Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 3:17

And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did [it,] as [did] also your rulers.

17. I wot ] This antiquated word is the present tense of the verb to wit (A. S. witan) = to know, and its past tense is I wist. Had I wist = had I known.

through ignorance ] Ignorance has many degrees and can arise from many causes. The Jewish multitude were ignorant from want of teaching, their rulers from mental perverseness in looking only on one part of the prophecies concerning the Messiah. Yet of both these it may be said that through ignorance (i.e. want of knowledge, however caused,) they crucified Jesus.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

And now, brethren – Though they had been guilty of a crime so enormous, yet Peter shows the tenderness of his heart in addressing them still as his brethren. He regarded them as of the same nation with himself; as having the same hopes, and as being entitled to the same privileges. The expression also shows that he was not disposed to exalt himself as being by nature more holy than they. This verse is a remarkable instance of tenderness in appealing to sinners. It would have been easy to have reproached them for their enormous crimes; but that was not the way to reach the heart. He had indeed stated and proved their wickedness. The object now was to bring them to repentance for it; and this was to be done by tenderness, kindness, and love. People are melted to contrition, not by reproaches, but by love.

I wot – I know; am well apprised of it. I know you will affirm it, and I admit that it was so. Still the enormous deed has been done. It cannot be recalled, and it cam not be innocent. It remains, therefore, that you should repent of it, and seek for pardon.

That through ignorance … – Peter does not mean to affirm that they were innocent in having put him to death, for he had just proved the contrary, and he immediately proceeds to exhort them to repentance. But he means to say that their offence was mitigated by the fact that they were ignorant that he was the Messiah. The same thing the Saviour himself affirmed when dying, Luk 23:34; Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Compare Act 13:27; 1Co 2:8. The same thing the apostle Paul affirmed in relation to himself, as one of the reasons why he obtained pardon from the enormous crime of persecution, 1Ti 1:13. In cases like these, though crime might be mitigated, yet it was not taken entirely away. They were guilty of demanding that a man should be put to death who was declared innocent; they were urged on with ungovernable fury; they did it from contempt and malice; and the crime of murder remained, though they were ignorant that he was the Messiah. It is plainly implied that if they had put him to death knowing that he was the Messiah, and as the Messiah, there would have been no forgiveness. Compare Heb 10:26-29. Ignorance, therefore, is a circumstance which must always be taken into view in an estimate of crime. It is at the same time true that they had opportunity to know that he was the Messiah, but the mere fact that they were ignorant of it was still a mitigating circumstance in the estimate of their crime. There can be no doubt that the mass of the people had no fixed belief that he was the Messiah.

As did also your rulers – Compare 1Co 2:8, where the apostle says that none of the princes of this world knew the wisdom of the gospel, for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. It is certain that the leading scribes and Pharisees were urged on by the most ungovernable fury and rage to put Jesus to death, even when they had abundant opportunity to know his true character. This was particularly the case with the high priest. But yet it was true that they did not believe that he was the Messiah. Their minds had been prejudiced. They had expected a prince and a conqueror. All their views of the Messiah were different from the character which Jesus manifested. And though they might have known that he was the Messiah; though he had given abundant proof of the fact, yet it is clear that they did not believe it. It is not credible that they would have put to death one whom they really believed to be the Christ. He was the hope, the only hope of their nation; and they would not have dared to imbrue their hands in the blood of him whom they really believed to be the illustrious personage so long promised and expected by their fathers. It was also probably true that no small part of the Sanhedrin was urged on by the zeal and fury of the chief priests. They had not courage to resist them; and yet they might not have entered heartily into this work of persecution and death. Compare Joh 7:50-53. The speech of Peter, however, is not intended to free them entirely from blame; nor should it be pressed to show that they were innocent. It is a mitigating circumstance thrown in to show them that there was still hope of mercy.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 17. I wot] , I know. Wot is from the Anglo-Saxon, [A.S.] to know; and hence wit, science or understanding.

Through ignorance ye did it] This is a very tender excuse for them; and one which seems to be necessary, in order to show them that their state was not utterly desperate; for if all that they did to Christ had been through absolute malice, (they well knowing who he was,) if any sin could be supposed to be unpardonable, it must have been theirs. Peter, foreseeing that they might be tempted thus to think, and consequently to despair of salvation, tells them that their offence was extenuated by their ignorance of the person they had tormented and crucified. And one must suppose that, had they been fully convinced that this Jesus was the only Messiah, they never would have crucified him; but they did not permit themselves to receive conviction on the subject.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Lest the corrosive in Act 3:13-15 should pierce too far, to prevent despair in his auditors the apostle useth in this verse a lenitive, calling them yet brethren, though guilty of so great a mistake in their judgment, and fault in their practice.

Through ignorance ye did it; whatsoever they did against Christ, whom St. Peter preached, was out of a double error:

1. About the place of Christs birth, supposing him to have been born at Nazareth.

2. They were ignorant of the nature of his kingdom.

As did also your rulers; whose fault was the greater, as having seduced others, &c.; yet St. Peter opens a door of hope by repentance, even for them also.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

17-21. And now, brethrenOurpreacher, like his Master, “will not break the bruised reed.”His heaviest charges are prompted by love, which now hastens toassuage the wounds it was necessary to inflict.

I wot“know.”

through ignorance ye didit(See marginal references, Luk 23:34;Act 13:27; Act 26:9).

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And now, brethren,…. He calls them brethren, because they were so according to the flesh; and to testify his cordial love and affection for them.

I wot, or “I know”,

that through ignorance ye did it; delivered up Jesus into the hands of Pilate; denied him to be the Messiah before him; preferred a murderer to him, and put him to death.

As did also your rulers; the members of the sanhedrim, some of them; see 1Co 2:8 for others of them knew him to be the Messiah, to be sent of God, by the miracles he did, and yet blasphemously ascribed them to Satan; and so sinning against light and knowledge, in such a malicious manner, sinned the sin against the Holy Ghost, to which ignorance is here opposed; and which did not excuse from sin: nor was it itself without sin; nor is it opposed to any sin, but to this now mentioned.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

And now ( ). Luke is fond of these particles of transition (Acts 7:34; Acts 10:5; Acts 20:25; Acts 22:16) and also (Acts 4:29; Acts 5:38; Acts 22:32; Acts 27:22), and even (Acts 13:11; Acts 20:22).

I wot (). Old English for “I know.”

In ignorance ( ). This use of occurs in the Koine. See also Phm 1:14. One may see Lu 23:34 for the words of the Saviour on the Cross. “They had sinned, but their sin was not of so deep a dye that it could not have been still more heinous” (Hackett). If they had known what they were doing, they would not knowingly have crucified the Messiah (1Co 2:8).

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

1) “And now, brethren,” (kai nun adelphoi) “And (for the record) now and hereafter brethren,” as an everlasting witness to coming generations, 1Co 10:11; Rom 2:1. Peter introduced a conclusion regarding the grave sin that his own brethren of the flesh, (the Jews) natural Israel, had committed.

2) “I wot through ignorance ye did it,” (oida hoti kata agnoian epraksate) “I know (perceive) that by way of ignorance you all acted,” as you did when you asked that He be crucified, and Barabbas the murderer be set free. For the unregenerate, natural mind of all men exists in a state of spiritual ignorance, so that their decisions and deeds tend always toward wickedness, 1Co 2:14; Eph 4:18; 2Co 4:3; Rom 10:1-4.

