Confronting the Murderers of Christ, Part 1 (Acts 3:12–18) | John Macarthur

Today on Grace to You, >> the Jews forced the issue with Pilate when Pilate wanted to release him. The Jews chose Barabus over Jesus when they had an opportunity. You denied the holy and righteous one and asked for a murderer to be granted to you. That's another backside issue.

The son of God. You killed the son of God. What in the world makes us so embarrassed about the gospel? For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. Let's look at the third chapter of Acts. Acts chapter 3. And if you remember the opening 10 verses describe a miracle that occurred during the hour of prayer around 3:00 in the afternoon also the hour of sacrifice at the temple Peter and John went there and they came across a beggar who had been lame, crippled, disabled, handicapped. from birth and they healed him, raised him up.

Verse 7, immediately his feet and ankles were strengthened. With a leap he stood upright and began to walk and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God. Remember now, it's it's the hour of the evening sacrifice, the hour of prayer. places packed.

They were all taking note of him as being the one who used to sit at the beautiful gate of the temple to beg arms and they were filled with wonder and amazement of what had happened to him. This miracle gathers a crowd. This miracle gathers a crowd. To that crowd, Peter preaches and he begins to preach in verse 12.

Let me read just verse 12- 16. 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. All the early apostolic preaching centered on Jesus Christ. And that's exactly what Peter does. That's what the apostles did. And the argument was always this. Jesus is the son of God, the savior.

And they were always endeavoring to prove that he had to overcome the fact that the Jews couldn't understand why if he was Messiah, he died. And so they had to show from the Old Testament that Messiah had to suffer and die and rise again. The crowd is gathered.

Verse 12, Peter sees them. It says he replied to the people. Apacomi. It doesn't necessarily mean there was a question. Uh it could be translated this way. When Peter saw this, he declared to the people. He stated to the people. When we say reply in the English language, we usually mean by that that we're answering a direct question.

But that is not the intent of the Greek word. Peter in fact doesn't respond to a question. He poses two questions. Verse 12. Men of Israel, now we know his target audience. Men of Israel, people of Israel, why are you amazed at this? Question number one. Question number two, why do you gaze at us as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk?

Peter's not answering questions. He's asking a question. And it's a question to engage their minds. Men of Israel, that's courteous. That's generic. Meaning men and women, the generic men, if you will. Why are you amazed at this? Why? You know God's power from the Old Testament. You know God's power exhibited through the person of Jesus.

We said it was in his name. You have seen his power here in your own city again and again and throughout your land. Why are you amazed? Why are you so startled? Furthermore, you know that only God can do this. As Nicodemus said on behalf of all of them, nobody can do what you do unless God is with him.

Miracles aren't done by people. So why are you so amazed? You know, God does this from the Old Testament. There are miracles in the Old Testament. You know that only God can do miracles and you know that Jesus did miracles and we told you this is by his power.

Second question then why do you gaze at us as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk? Look at us. We're a couple of Galilean fishermen. you know that people don't have the power to create like you've just seen. So Peter places them on a dilemma really.

Only God can create. Only God can do the supernatural. They know that they've been around a long time. There have been no miracles until the arrival of Jesus. only God is capable of creating. Why is this such a struggle for you? This is God operating through the power of Christ, which of course implies his resurrection, that he's still alive, that has done this.

Peter draws them immediately to Christ. Verse 13, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The God of our fathers has glorified the NAS says his servant Jesus has glorified his servant Jesus. He says the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, your God, our God. That's that's an Old Testament title describing God.

Exodus 3, 1 Kings 18, 1st Chronicles 19, 2 Chronicles 30. You find it scattered around in the Old Testament. Also appears in the New Testament. Uh Jesus referred to God as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in Matthew 24. Steven refers to God as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in Acts 7 when he gave that great sermon and recited the history of Israel.

This is the true and only God. The true and living God. So we know that only God can do this. And God has done this through his servant Jesus to glorify him. Glory only belongs to God. God in the Old Testament says, "My glory will I not share with another, will I not give to another?"

But he gives it to Christ. Uh 2 Corinthians 4 says that Christ is the shining glory of God. You see in the face of Jesus the glory of God. John 1:14 we beheld his glory. The glory is of the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth.

Jesus prays in John 17 restore to me the glory I had with you in eternity past. So the miracle draws the crowd the questions in their mind. Where did this power come from? It's reinforced that it can only come from God. And it comes from God through the name of Jesus in order to glorify Jesus.

