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Peter's Message in the Temple

Acts 3:12-19

Good News Translation (GNT)

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12  When Peter saw the people, he said to them,
   "Fellow Israelites, why are you surprised at
   this, and why do you stare at us?
   Do you think that it was by means of our own
   power or godliness that we made this man
   walk?
13  The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
   the God of our ancestors, has given divine
   glory to his Servant Jesus.
   But you handed him over to the authorities,
   and you rejected him in Pilate's presence,
   even after Pilate had decided to set him free.
14  He was holy and good, but you rejected him,
   and instead you asked Pilate to do you the
   favour of turning loose a murderer.
15  You killed the one who leads to life, but God
   raised him from death - and we are witnesses
   to this.
16  It was the power of his name that gave
   strength to this lame man. What you see and
   know was done by faith in his name; it was
   faith in Jesus that has made him well, as you
   can all see.
17  And now, my friends, I know that what you
   and your leaders did to Jesus was due to your
   ignorance.
18  God announced long ago through all the
   prophets that his Messiah had to suffer; and
   he made it come true in this way.
19  Repent, then, and turn to God, so that he will
   forgive your sins.

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Commentary taken from
'The Applied New Testament Commentary'
(Kingsway)

Peter's Message in the Temple

    Acts Chapter 3:12-19

Peter told the crowd, "We are ordinary men like yourselves. The One who healed this man is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself."

Peter had just performed a great miracle, but he himself refused to accept any credit or praise for it. Here Peter says that, through this miracle, God has glorified his servant Jesus.

The miracle was a sign that God was indeed bringing glory to Jesus. Even though Jesus was the Son of God, the Jews handed him over to the Roman governor Pilate, because only the Roman governor could condemn a criminal to death.

Pilate found that He was not guilty of any crime and wanted to release Him. During the Jewish Passover festival, it was the custom for the Roman governor to release one Jewish prisoner as a gesture of good will.

Pilate wanted to release Jesus, but the Jews demanded that Pilate release a murderer named Barabbas instead.

Jesus, the author of life, gives eternal life to all who believe in Him. In the end, God raised him from the dead. And Peter says, "We are witnesses of this".
Peter says that the crippled man was healed by faith in the name of Jesus. That is the same as having faith in Jesus. For the crippled man to be healed, two things were necessary: first, Jesus' power; and second, man's faith - either Peter's faith or the crippled man's faith.

God is always ready to forgive those who sin in ignorance. It is suitable that Peter here shows the Jews a little mercy, because it was only a few weeks earlier that he himself had knowingly denied His Lord three times.

The Old Testament prophets, especially Isaiah, had written that the Christ must suffer. These Jews had just put to death God's only Son.

But now if they turn to God, He will forgive them and wipe away their sins - if they repent.

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