3) “As did also your rulers,” (hosper kai hoi archontes humon) “Just as also your chief rulers acted in ignorance,” as Jesus indicated in his prayer, Father forgive them they know not (do not perceive) what they do; They did not realize the gravity of or eternal consequence of their decisions and actions in rejecting, delivering, and slaying Jesus Christ, Luk 23:33-38; Isa 55:12; Psa 2:1-2.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

17. Because it was to be doubted, lest, being cast down with despair, they should refuse his doctrine, he doth a little lift them up. We must so temper our sermons that they may profit the hearers, for unless there be some hope of pardon left, the terror and fear of punishment doth harden men’s hearts with stubbornness; for that of David is true, That we fear the Lord when we perceive that he is unto us favorable, and easy to be pacified, (Psa 130:4.) Thus doth Peter lessen the sin of his nation, because of their ignorance; for it had been impossible for them to have suffered and endured this conscience, if they had denied the Son of God, and delivered him to be slain, wittingly and willingly; and yet will he not flatter them, when as he saith that they did it through ignorance; but he doth only somewhat mitigate his speech, lest they should be overwhelmed and swallowed up of despair. Again, we must not so take the words as if the people did sin simply of ignorance, for under this there did lie hid hypocrisy; but as wickedness or ignorance doth abound, the action is named of the one or the other. This is, therefore, Peter’s meaning, that they did it rather through error and a blind zeal, than through any determined wickedness; but a question may be moved here, if ally man have offended wittingly and willingly, whether he shall surely fall into despair or not? I answer, that he doth not make mention in this place of all manner of sin; but only of the denying of Christ, and of the extinguishing of the grace of God, so much as in them did lie. If any man be desirous to know more concerning this, he may read the first chapter of the First Epistle to Timothy, (Tit 1:13.)

As did also your rulers. First, this seemeth to be an improper comparison, for the scribes and the priests were carried headlong with a wonderful madness, and they were full of wicked unfaithfulness; (183) but the perverse study and zeal of the law did prick forward the people. Again, the people were incensed against Christ, inasmuch as their rulers did provoke them thereunto. I answer, that they were not all of one mind, for without doubt many of them were like unto Paul, unto whom that doth truly appertain, which he writeth elsewhere of the princes and rulers of this world, if they had known the wisdom of God they would never have crucified the Lord of glory; therefore, he speaketh not generally of all the rulers; but if any of them be curable, them doth he invite to repentance.

(183) “ Perfidia,” perfidy.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

CRITICAL REMARKS

Act. 3:18. All His holy prophets.Best taken as a collective phrase for the prophets as a whole. Most of the Books of the Old Testament foretell distinctly the sufferings and death of the Messiah (Hackett).

Act. 3:19. That your sins may be blotted out.According to Isa. 53:12, Christs death was to be the meritorious cause of forgiveness. When the times of refreshing shall come, should be in order that times or seasons of refreshing may come. These seasons of refreshing have been interpreted as equivalent to the times of the restitution of all things of Act. 3:21. Both seasons considered as identical have been explained differently:

1. as referring to the Second Coming of Christ (according to this view spoken of in Act. 3:20), which will be (subjectively considered) a season of refreshment, peace, and repose, after the toils and tribulations of life, but objectively regarded a season of the restoration of all things (Alford, Hackett, Spence, Gloag, Holtzmann); 2, as alluding to the inward refreshment of soul which follows after the blotting out of sins consequent on conversion, which refreshment is also a fulfilment of all those gracious promises God had before spoken by the mouth of His holy prophets since the world began (Stier, Zckler). A third, and in our judgment, a better interpretation distinguishes the seasons of refreshing and times of restitution, making the former the inward quickening which should follow on sincere repentance and experience of forgiveness, and the latter the restoration of all things which should accompany the Second Coming of the Saviour (Plumptre).

Act. 3:21. Whom the heaven must receive.Decidedly preferable to who must possess the heaven (Bengel, Luther, Olshausen, Stier).

Act. 3:22. For and unto the fathers should be omitted as a gloss. prophet, etc.Partly cited from the LXX. (Deu. 18:18-19), and partly new. Stephen (Act. 7:37) as well as Peter ascribes this prophecy to Moses, and interprets it of Christ, Raise up.Not from the dead, but in the sense of causing to appear. Like unto me.Or as He raised up Me.

Act. 3:23. Shall be destroyed from among the people, should be, shall be utterly destroyed. Peter here interprets the Deuteronomic phrase, I will require it of him, which meant that he would be excluded from the congregation.

Act. 3:24. Samuel.Though nothing remains from him which can be construed into a prediction of the latter times, he may nevertheless have uttered such; or his name may be introduced simply because he was the father of the prophets.

Act. 3:25. Children of the prophets and of the covenant.Not sons in the sense of descendants, which would be incongruous with the clause of the covenant, but sons in the sense of participants of what the prophets and the covenant held out (compare Mat. 8:12; Joh. 4:22; Rom. 9:4, etc.).

Act. 3:26. Raised up, as in Act. 3:22. From your iniquities.A conclusion similar to Act. 2:40. Aculeus in fine orationis (Bengel)A sting in the tail of his address.

HOMILETICAL ANALYSIS.Act. 3:17-26

Solomons Porch; Peters Second Sermon.

2. The People comforted and counselled

I. The peoples alarm soothed.That such an appalling charge, pressed home upon the consciences of the auditors, awakened in their bosoms guilty fears is what one would naturally suppose. Possibly this is why Peter so dexterously wove into his discourse words that were fitted to administer comfort to those among them who might be troubled.

1. The disastrous results of their wickedness had been undone. The God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob, the God of their fathers, had glorified His servant Jesus, whom they had delivered up (Act. 3:13). Observe the tenderness with which he leads back their thoughts to their glorious ancestry and up to their covenant God, as if he meant to suggest to their troubled hearts that the merciful Jehovah had not yet cast them off. Then note the kindness with which he places in the foreground the fact that their appalling crimes had been, as it were, rendered harmless before he mentions the crimes themselves. It was not without a purpose of love that, both before and after the recital of these, Peter speaks of the resurrection of the Crucified One.

2. Their wickedness had been the result of ignorance. If not total, yet partial; which, though not an excuse, was still an extenuation of their fault (Act. 3:21). Peters verdict as to the knowledge concerning Christ which was possessed by the rulers and the people is confirmed by the opinion of Paul (1Co. 2:8). Both apostles seem to imply that neither the people nor their rulers had an adequate idea of the divinity of the Saviour when they demanded His crucifixion. Nor need this be wondered at, when it is remembered that the crowning demonstration of Christs Godhead was only furnished by the Resurrection, and that before this event occurred the conceptions of the apostles themselves as to Christs true personality were but dim.

3. Their wickedness had been the means of fulfilling the Divine predictions concerning Christ recorded in Scripture. The things which God foreshowed by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ should suffer, He thus fulfilled (Act. 3:18). Though this did not relieve them from blame, it nevertheless tended to mitigate their grief, by showing that Christ suffered in accordance with the Eternal purpose of God Himself (Act. 2:23). The like comforts belong to sinners of to-day who, through their connection with the first Adam, are more or less responsible for the death of Jesus; and yet because of their ignorance and want of actual participation in the crime of Christs death are not left in a condition of despair (1Th. 5:9).

II. The peoples duty set forth. In two particulars.

1. To repent and be converted (or turn again). Always insisted on in Scripture as a condition of forgiveness and salvation (Isa. 55:7; Jer. 3:12-14; Eze. 14:6; Joe. 2:12; Zec. 12:10; Mat. 4:17; Mar. 6:12; Luk. 13:3; Luk. 24:47), repentance signifies a change of mind, heart, and conduct (see on Act. 2:38). For this four reasons are assigned by the Apostle:

(1) That their sins might be blotted out and their guilt removed; since without heartfelt repentance, meaning sincere godly sorrow on account of sin, acknowledgment of guilt and desire as well as resolution after new obedience, pardon is impossible.
(2) That times of refreshing might come from the presence of the Lord, seasons of gracious quickening for them, Israel, and through them for the world at largeeras of spiritual awakening, epochs of revival, when mens souls being refreshed and stirred would manifest an interest in heavenly things, as parched ground, when moistened with showers of rain, puts forth herbs and flowers. Moreover, every such season of refreshing would prove a prelude of, and preparation for, the grand culmination of the future, the times of the restitution of all things.

(3) That Jesus Christ (or the Christ) might be sent unto them, that same Christ who had been appointed for (R.V.), and in the days of His flesh preached unto (A.V.) them, but whom they had rejected and the heavens had received, no more to be manifested till the close of time (1Ti. 6:14-15). It is clear that Peter meant by this that in answer to every such season of refreshing in which longings after heavenly gifts would be awakened in renewed hearts, there would be a sending forth of the Christ, the Risen and Ascended Lord, not visibly, but spiritually, in the plenitude of His power and grace to bless mens souls by deepening in them the feeling of repentance and turning them away from their iniquities (Act. 3:26; compare Heb. 6:7).

