Wednesday
Wednesday
Jesus’s Resurrection
God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact.
Acts 2:32
Having stated that Jesus had been put to death by men, Peter went on to say that God had raised him from the dead. He also made three statements about the resurrection of Jesus.
Firstly, God had freed him “from the agony of death” (v. 24). The Greek word for agony means “birth pains,” so the resurrection was pictured as a regeneration, a new birth out of death into life.
Secondly, “it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him” (v. 24). Peter affirmed this moral impossibility without explaining it.
Thirdly, Peter saw in Psalm 16 a prediction of the Messiah’s resurrection. In it the psalmist expressed his confidence that he would not be abandoned to death or corruption, but instead would be shown the path of life. But this prediction could not refer to David, since David had died and been buried, and his tomb was still there in Jerusalem. So, since David was a prophet, and since he knew that God had promised to set a distinguished descendant on his throne, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah (Acts 2:30–31).
Peter’s use of Scripture may sound strange to us until we remember that all Old Testament Scripture bears witness to Christ, especially to his death, resurrection, and worldwide mission. That is its character and purpose. Jesus himself had said so both before and after his resurrection. In consequence, his disciples came naturally to read the Old Testament Christologically and to understand Old Testament references to God’s anointed and David’s royal descendants as finding their fulfillment in Jesus.
Having quoted Psalm 16 and applied it to the resurrection of Jesus, Peter concluded, “We are all witnesses of the fact” (Acts 2:32). Thus the spoken testimony of the apostles and the written predictions of the prophets converged. Or, as we would say, the Old and New Testament Scriptures together coincided in their witness to the resurrection of Christ.
For further reading: Acts 2:24–32