonders and signs that Jesus did.
When we read the gospels, we usually see that Jesus is the one doing the miracles and this is true. But in the gospels and in v22 we understand that God did the miracles through Jesus and God the Spirit was the one who empowered Jesus while He was on this earth.
How about Jesus being captured and crucified? Did God abandon Him? In v23 it says “Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God”, meaning that the capture and crucifixion was attributed to the will of God. The “determinate counsel” of God means that the death of Jesus was within the boundaries of God’s plan and will. “Foreknowledge” is a term in the bible that we often misunderstand. It is not just the mere wisdom of knowing something before hand. God knowing that Jesus will die here does make it a reality. “Foreknowledge” when applied to God means the deciding of something in advance, and ensuring that it will follow through.
However this does not absolve the guilt and sins of those who crucified Jesus. God used wicked men to accomplish His purpose, yet never violated their will. Right here is a description of the mystery of divine sovereignty and man’s responsibility.
So we see how God was involved in Jesus’s life and death and in v24 this same Jesus, “Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death”. “Pains” here uses the imagery of labour pains. Peter uses two metaphors to describe the death of Jesus – being bound by the shackles and chains of death, and a woman going through labour. When the contractions and pains of labour come, there is nothing that a woman can do to hold the child back. And in v24 we see that “it was not possible” that Jesus would be held back by death. Therefore we see the plan of God, that God being the origin of life was able to overcome death’s grip on Jesus and raise Him to life.
Prophesized in Scripture (v25-28)
We also see that the resurrection of Jesus was prophesized in Scripture and this is found in v25-28. Peter quotes from Psalms 16, a Psalm of the confidence and trust that David has in God because of His abiding presence. David was Israel’s greatest king and he was the king chosen by God because he had a heart that truly worshipped and loved God. He became the benchmark by which future kings were measured by and God had promised that from him would come a line of kings.
How then do we see resurrection in these few verses? In v26, David mentions that his heart and tongue, meaning his whole being, rejoices because of God’s presence in v25. It goes further to say “moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope” meaning his physical body will have hope. Additionally in v 27, David is confident that God will not abandon his soul in hell, meaning the realm of the dead or grave. v27 also says that God will not allow his “Holy One” to see corruption. When we bring the three concepts together, not being abandoned in Hell, not experiencing corruption, even his physical body, Peter quotes to show that this Psalm is speaking of the resurrection. But does the resurrection apply to David?
Patriarch David (v29-32)
Peter goes on to clarify that the resurrection is not about David in v29 where it says that David is still dead and his sepulchre or tomb is still around. It was common knowledge where David’s tomb was and therefore the resurrection was not about David.
Peter further explains in v30 that David knew the resurrection was not referring to him. David, as a prophet of God, knew of the covenant God made in 2 Samuel 7 “that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne.” Meaning that one of David’s descendants would be the Messiah who would inherit the kingdom. Therefore, the prophecy of resurrection in Psalm 16, according to v31, refers to the future resurrection of the Messiah.
Peter concludes his argument in v32 saying that there is only 1 person who fits the above criteria of resurrection and that is Jesus because we are all witnesses. We are witnesses to Jesus rising from the grave and ascending into heaven. Therefore the resurrection shows that Jesus is Christ, the Holy One that David was speaking about.
Seated at the right hand of God showed that Jesus is Lord (v33-35)
Peter enters the 3rd and final section of his sermon, Jesus sitting at the right hand of God is proof that Jesus is Lord and we will look at this using the above sub-points.
The plan of God (v33)
V33 tells us that Jesus sits at the right hand of God to execute the plan of God. In chapter 1, Jesus had reminded them of the coming of the Holy Spirit and this was a promise made by the Father and prophesized by OT prophets and John the Baptist.
But how does Peter know that Jesus is now exalted at the right had of God? Because we had received the Holy Spirit, the evidence of the disciples speaking in different tongues is proof that the Spirit had descended upon them. Jesus has done what He had promised He would do – to send the Spirit to them. This means that He has received it from the Father, which means that He is now at the right hand of God.
Prophesized in Scripture / Patriarch David (v34-35)
In the last 2 sub-points, we see that Jesus’s exaltation to the right hand of God was prophesized in Scripture and the patriarch David is not the one. Peter reminds them that it is impossible for David to ascend into heaven because he was still dead in his tomb.
Psalm 110:1 that David wrote then cannot be a reference to himself because it tells us that the LORD Jehovah said unto the Lord to “Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool.” As David is not sitting on a throne but lying in his grave, that means that Jesus is the only person who has ascended into heaven and is sitting on the right hand of God. It is because of this reason that David addresses Jesus in Psalms as “my Lord”.
Conclusion (v36)
Peter concludes with v36, “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ”. The significance of Pentecost is that it has showed us definitively that Jesus is both Lord and Christ, and as both Lord and Christ he has empowered us with the Spirit to fulfill his mission to the utter most parts of the earth.
Application
What then are the implications for us? First, Jesus is the Messiah and we are not. This goes for both Christians and non-Christians alike, that there is nothing we can do to save ourselves because God has shown that there is only one person capable of bringing salvation and that is Jesus.
Even as Christians, having repented and accepted Christ, at times we still live depending on our own strengths. The Bible tells us to work out our salvation but this is not to be done in our own strength, in Philippians 2:13 it reads, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” God is the one that works in us and therefore we should not look to ourselves but to God for strength.
We ought to take our weaknesses and struggles to God. It is at these times of weaknesses when we pour ourselves out to God for strength and mercy that we experience Christ’s grace and provision of strength. Let us remember these experiences and use them to remind us to depend wholly on God to live.
The final implication of this passage is that Jesus is Lord, and this means that we are His servants and subjects and we are to obey the commands of our Lord. He is the Lord of the church and church’s structure and vision should be aligned according to His will that is laid out in scripture.
However, we should be wary of separating church into an external Sunday entity lest we fall into being a “Sunday Christian”. We ought to commit our very lives into the will of God instead of being lords of our own lives. Are we still resisting in areas where we want to have control, where we think we know better? Let us remind ourselves then that we should not only submit to our Lord on Sundays but by God’s strength we should be submitting ourselves to him in every aspect of our lives.
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