(4) That finally the times of the restitution of all things might come. This should be the goal of that stupendous restoration movement which was heralded by John the Baptist (Mat. 17:11), and initiated by Jesus in the days of His flash. Of which so far as they were concerned their repentance would be the first step (2Co. 5:17), and the revelation of the new heavens and the new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness (2Pe. 3:13) the lastthe summing up of all things in one under Christ (Eph. 1:10), the subjection of all powers and things to His authority and rule (1Co. 15:27-28)not necessarily the salvation of all intelligent beings, but the subordination of the universe, each part in its place, beneath His sway.

2. To hearken in all things to Christ. And that for a variety of reasons.

(1) That Christ was a prophet whom the Lord God, their own covenant Jehovah, had raised up, and was therefore as much entitled to their obedience as had been Moses himself or any of the prophets from Samuel downwards.

(2) That Christ was a prophet raised up from among themselves, again as Moses and Samuel had beenone of their own flesh and blood (Heb. 2:14; Heb. 2:17), and therefore one who might be supposed to have their best interests at hearttheir emancipation from the guilt and power of sinand therefore as much entitled as Moses had been to receive their confidence.

(3) That Christ was a prophet like unto Moses, their renowned lawgiver, in respect of the authority He bore; yea, better than he in respect of the announcements He made (Joh. 1:17), and on this account more entitled than even he to their respectful attention.

(4) That the soul which would not hearken to Christ would be cut off from amongst the people, exactly as the disobedient Israelite who refused to obey Moses was excluded from the congregation.
(5) That Christ had been fore-announced as their Messiah by the whole race of prophets from Samuel downwards, so that in refusing to hear Christ they were rejecting the voices of the prophets (compare Act. 7:51, Act. 13:27; Act. 13:40).

(6) That Christ had a claim on their submission because of their covenant relation to Jehovah, the God of Abraham their father, to whom He, Christ, had been promised (Act. 3:25). If Christ was the seed of Abraham (compare Gal. 3:16), they could not reject Him without sin.

(7) That Christ had been offered to them first, so that their responsibility for accepting Him was greater than it would otherwise have been, while their guilt would be more heinous if they declined to receive Him (Act. 3:26).

Learn.

1. That it is dangerous to sin against the light.
2. That all true preaching aims at convicting of sin.
3. That the prime blessing of the gospel is the blotting out of sin.
4. That unforgiven sin blocks the way to higher gifts of grace.
5. That disobedience to Christ is pre-eminently inexcusable.
6. That Christs supreme desire is to turn men away from their iniquities.
7. That Christs triumph, though long delayed, is absolutely sure.

HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS

Act. 3:17. Sins of Ignorance.

I. A man may sin through ignorance.

II. Ignorance is not a valid plea in extenuation of sin.

III. Sins of ignorance require an atonement quite as much as sins of knowledge.

IV. Sins of ignorance require to be repented of as sincerely as sins of presumption.

Act. 3:18. The Sufferings of Christ.

I. The character and dignity of the Sufferer.

1. The Son of God (Act. 3:13).

2. The Holy and Righteous one (Act. 3:14).

3. The Prince of Life (Act. 3:15).

II. The form and severity of His sufferings.

1. As to form. He suffered

(1) in His reputation (Act. 3:14),

(2) in His soul (Mat. 26:37-38), and

(3) in His body (Joh. 17:12).

2. As to severity. They were aggravated by the fact that they were all foretold and so known to Him beforehand.

III. The reason and purpose of His sufferings.

1. To glorify God (Joh. 17:1).

2. To save sinners (Isa. 53:5; Joh. 3:16).

I. Foreordained by the Father.

II. Foretold by prophets.

III. Inflicted by men.

IV. Endured with patience.

V. Rewarded with glory.

VI. Recorded in Scripture.

VII. Proclaimed by evangelists.

VIII. Believed on by sinful men.

IX. Studied by angels (1Pe. 1:11).

Act. 3:19. The Blotting out of Sin.

I. What it implies.

1. The liability of men to condemnation on account of sin.
2. The exercise of grace on Gods part towards the condemned.
3. The complete release from condemnation of all who experience such grace.

II. What it presupposes.

1. On Gods part that no obstacle exists to the outflow of grace and exercise of forgiveness; in other words, the removal of antecedent obstacles by the work of Christ.
2. On mans part the frank acknowledgment of guilt conjoined with repentance of sin.

III. What it secures.

1. Times of refreshing, or the joy of forgiveness.
2. Times of restoration, or the ultimate attainment of perfect holiness, felicity, and glory.

Times of Refreshing.

I. What they mean.Seasons of soul quickening, when, the inward life reviving, the soul begins to manifest desires after heavenly things.

II. Whence they come.From the Presence of the Lord. Such seasons can never be got up, but must always be fetched down.

III. What must precede.

1. Pardon. Spiritual quickening can belong only to those whose sins have been forgiven; though all may enjoy this heavenly gift who will comply with the second condition.

2. Repentance. Change of mind, heart, will, concerning Jesus Christ and the things of salvation.

IV. What will follow.Christ with the fulness of His joy and salvation will be sent into the soul that repents and is forgiven.

Act. 3:21. Times of Restoration.

I. When they shall arrive.

1. At the end of Time.
2. With the glorious appearing of Jesus Christ.
3. On the completion of the present world plan.

II. What they shall introduce.

1. Not the re-erection of the monarchy of Israel, and far less the bringing about of universal salvation. But

2. The delivering up of all things, now in the Mediators hand, to God that He may be all and in all (1Co. 15:28). Which will imply

3. The glorification of the Church. And
4. The subjection also of the wicked to the rule of God.

III. How they should be waited for.

1. By the children of God, with faith, patience, holy living, and eager expectation.
2. By the unbelieving world, with assurance of their certain coming, with apprehension of the peril they will bring with repentance and turning to God and Jesus Christ.

Act. 3:12-21. The Prince of Life.

I. Jesus presented.Jesus did not need to be brought forward. There was no necessity of going up to heaven to bring Christ down. He was therethere in their midst, there in all the perfection of the God-man, in all the majesty of the Godhead, in all the plenitude of His Messiahship, and in all the kindness and helpfulness of the Friend. He was there, but unseen by the multitude. Two obstacles stand in the way of His being seen. First, the disciples, Peter and John. They perceived this. The miracle was being ascribed to them. How promptly they remove this obstacle! how promptly and emphatically they step aside! Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power and holiness we had made this man to walk? Thus they stand aside that Jesus may be seen. But blind men cannot see the most conspicuous object. Those whose eyes are thickly veiled are the same as blind. This was the condition of these Jews. Hence the second thing necessary that Jesus might be seen was to remove the veil, to snatch the thick covering of moral and intellectual ignorance and prejudice from their eyes. This the disciples proceed to do with characteristic promptness and energy, The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathersthus they seize the veil at its farthest extremes; there the lift must begin if the uncovering would be successful and completeYou believe in God, the God of our fathers; this miracle was wrought by His power; it was performed in honour of His Servant, His Messiah. That Messiah, that Servant, is Jesus. He is the Prince of life. He is the Messiah of prophecy. He was crucified in exact fulfilment of the writings of all the holy prophets. He is exalted, has passed into the heavens, has there His dwelling-placethere for a purpose, a purpose sublime and eternal, to bring in the final, complete, and glorious restoration of all things. Behold, then, in the miracle that fills you all with amazement so profound, behold, not the power of men, but of God. Ascribe the glory of this miracle not to us, but to Jesus, your Messiah. Thus Peter presented Jesus to the multitude. This is preaching Christ, and Him crucified.

II. Sinners condemned.The Spirit by which the disciples witnessed made no mistakes; a different spirit, I fear, guides not a little of the witness-bearing of the present. That Spirit did not allow the disciples to make the miserable mistake of preaching Christ to those who could get along very well without him. And what a condemnation! How the astonished thousands must have shuddered as Peter passed from one count to another of his fearful indictment! Note these terrible counts: First, he charges upon them the infamy of betrayal: Whom ye delivered up. But, second, betrayal, infamous as it is, was not the extentnay, it was but the first actof your wickedness, for after ye had betrayed Him, when natural justice demanded His release, when Pilate, the Roman governor, who was neither scrupulous nor tender-hearted, was about to let Him go, ye denied the Holy One and the Just. Third, but betrayal, denial, and rejection, damning as these charges are when in the rejection ye must take a murderer to your bosoms, are not the weightiest counts of this indictment nor the extent of your infamy and wickedness. Ye are guilty of the awful crime of killing the Prince of life. There is no shifting the guilt and responsibility of that death. Thus with firm and steady hand does Peter thrust the iron of a terrible accusation into their guilty breasts.