Now, as we come to verse 13 and all the way down through the rest of this sermon through verse 26, the theme is going to be Jesus Christ. Now, this sermon breaks into two parts. First is guilt and then is grace. First is guilt and then is grace.

And Peter, let me tell you, he's like a prosecuting attorney. He lays an indictment without any hesitation. And his indictment is this. Israel murdered the Messiah. You have slain the son of God. That is the indictment. It's unmistakable. Look at verse 13. Jesus, the one whom you, and I'll just read the NAS, and then I'll qualify those words a little bit, 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 whom God raised from the dead, the fact to which we are witnesses. The word delivered, which you see in verse 13, the word delivered is a term that refers to turning someone over to executioners.

It's a technical term for being arrested. The word disowned, which is used in verse 13 and then used again in verse 14, is actually the word denied. Denied. I don't know why they chose to translate it disown. That sounds like you own something and gave it away. This is the word denied.

Delivered and denied. And then in verse 14, denied. You denied his claims. You denied him as your Lord. You denied him as your Messiah. So you turn him over because you had denied him. And then in verse 15, you put to death the prince of life. The Romans are not indicted here.

The men of Israel are. you put to death the prince of life. This is what Peter said in his first message back in chapter 2 verse 22. Verse 22, men of Israel, men of Israel. Again, generic term for the Jewish people. Verse 23, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men.

Romans, but you nailed him to a cross and put him to death. The culpability of the Jews, of the people of Israel, is not an an anti-semitic invention. It is exactly what scripture says. In chapter 4 27, truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus whom you anointed both Herod and Ponteus Pilate along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel to do whatever your hand and your purpose predestined to occur.

There you have the bigger picture. Yeah, Herod was involved. Pilate was involved. The gentile Romans were involved. But the people of Israel were involved as well. They all played a role. But the indictment in chapter 3 is clearly Israel. The Jews forced the issue with Pilate. When Pilate wanted to release him, the Jews chose Barabus over Jesus when they had an opportunity.

The Jews forced Pilate against his will to crucify Jesus. A blatant miscarriage of justice. Pilate actually declared Jesus innocent six times in the combination of gospel narratives. Six times he declared Jesus was innocent. Pilate was a Roman. He had that strict sense of justice. And yet he couldn't fight off the blackmailing of the Jews who threatened him and threatened him and threatened him.

And they had plenty of capital because he'd done stupid things in his history there. And they blackmailed him and said that if you don't do this, we're going to report you to Caesar. He couldn't take another one of those bad reports. Oh, it was the Jewish people who pressed the issue.

And Peter even looks at the backside of it. The first backside view. You delivered and denied Jesus in the presence of Pilate when he had decided to release him. That's the backside. It was the Jewish people who pushed Pilate all the way to the death of Christ, their own Messiah.

You delivered and disowned the one whom the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers glorified. You pushed for his death when a just Roman ruler tried to release him. And another backside issue in verse 14. You denied the holy and righteous one and asked for a murderer to be granted to you.

That's another backside issue. You wanted a murderer. Barabbus. Barabus. Barabbus. The indictment really is devastating. The indictment is absolutely true. And to strengthen the indictment, strengthen the sense of guilt, Peter refers to the Lord, the one they killed by glorious names. By glorious names, this elevates the crime.

Look at those names. The first one you see in verse 13 is servant. Actually, that's the Greek word pice. Pice be a transliterated word p a i s. It could mean servant. It can mean servant, but it's the Greek word for son, boy, child. You you delivered and denied the son of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers.

You denied the son of God. This is the word for son. This is the word for child. This is not the normal word for servant. It can be in in a broader sense used for servant, but this is the word for son or a word for son. Child.

Chapter 4. Verse 27 which I read earlier. Truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy pies son Jesus son. You killed God's son God's child. He had made that claim again and again as we saw this morning in the gospel of John. the son of God.

You killed the son of God. You denied the holy and righteous one and asked for a murderer to be granted to you. That's another backside issue. Not only the son, but you killed the savior, Jesus. What does Jesus mean? Jesus is simply a Greek form of Joshua. And Joshua is a word that means Jehovah saves.

Or literally it means salvation is of the Lord or the Lord is salvation. The full meaning is Jehovah savior, God savior. Yahovah savior. It's the New Testament form of Joshua. Joshua was well named, wasn't he? because he overcame the enemies of God's people. Joshua was a kind of savior.