III. Pardon proclaimed.Peter was severe in his indictment, but he was wounding to heal. He thrust the keen lance of conviction into their souls, that he might open the way to pour into their hearts the grace of pardon and peace. Hence, the moment he saw that the truth had done its work of conviction, he hastened to apply the balm of Gilead.

1. He softens the indictment by referring their murderous deed partly to their ignorance: I know that through ignorance ye did it. Ignorance is no excuse for wrongdoing, especially such criminal ignorance as theirs; still, there is a distinction between a crime committed by one fully informed and the same crime by one largely ignorant of the real character of the act. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do, said Jesus. But I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief, wrote Paul.

2. He urges upon them the consideration that God had overruled their murdorous work to the accomplishment of His eternal purpose. All the suffering which, through their cruelty, Jesus had endured was, in the wise ordering of God, endured on their behalf. While this did not lessen their guilt, it did hold out to them a good hope of mercy and pardon.
3. He calls them to repentance and a different life: Ye are guilty of the blackest crime, but it is mitigated by your ignorance of what ye were doing, and it has been overruled to the fulfilment of Gods purposes; and the very sufferings that ye caused Messiah prepared the way, in the eternal purpose of God, for the pardon of your sin in crucifying Him. Now, if ye are truly sorry for your sin, and will but turn from it unto God with all your heart, God will blot out your transgressions. He urges all this upon them by a glorious consideration. This consideration was the fact that the times spoken of by all the holy prophets, the glorious times of deliverance, rest, refreshment, and joy which Messiah was to introduce, had come. Let us now attend to a few of the important lessons suggested.
1. We are reminded that it is strong faith, on the part of the disciples, in the name of Jesus, that works wonders. No one engaged in any way in the Masters service can afford to be unmindful of this fact. To be faithless is to be helpless and useless, so far as spiritual matters are concerned. You can do nothing for your own or anothers welfare without faith. The faith of the humblest disciple may yet work wonders that will startle and amaze the world. Let this be the first inquiry in every work we undertake, In whose name?
2. The wise and true teacher always puts Jesus forward and hides self. How easy would it have been for these disciples to have secured for themselves the fame of that miracle! Is there not a profound lesson here for us all? Are we always careful to bring Jesus forward when our works of kindness and acts of faith turn the eyes of unbelievers toward us?
3. The true gospel-teacher tells men the truth, however severe or distasteful it may be. What a contrast between Peters method and that of not a few so-called teachers in our day!men standing before the godless and guilty with cringing, shuffling, apologetic words and manner, aiming to excuse Moses and David and Isaiah, and all the inspired teachers, and prophets, and apostles, for their hard sayings against sin and sinners, Oh, you know the race was not enlightened in the time of David; or Paul, being a Jew, could not, of course, get entirely rid of his Jewish ideas and prejudices. Miserable gospel-tinkers!
4. The true gospel-teacher calls to repentance and faith, and offers pardon to the worst of sinners.
5. We learn to encourage, in every legitimate way, those to whom we preach the gospel.T. J. McCrory.

Act. 3:22. A Prophet like unto Moses.

I. Moses a prophetic type of Christ.

1. In being of the same race with those he delivered.
2. In delivering his brethren from a state of captivity.
3. In acting as mediator between his brethren and Jehovah.
4. In promulgating a system of divine laws to his brethren.
5. In leading them through the wilderness towards the borders of Canaan.

II. Christ though an antitype of, yet greater than Moses.

1. In being one with his brethren, yet of superior nature to them.
2. In delivering His brethren from a sadder than temporal bondage, and at a greater cost to himself than Moses incurred.
3. In being the mediator of a better covenant than that formed at Sinai.
4. In revealing to men not the laws only, but the grace and truth of Jehovah.
5. In conducting all who obey Him, not to the borders merely, but to the interior also of the Promised Land.

Moses and Christ. Related to each other as

I. Prophecy and fulfilment.

II. Law and gospel.

III. Servant and Son.Leonhard and Spiegel.

The Worlds True Prophet.The world needs a prophet

1. Perfect, well-instructed, filled with true Wisdom

2. Authoritative, one who speaks, not from conjecture or in virtue of superior talent or position, but from authority, as one having authority.

3. Divine, a teacher sent direct from God. So must be the worlds true teacher. God has given us such an one; not for Israel only, but for the world. He has sent His Son as the worlds Prophet. He is all that is described in the passage before us.

I. He is of our brethren.

II. He is raised up to God.Not self-called, nor man-called.

III. He is like unto Moses.

1. Because God speaks with Him face to face (Num. 12:8; Deu. 34:10).

2. Because. He is Mediator and Intercessor.

3. He is like unto Moses, because He is Israels King. Moses was the only prophet who was also king,he was king in Jeshurun, he was Israels captain.

4. He is like unto Moses because He is a worker of miracles.

5. He is like Moses because He is Israels great Teacher.

6. He is like Moses because of His meekness.

7. He is like Moses because rejected of men. As Moses was rejected of his brethren (Act. 7:35), so was Jesus despised and rejected of men.H. Bonar, D.D.

Act. 3:24. Christ in the Prophets.

I. His incarnation (Gen. 3:15; Isa. 9:6).

II. His humanity (Gen. 3:15; Psa. 89:19; Isa. 11:1; Isa. 32:2).

III. His divinity (Psa. 2:6; Psa. 110:1).

IV. His sufferings (Gen. 3:15; Psa. 20:6-9; Psa. 69:7-9; Psalms 20-26; Isa. 1:6; Isa. 52:14; Isa. 53:2-10; Zec. 13:7).

V. His death (Isa. 53:8; Dan. 9:26; Zec. 13:1).

VI. His resurrection (Psa. 2:7; Psa. 16:9-10).

VII. His ascension (Psa. 24:7; Psa. 68:18).

Act. 3:25. The Abrahamic Covenant.

I. The parties.God and Abraham.

II. The promise.In Thee and in Thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

1. A promise of salvation.
2. To all the families of the earth.
3. Through a descendant of Abraham.

III. The performance.Seen in Christ.

1. A descendant of Abraham.
2. The Author of Salvation.
3. To as many as obey Him.

Lessons.

1. That salvation is all of grace.
2. That it should be offered to all.
3. That the New Testament Church is a continuation and development of the Old.

Act. 3:26. The Mission of Christ.

I. By whom He was sent.God.

1. To whom He stood in the twofold relation of son and servant; and
2. By whom He was raised up first, by His incarnation, and secondly, at His Resurrection.

II. To whom He was sent.

1. To the Jews, who were Gods ancient people, to whom pertained the adoption and the glory, etc. (Rom. 9:4-5).

2. To the Gentiles, who, no less than the Jews, were included in the Abrahamic covenant.

III. For what He was sent.For blessing.

1. Of a spiritual sort, the turning away of sinful men from their iniquities, which meant more than the turning away from them of (the consequences of) their iniquities.
2. To every onei.e., who was willing to be blessedthis condition, though not expressed, being manifestly and necessarily implied, since no one can be turned from his iniquities without the concurrence of his will.

Lessons.

1. The grace of God.
2. The power of Christ.
3. The responsibility of Man.

The Names of Christ.

I. Jesus, Joshua or Saviour, the personal name of Our Lord.

II. Christ, Messiah, His prophetic designation.

III. The son of God, indicating His relation to the first person in the Godhead.

IV. The servant of Jehovah, an official title expressive of His economical subordination to the Father.

V. The Holy and Righteous One, descriptive of His character as a man, and as servant of Jehovah.

VI. The Prince of Life, depicting Him as either the possessor or giver of life or as both.

VII. A prophet like unto Moses, setting forth the character of His work as mediatorial and legislative.

Act. 3:12-26. Peters Threefold Testimony concerning Christ. As

I. The substance of all miracles (Act. 3:12-17).

II. The Redeemer of all souls (Act. 3:18-21).

III. The accomplisher of all prophecies (Act. 3:22-26).Lisco.

The Speech of Peter may be regarded in four aspects:

I. As showing the false method of looking at human affairs.As though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk.

1. The visible is not the final.

2. Second causes do not explain life. There is a false method of looking at the results

(1) of preaching;

(2) of business;

(3) of thinking. The man who does not look beyond second causes lives in distractionin chaos!

II. As showing the true method of regarding the most extraordinary events.God hath glorified His Son Jesus. Faith in His name hath made this man strong. That is the sublime explanation of all recovery, all progress, all abiding strength and comfort. Forget God, and society in every phase and movement becomes a riddle without an answer; its happiness is but a lucky chance, its misery an unexpected cloud. Regard human life as controlled and blessed by the mediation of Jesus Christ, then:

1. There is discipline in every event,design, meaning, however untoward and unmanageable the event.

2. A purpose of restoration runs through all human training.

III. As showing the only method of setting man right with God.Repent ye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out. The men who worked Christian miracles spoke plain words about mens souls. There is no ambiguity here! Are the old rousing words repent, be converted, being allowed to slip out of Christian teaching, and are we now trifling with the character and destiny of men?

1. Every man must repent, because every man has sinned.

2. Every man must be converted, because every man is in a false moral condition.

IV. As showing the sublime object of Jesus Christs Incarnation.To bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.

1. Where iniquity is, there is no blessing.

2. Physical restoration is but the type of spiritual completeness. Two practical lessons arise out of the subject.
(1) It is not enough to wonder at the mighty works of God.

(2) Gods glory is ever identified with the well-being of man. Restitution, refreshing, blessing. Peters appeal rested upon a solid biblical basisMoses, Samuel, all the prophets. Gods message is the summing up of all the voices of holy history.J. Parker, D.D.

Act. 3:25. Prophets and Sons of the Prophets.Therefore whatsoever the prophets did you may do. God is as near to you as He ever was to them. He may inspire you for the work of the hourto understand its problems and to fight its battlesjust as He inspired them for the problems and battles of their day. God did not speak to men for the last time nineteen hundred years ago. Poetry was not buried in Tennysons grave, and, given the eye to see, we may have Raphaels and Murillos yet, who shall find their subjects in the romance of these commonplace days. Romance! Ay, life still teems with romance. And so here. We may be sons not only of the scientists and poets, of the critics and painters: we may be sons of the prophets; we may receive messages as direct as any message they ever received, and do work as distinctly divine as they ever did. That, then, is my subjectthe prophet, the prophet of the present hour, of to-day.

I. England as well as Juda has had its prophets; and it is of the English prophet I want to speak. The prophet has always been the same man, whether in England or in Juda. The form which his work has taken may be different in England from what it was in Juda, but it has been essentially the same work. And, to start with

1. The prophet is, first of all, the good man; the witness for truth and righteousness; the witness, not by his genius, not by the work he is able to do, but by what he is. That in the Old Testament is always the sign that a man is a genuine prophethis soul burnt with a passion for goodness, for purity, for religion. The prophet would sometimes be a herdsman, sometimes a statesman; but he was always a noble man. You have noticed that in the Old Testament story there were schools of the prophets, what we to-day would call theological colleges; but it did not follow that because a man had had a theological education he was a prophet. To-day there are schools of art, but every one who has been trained in the school is not an artist. The first thing the artist has often to do is to emancipate his own soul, and shake off every sign of the school. If a man have the soul of music in him the school may do him good; but the school cannot make him a musician. So there were schools of the prophets, which turned out a prophet now and then, but turned out many who were not prophets. They had gone through all the drill, were perfect masters of the technicalities of their calling; they had a high sense, I have no doubt, of what was due to their order, of the respect that ought to be paid to them; but the fire that burns in the prophets soulthe passion for truth, for goodness, for purity, the courage that would fight any battle for Godthat burnt but feebly in them. They were no prophets. The prophet before everything was a good man, consumed with a passion for righteousness.

2. Then, secondly, the prophet was the man moved by what he saw and felt to act; to whom to do was the first necessity. Not only a man who understood the times, but who rose up to do the things which the times demanded; who not only saw, but who dared not be silent. Elijah the Tishbite was not the only man in Israel who saw the curse that Ahab was to the land. There were seven thousand, so we read, who had not bowed the knee to Baal; but he was the only man who dared to confront the man who had really troubled Israel. Three things in this respect make the prophet, and the man is never a prophet unless the three be in him. First, he has the eye to see. Nothing tortures you more than a man who tries to console you, but does not understand you; who imagines he is soothing you, when every word he utters cuts your soul until it bleeds. How many good people you have known who have been a terror to you! They wanted to help, but they did not know where the problems of life hurt yougood, tenderhearted souls, brimming over with concern and sympathy; but your soul shuts itself up, and you could die rather than talk of your difficulties to them. Others read you at their first glance; their first word proves that they have plumbed your souls deepest depths. Like the physician who has the eye to see, they lay their finger upon your soul and say, Thou ailest here, and here. Then, secondly, the prophet feels. What he sees moves him, haunts him, draws a veil of sadness over his face. Many who imagine they are sitting at the feet of Jesus are calmly indifferent to the sorrows and woes of the world. What do hosts who sit down to the feast in our churches every Sunday care for the heathen London over which you fret? The prophet is the moved man, the man who has made the sorrows and problems of his generation his own; the throes of his hour beat in him. Every shock of the French Revolution broke through Carlyles heart. Carlyle was not a spectator, but he tasted the bliss and the horrors of it. Carlyle in this also was a prophet. Once again: The prophet descries the remedy. He is the seer. But even that is not all. He is not prophet merely because he is seer. The prophet embodies his visionworks out what he sees.

3. The prophets are of many orders. I will mention a few. The great preachers. That goes without saying. England has had a noble line of them. No truth is established until it comes into the pulpit; the man who sets the hall-mark upon it and gives it currency is always the preacher. The great poets; and England has had a grand succession of them. We are only slowly getting to understand the poets mission. The poet is not the mere reciter of the deeds of the past, the mere romancist or troubadour, though we do not despise him. The world will never grow weary of Homer. Shakespeare has brightened hosts in every generation for three hundred years; broken the clouds of their despair and moodiness. Spring breaks wherever he comes. The great reformerscreators of new eras. And these are always the worlds great saints. Tyranny was buried in the grave of Charles. And the men that did itCromwell, Milton, Pymdid they no hard things? Nay, we cannot say that; stern times demand stern deeds, stern weapons. But these men were made out of the stuff of which prophets are made. And now

II. You are in the succession of these prophets.Ye are the sons of the prophets.

1. That is your incalculable advantage. There are truths which the prophets have established that will never need to be opened up again. That is a great gain. The law of gravitation has been settled for ever. We shall not need to discuss that again. So there are social, political, and religious battles that will never have to be fought again. We shall never need another Magna Charta. So also of the great questions of theology. The hideous doctrines which tortured our fathers, once swept out of the Church, will never re-invade it. And now you stand upon the threshold of lifesons of the prophets. What will you make of it? Solomon, when he came to build the temple, found all but everything ready to his hand. It was for Solomon to see that the temple should be worthy of the preparation that had been made for it. So you, who are just stepping out into life. The generations that have preceded youI will venture to say, the generation that has immediately preceded youhas been hard at work; but we sometimes feel that we have been doing nothing but preparing material, making ready for YOU. And now it is for you to build. It is for you to determine the design into which the temple is to grow. Christian enthusiasm shall express itself. Will you remember this? Ye are the sons of the prophets.

2. It is more than an advantageit is an inspiration. I know a man at the present moment whom I reverea noble specimen of an English man of business. I have often found him busy studying the story of his own family, tracing the line back through father, grandfather, great-grandfatherhonourable men of business every one of them. And when I have come upon him so engaged, he has said, I often go over the story of my forefathers lives; I remind myself of what they were, for I must live to be worthy of them. Young men and women, ministers children many of you, listen. I remind you of the homes in which you were nurtured. I would not be a rake, or an idler, or a spendthrift; I would be a man. I would not be frivolous, or shallow-souled and empty-headed, if I were you; I would be a godly woman. Ye are the sons and daughters of the prophets.