Moses died in the wilderness and Joshua led the people into the promised land. Overcame the enemies. Jesus is a far greater Joshua than the Old Testament Joshua where he leads his people out of sin, out of the kingdom of darkness, out of the clutches of Satan to God.

You killed the son of God. You killed Jehovah Savior. Frightening realities. And you did it when Pilate was determined to let him go. And you wanted someone else in his place. How utterly unthinkable. And you even screamed, "His blood be on us." And it is thirdly, you denied, delivered and denied the holy one.

The holy one. Psalm 16 calls Messiah the holy one. You will not allow your holy one to see corruption. Luke 1 describes the baby born in Bethlehem as the holy child. He is the holy one, the one who is without sin. Psalm 16:10 is quoted by Peter in the first sermon, chapter 27.

You will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor allow your holy one to undergo decay. Hebrews 7 says he's holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners. Again, Peter squarely lays this indictment at the feet of those who denied the one who was absolutely holy. You denied the holy one.

By the way, the you here is in an emphatic position. You, no one else. You. You persisted in your treason against God. You denied the one who is the son of God. You denied the one who is the savior of God. You denied the one who is holy.

And fourthly, another name, the righteous one. The righteous one. The just one. You denied the just one. And you wanted an unjust murderer to be released in hisstead. Just as dyas, the other one is hag hagias means intrinsically holy. Dio means innocent when measured against the law. One speaks of nature.

The other speaks of behavior. He was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners by nature. And he was without violation, without sin in behavior. You didn't just kill anybody. You delivered over to death, put to death, and denied the one who was son of God, savior, the only holy one, the only righteous one.

Your crime is massive. You did it against the cries of justice and you did it in exchange for a thief and a murderer named Barabus. And finally, his indictment is elevated to another level in verse 15. You put to death the prince of life. That's paradox, isn't it?

You put to death the prince of life. You destroyed the one who is life itself. You wanted a killer. You took one who took life in exchange for one who gives life. Prince of life. Argos used in Hebrews 2. The captain of our salvation used in Hebrews 12.

The author, the initiator, the source. An archagos is a pioneer, a leader, a beginner, an originator, an author of life. Jesus is the author of life. Nothing was made without him. By him was everything made that was made. In him was life. You You killed the originator of life.

The one who said, "I am the resurrection and the life." The only one who can provide life. What kind of a crime is this? The guilt is so massive when you see the names that are used to describe Jesus. But verse 15, the one whom God raised from the dead.

A fact to which we are witnesses. You killed him and God raised him and we have seen him. God raised him. Why does he bring in the resurrection? Because Jesus has to be alive to be the power that healed the lame man. Verse 16. And on the basis of faith in his name, our faith in his name, the the apostles 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. You killed him. God raised him. Through our faith in him, he has raised this lame man.

The one you delivered, the one you denied, the one you disowned, the one you despised, the one you destroyed. He is alive. He is alive. He is alive and he is powerful. So powerful that he gave back to this man a body, a body that he'd never known in his entire life.

So Peter drives home the horrendous guilt and then tells them, "This is so serious because he's alive again. He's alive. The one you murdered is alive. And he's putting his power on display. And it is his power poured through us because of our faith in him that has given this perfect health to this man.

That's the indictment. It's inescapable. They knew they had done it. He marshals the facts. when Pilate tried to stop you in the case of an exchange with Barabus. All history, he is alive and we're here to give testimony and eyewitness to that. The guilt is palpable by come to when you come to the end of verse 16.

Horrendous guilt. Absolutely horrendous. And that's essential in the foundation of gospel preaching, isn't it? Really is. But I want to close with verse 17, just introducing it. Here's the first glimmer of grace. And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance just as your rulers did. Also, please notice that wasn't only the rulers, the the Jewish religious leaders who rejected Christ.

They did. But this clearly indictes the whole country. You acted in ignorance just as your rulers did also. There's the first glimmer of grace. What is the gospel? How can we be certain we have it right? How should Christians be sharing the good news to the world? Answers to these questions and more are found in John's book, The Gospel According to Paul, which is available by contacting Grace to you today.

Next week on Grace to You. This was within the plan of God. Rather than the death of Messiah, listen carefully, disqualifying the Messiah, his suffering and death validates him as the Messiah because that's what the prophets said would happen. Change your conclusion about Christ. Make the right conclusion about him and then come all the way back to him.