3. Once again: That you inherit these memories is a great responsibility. Will you forget who you are? You are Englishmen. The blood of Shakespeare, Milton, Bacon, is in you. You are Protestants. The hand of Cranmer, Ridley, Latimer, John Rogers, is upon you. You are Puritans. Greenwood, Barrow, Penry, were your forefathers. That is the succession in which you stand. Shall your lives be small, narrow, wicked, mean? I leave you with one sentence: Ye are the sons of the prophets.J. Morlais Jones.

Act. 3:25-26. Israel beloved of God.To the Jew first; beginning at Jerusalem. This was Gods order, and it is so still. The designations of honour, and the intimations of privilege as still possessed by the sons of Abraham (as given in these two verses), are worthy of notice.

I. They are the children of the prophets.

II. They are the children of the covenant.

III. They are they to whom God first sends His risen Son.

1. Gods love to Israel. He looks down on them, yearns over them, pities them, says, How shall I give thee up?

2. Gods purpose concerning Israel. Gods desire that we should feel towards Israel as He does.H. Bonar, D.D.

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

(17) I wot that through ignorance ye did it.The Rhemish is the only version which substitutes I know for the now obsolete I wot. St. Peters treatment of the relation of ignorance to guilt is in exact agreement with St. Pauls, both in his judgment of his own past offences (1Ti. 6:13) and in that which he passed on the Gentile world (Acts xvii 30). Men were ignorant where they might have known, if they had not allowed prejudice and passion to over-power the witness borne by reason and conscience. Their ignorance was not invincible, and therefore they needed to repent of what they had done in the times of that ignorance. But because it was ignorance, repentance was not impossible. Even the people and rulers of Israel, though their sin was greater, came within the range of the prayer, offered in the first instance for the Roman soldiers: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. (See Note on Luk. 23:34.)

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

17. At the climax of the crime Peter skilfully and gently places the palliation.

Brethren Descendants of the same our fathers, Act 3:13.

Wot know.

Ignorance How far excusable, see note on Luk 23:34. Repentance is not the child of despair; and so Peter softens his language in order to melt these hearts to a genial penitence. But if ignorance retained them within the scope of pardon, it is full time for them now to know, Act 2:36. A preached Gospel brings its new responsibilities, and under liabilities to deeper condemnation.

Also rulers Brought in to prepare the next remark. Christ’s death, both as a private and a state procedure, wrought through a common ignorance, was foreseen by God and interwoven into his divine plan.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

“And now, brethren, I know that in ignorance you did it, as did also your rulers.”

Peter then makes them a concession. He acknowledges that what they had done they had done in ignorance. When they had done it they had not realised what they were doing. And this was true both of them and their rulers (compare Luk 23:34). So they were now being given another chance. Now in the light of what had happened they could have their eyes opened, recover their position and see the truth.

This attitude brings out how early on in the ministry this speech was, before attitudes had hardened. Here Peter believed that there was hope that not only the people, but also their rulers, would repent.

But ignorance was no excuse now that the light had shone. It was in ignorance that the Jews perpetrated the terrible act of crucifying their Messiah, but the thought is that now in he light of His resurrection and ensuing wonders that ignorance is no longer possible, and, therefore, there can be no excuse for their further rejection of Jesus Christ. For Christ has risen, and He has revealed Himself openly in what has happened to this lame man. This note of the terrifying responsibility that knowledge brings appears all through the New Testament. “If you were blind you would have no guilt, but now that you say `We see,’ your guilt remains” (Joh 9:41). “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin” (Joh 15:22). “Whoever knows what is right to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin” (Jas 4:17). To have seen the full light of the revelation of God is the greatest of privileges, but it is also the most terrible of responsibilities, and it had happened in the coming of Christ.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Act 3:17. I wot that through ignorance I know,I am sensible, &c. Probably if it had not been so, they would have been immediately destroyed, or reserved to vengeance, without any offer of pardon. Yet it is plain that their ignorance, being in itselfhighly criminal, amid such means of information, did not excuse them from very great guilt. See the note on Joh 9:41.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Act 3:17-18 . Peter now pitches his address in a tone of heart-winning gentleness, setting forth the putting to death of Jesus (1) as a deed of ignorance (Act 3:17 ), and (2) as the necessary fulfilment of the divine counsel (Act 3:18 ).

] and now , i.e. et sic, itaque ; so that is to be understood not with reference to time, but as: in this state of matters . [144] Comp. Xen. Anab. iv. 1. 19, and Khner in loc . See also Act 7:34 , Act 10:5 , Act 22:16 ; Joh 2:2-8 ; 2Jn 1:5 .

] familiar, winning. Chrys.: . Comp. on the other hand, Act 3:12 : .

] unknowingly (Lev 22:14 ), since you had not recognised Him as the Messiah; spoken quite in the spirit of Jesus. See Luk 23:34 ; comp. Act 13:27 . “Hoc ait, ut spe veniae eos excitet,” Pricaeus. Comp. also 1Pe 1:14 . The opposite , .

. ] namely, have acted ignorantly . Wolf (following the Peshito) refers the comparison merely to : scio vos ignorantia adductos, ut faceretis sicut duces vestri . But it would have been unwise if Peter, in order to gain the people, had not purposed to represent in the same mild light the act also of the Sanhedrists ( ), on whom the people depended. Comp. 1Co 2:8 .

Act 3:18 . But that could not but so happen, etc. Comp. Luk 24:44 ff.

] comp. Luk 24:27 . The expression is neither to be explained as a hyperbole (Kuinoel) nor from the typical character of history (Olshausen), but from the point of view of fulfilment , in so far as the Messianic redemption, to which the divine prediction of all the prophets referred (comp. Act 10:43 ), has been realized by the sufferings and death of Jesus. Looking back from this standpoint of historical realization, it is with truth said: God has brought into fulfilment that which He declared beforehand by all the prophets, that His Messiah should suffer. On . , comp. Act 4:26 ; Luk 2:26 ; Luk 9:20 ; Rev 11:15 ; Rev 12:10 .

] so , as it has happened, vers. 14, 15, 17.

[144] Since, in fact, only by this self-manifestation of the risen Christ must the true light concerning Him who was formerly rejected and put to death have dawned upon you; otherwise you could not have so treated Him.

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers. (18) But those things, which God before had showed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. (19) Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; (20) And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: (21) Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. (22) For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. (23) And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people. (24) Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days. (25) Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. (26) Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away everyone of you from his iniquities.

When the Apostle had thus clenched his doctrine, by a train of the most decided and unanswerable arguments, and from their own Scriptures; and confirmed the whole by a miracle wrought before their own eyes; he then endeavors to bring home the subject from the head to the heart. And who but must admire, the very sweet, persuasive, and conciliating manner, which he used upon the occasion. But let us not overlook the cause, nor in the Apostle’s words forget the Apostle’s Lord. It was God the Spirit, speaking in him, and by him! And must not all sermons be persuasive, when the Gospel is preached with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven? 1Pe 1:12 .

I do not think it necessary to enlarge on the several parts of Peter’s exhortation after his sermon. everything in it is plain and easy to be understood. The chief object of the Apostle was to lead their minds to Christ. He shews the Lord Jesus to have been the One great object, all along intended, from the Scriptures of truth, as the promised Messiah. He aims to soften the anger of their minds against themselves, in ascribing their rejection of Christ to their ignorance. But he shews no less, that what in times past might have been pleaded for want of knowledge; now it is known, if neglected, will prove their destruction. He calls upon them, as he had done before, (see Act 2:37-40 . and Commentary,) to the exercise of that repentance, which nature herself dictates, when the conscience is made sensible of error. And he tells them, that in the refreshing of the Lord, their sins may be blotted out. In short, Peter makes a most affectionate appeal to the hearts of the people, and concludes with one of the sweetest entreaties language can furnish, to the children of God, whom he tells them they are. Unto you first, entitled by every claim to be first spoken to, (Luk 24:47 ; Act 13:26 .) God having raised up his Son Jesus sent him to bless you in turning away everyone of you from his iniquities.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

17 And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it , as did also your rulers.

Ver. 17. I wot that through ignorance ] Peter excuseth not their fact, but thus far forth mitigateth it, that it was not the sin against the Holy Ghost, which can never be forgiven. This must be carefully cautioned, and the weak informed that they despair not. This irremissible sin is wilful blaspheming of God, and the work of his Spirit, out of revenge,Heb 10:29Heb 10:29 ; a will to crucify Christ again.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

17 .] introducing a new consideration: see 2Th 2:6 . Here it softens the severer charge of Act 3:14 ; sometimes it intensifies, as ch. Act 22:16 ; 1Jn 2:28 ; especially with , ch. Act 13:11 ; Act 20:22 . No meaning such as ‘ now that the real Messiahship of Him whom ye have slain is come to light’ (Meyer) is admissible.

, still softening his tone, and reminding them of their oneness of blood and covenant with the speaker.

] There need be no difficulty in the application of the to even the rulers of the Jews. It admits of all degrees from the unlearned, who were implicitly led by others, and hated Him because others did, up to the most learned of the scribes, who knew and rightly interpreted the Messianic prophecies, but from moral blindness, or perverted expectations, did not recognize them in our Lord. Even Caiaphas himself, of whom apparently this could least be said, may be brought under it in some measure: even he could hardly have delivered over Jesus to Pilate with the full consciousness that He was the Messiah, and that he himself was accomplishing prophecy by so doing. Some degree of there must have been in them all.

The interpretation (Wolf) ‘ ye did, as your rulers ( did ),’ is of course inadmissible, being contrary to the usage of the words: can never mean to imitate, but must refer to a definite act (understood), and must take up another subject of .

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Act 3:17 . : favourite formula of transition, cf. Act 7:35 , Act 10:5 , Act 20:25 , Act 22:16 , 1Jn 2:28 , 2Jn 1:5 . See Wendt and Page, in loco . Bengel describes it as “formula transeuntis a prterito ad prsens”. Blass, “i.e., quod attinet ad ea qu nunc facienda sunt, Act 3:19 ”. : affectionate and conciliatory, cf. Act 3:12 , where he speaks more formally because more by way of reproof: “One of the marks of truth would be wanting without this accordance between the style and the changing mental moods of the speaker” (Hackett). : the same phrase occurs in LXX, Lev 22:14 ( cf. also Lev 5:18 , Ecc 5:5 ). On in this usage, see Simcox, Language of the N. T. , p. 149, who doubts whether it is quite good Greek. It is used in Polybius, and Blass compares (Philem., Act 3:14 ), which is found in Xen., Cyr. , iv., 3. Their guilt was less than if they had slain the Messiah , or , Num 15:30 , and therefore their hope of pardon was assured on their repentance ( cf. 1Pe 1:14 , , and Psalms of Solomon , Act 18:5 , for the same phrase). St. Peter speaks in the spirit of his Master, Luk 23:34 . See instances in Wetstein of the antithesis of the two phrases and ( ) in Polybius. , cf. 1Co 2:8 . The guilt of the rulers was greater than that of the people, but even for their crime St. Peter finds a palliation in the fact that they did not recognise the Messiah, although he does not hold them guiltless for shutting their eyes to His holiness and innocence.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Act 3:17-26

17″And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers did also. 18But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. 19Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; 20and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, 21whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time. 22Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren; to Him you shall give heed to everything He says to you. 23And it will be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ 24And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors onward, also announced these days. 25 ‘It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ 26For you first, God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”

Act 3:17 “I know that you acted in ignorance” This reflects Jesus’ words from the cross (cf. Luk 23:34). However, even in their ignorance, the people were still spiritually responsible! In some ways this excuse was a way to help people accept their own responsibility (cf. Act 13:27; Act 17:30; Act 26:9; 1Co 2:8). For a good discussion of the concept see Millard Erickson, Christian Theology, 2nd ed., pp. 583-585.

“just as you rulers did also” Luke often makes a distinction between the people and their rulers (cf. Luk 7:29-30; Luk 23:35; Act 13:27; Act 14:5). The real issue in trying to do this may be the mutual responsibility of both groups. Often it is asserted that Jesus does not condemn Jews as a whole, but their illegal (i.e., not of Aaronic descent) leaders. It is surely difficult to know if the cursing of the fig tree (cf. Mar 11:12-14; Mar 11:20-24) and the parable of the unjust vineyard tenants (cf. Luk 20:9-18) are condemnations of Judaism of the first century or only its leaders. Luke asserts it is both!

Act 3:18 “announced beforehand” The gospel was no afterthought with God, but His eternal, purposeful plan (cf. Gen 3:15; Mar 10:45; Luk 22:22; Act 2:23; Act 3:18; Act 4:28; Rom 1:2, see Special Topic at Act 1:8). The early sermons in Acts (the kerygma, see Special Topic at Act 2:14) present Jesus as the fulfillment of OT promises and prophecies.

There are several aspects of the Kerygma (i.e., the major theological aspects of the sermons in Acts) expressed in these verses.

1. faith in Jesus is essential

2. Jesus’ person and work were prophesied by OT prophets

3. the Messiah must suffer

4. they must repent

5. Jesus is coming again.

“God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets” Jesus fulfilled OT prophecy (cf. Acts 3:34, Mat 5:17-48). I think Jesus Himself showed the two on the road to Emmaus (cf. Luk 24:13-35) the OT prophecies that pertained to His suffering, death, and resurrection. They shared this with the Apostles, who made it part of their preaching (cf. Luk 24:45).

“Christ” This is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word ” Messiah” (see Special Topic at Act 2:31), which means Anointed One. This refers to God’s special agent whose life and death would inaugurate the new age of righteousness, the new age of the Spirit.

The affirmation that Jesus was/is the Christ/Messiah promised by YHWH becomes a recurrent theme of the preaching of Acts.

1. Peter Act 2:31; Act 3:18; Act 5:42; Act 8:5

2. Paul Act 9:22; Act 17:3; Act 18:5; Act 18:28

“suffer” This was alluded to in several OT texts (cf. Gen 3:15; Psalms 22; Isaiah 53; Zec 12:10). This aspect of a suffering Messiah is what surprised the Jews (cf. 1Co 1:23). They were expecting a conquering general (cf. Rev 20:11-15). This was a recurrent theme of Apostolic sermons in Acts

1. Paul (cf. Act 17:3; Act 26:23)

2. Peter (cf. Act 3:18; 1Pe 1:10-12; 1Pe 2:21; 1Pe 3:18)

Act 3:19 “repent and return” The Greek term “repent” means a change of mind. This is an aorist active imperative of metanoe. The Hebrew term for repentance means “change of action” (“return” [emistreph] may reflect the Hebrew “turn” shub, cf. Num. 30:36; Deu 30:2; Deu 30:10) in the Septuagint. Repentance is a necessary covenant item in salvation along with faith (cf. Mar 1:15 and Act 3:16; Act 3:19; Act 20:21). Acts mentions it often (cf. Peter Act 2:38; Act 3:19; Act 3:26 and Paul Act 14:15; Act 17:30; Act 20:21; Act 26:20). Repentance is indispensable (cf. Luk 13:3 and 2Pe 3:9). It is basically a willingness to change. It is a both a human volitional act and a gift of God (cf. Act 5:31; Act 11:18; 2Ti 2:25). See Special Topic at Act 2:38.

“sins may be wiped away” This term means “to erase”; “blot out”; or “wipe away” (cf. Col 2:14; Rev 3:5; Rev 7:17; Rev 21:4). What a promise! In the ancient world ink was acid and was, therefore, impossible to erase. This is a true miracle of God’s grace (cf. Psa 51:1; Psa 103:11-13; Isa 1:18; Isa 38:17; Isa 43:25; Isa 44:22; Jer 31:34; Mic 7:19). When God forgives, God forgets (erases)!

“times of refreshing” The Greek term (anapsuch, anapsuxis) basically means “breathing space, relaxation, relief” (Baker, Arndt, Gingrich, and Danker, A Greek-English Lexicon, p. 63), “refresh by air,” or “treat a wound with air” (Kittle, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, vol. 9, p. 663). The metaphorical extension is physical or spiritual refreshment or restoration.

In the Septuagint it is used of regaining physical strength after a battle (cf. Exo 23:12; Jdg 15:19; 2Sa 16:14) or emotional refreshment as in 1Sa 16:23.

Peter’s reference seems to be to an OT promise, but this phrase is not used in the OT. For desert people expanse was identified with freedom and joy, while closed in spaces were a sign of distress and trouble. God was going to bring a widening, refreshing period of spiritual activity. This Messianic activity had come in the gospel. The “times of refreshing” had come in Jesus of Nazareth. However, the coming consummation would bring the new age of the Spirit. In this specific context Peter is referring to the Second Coming. This phrase seems to be parallel to “the period of restoration” (Act 3:21). See Special Topic: Kerygma at Act 2:14.

Act 3:20 “He may send Jesus” This is an aorist active subjunctive, which denotes an element of contingency. The actions of Peter’s hearers, in some sense, determined the time of spiritual consummation (cf. F. F. Bruce, Answers to Questions, where he links Act 3:19-21 with Rom 11:25-27, p. 201).

The juxtaposition of “Jesus” next to “the Christ/the Messiah” seems to imply that Peter is specifically asserting the Messiahship of Jesus of Nazareth. Later in the NT, “Lord,” “Jesus,” and “Christ” occur often, more as a combined referent to Jesus (i.e., the Lord Jesus Christ) than an emphasis on the title Messiah. This is especially true in predominately Gentile churches.

“the Christ appointed for you” This verb is a perfect passive participle. This same term is used of God’s fore-choice in Act 10:41; Act 22:14; Act 26:16; Jesus’ coming and dying has always been God’s eternal redemptive plan (cf. Act 2:23; Act 3:18; Act 4:28; Act 13:29).

In the Septuagint this term reflects a choice, but without the foreknowledge (i.e., for Luke “pro” means before, cf. Exo 4:13 and Jos 3:12), which is obvious in this word’s usage in Acts. It does convey that sending Jesus was God’s choice of blessing and redemption!

Act 3:21

NASB, NKJV”whom heaven must receive”

NRSV”who must remain in heaven”

TEV, NIV”He must remain in heaven”

NJB”whom heaven must keep”

The subject of this phrase is “heaven”; the object is “whom” (i.e., Jesus). There are two verbals in this phrase. The first is dei, from de, which means “it is necessary” or “it is proper.” See full note at Act 1:16.

The second is an AORIST MIDDLE (deponent) infinitive of dechomai. Harold K Moulton, The Analytical Greek Lexicon Revised says in this context it means “to receive into and retain” (p. 88). You can see how the English translations pick up on the contextual aspect. Luke uses this term more than any other NT writer (13 times in Luke , 8 times in Acts). Words must be defined in light of contextual usage and implication, not etymology. Lexicons (dictionaries) only denote usage. They do not set definition!

NASB”until”

NKJV, NRSV,

TEV”until”

NJB”til”

This word is in the Greek UBS4 text. I do not know why NASB, 1995 edition, put it in italics, which is the way to show it is not in the Greek text, but supplied for English readers to understand.

In the 1970 edition of NASB, the “the” is in italics and not “until,” which is correct.

“period of restoration of all things” This refers to recreation (cf. Mat 17:11; and especially Rom 8:13-23). The evil of human rebellion in Genesis 3 is nullified and creation is restored; fellowship with God is reestablished. The initial purpose of creation is finally fulfilled.

“about which God spoke by mouth of His holy prophets from ancient times” Mark’s Gospel begins with a quote from Mal 3:1. Mat 1:22-23 refers to the prophecy of Isa 7:14. Luke used this same phrase in Luk 1:70. One aspect of the Kerygma (i.e., recurrent theological truths in the sermons in Acts, see Special Topic at Act 2:14) is that Jesus’ birth, life, death, and resurrection fulfilled OT prophecy (cf. Mat 5:17-19). Jesus’ ministry was not an afterthought or Plan B. It was the predetermined plan of God (cf. Act 2:23; Act 3:18; Act 4:28; Act 13:29, see Special Topic at Act 1:8). All things are working out to the fulfillment of the total restoration of God’s will for creation.

Act 3:22 “Moses said” The title “The Prophet” was used of the coming Messiah (cf. Deu 18:14-22; esp. 15,18; Joh 1:21; Joh 1:25). This documentation of Jesus from the Law of Moses (i.e., the most authoritative part of the OT canon for Jews, both Sadducees and Pharisees) would have been very important to these Jewish hearers. Jesus has always been God’s plan of redemption (i.e., Gen 3:15). He came to die (cf. Mar 10:45; 2Co 5:21).

Act 3:23 This was a serious word of warning. It is an allusion to Deu 18:19. Rejection of Jesus was, and still is, a serious, eternal matter.

This allusion to Deu 18:14-22 also has some significant theological insights.

1. Notice both the individual and corporate aspects. Each individual soul must personally respond to the Messiah. It is not enough to be a part of the corporate body of Israel.

2. The phrase “utterly destroyed” is an allusion to “holy war.” God will prune His own vine (i.e., Israel, cf. John 15; Romans 9-11). Those who reject “the Prophet” are rejected by God. The issue of salvation is one’s faith response to God’s Messiah. Family, race, ethics, and meticulous performance of rules are not the new covenant criteria of salvation, but faith in Christ (cf. 1Jn 5:12).

Act 3:24 “Samuel” In the Jewish canon he (i.e., 1 Samuel) is considered one of the “Former Prophets,” a part of the second division of the Hebrew canon. Samuel was called a prophet in 1Sa 3:20 and also a seer (i.e., another term for prophet) in 1Sa 9:9; 1Ch 29:29.

“these days” The “time of refreshing” (Act 3:20) and “the period of restoration of all things” (Act 3:21) refer to the consummation of the Kingdom of God at the return of Christ, but this phrase refers to the inauguration of the Messianic Kingdom, which occurred at the incarnation of Jesus at Bethlehem or at least to the whole period of the latter days, which is the time between Christ’s two appearances on planet earth. The OT primarily understood only one coming of the Messiah. His first coming as the “Suffering Servant” (Act 3:18) was a surprise; His glorious return as military leader and judge was expected.

Act 3:25 Peter addresses these Jews as the children of Abraham, the covenant people. However, these covenant people must respond in faith and repentance to Jesus and the gospel or they will be rejected (Act 3:23)!

The NT (new covenant) is focused in a person, not a racial group. In the very call of Abram there was a universal element (cf. Gen 12:3). The universal offer has come in Christ and is available to all (i.e., Luke wrote primarily to Gentiles. His Gospel and Acts made this invitation repeatedly and specifically).

“covenant” See SPECIAL TOPIC: COVENANT at Act 2:47.

“all the families of the earth shall be blessed” This is a reference to God’s promise to Abraham in Gen 12:1-3. Notice the universal element also in Gen 22:18. God chose Abraham to choose a people, to choose the world ( cf. Exo 19:5-6; Eph 2:11 to Eph 3:13). See Special Topic at Act 1:8.

Act 3:26 “For you first” The Jews, because of their Covenant heritage, have the first opportunity to hear and understand the message of the gospel (cf. Rom 1:16; Rom 9:5). However, they must respond in the same way as everyone else: repentance, faith, baptism, obedience, and perseverance.

“raised up His Servant and sent Him” See note at Act 2:24; Act 3:13.

“to bless you” This is what God wants for all mankind (cf. Gen 12:3). However, He sent Jesus to the lost sheep of the house of Israel first!

“by turning every one of you from your wicked ways” Salvation involves a change of mind about sin with a resulting change of actions and priorities. This change is evidence of true conversion! Eternal life has observable characteristics!

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

wot = know, as in Act 3:16.

through = according to. Greek. kata. App-104.

did also, &c. = your rulers also (did). Compare Luk 23:34.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

17.] introducing a new consideration: see 2Th 2:6. Here it softens the severer charge of Act 3:14; sometimes it intensifies, as ch. Act 22:16; 1Jn 2:28; especially with , ch. Act 13:11; Act 20:22. No meaning such as now that the real Messiahship of Him whom ye have slain is come to light (Meyer) is admissible.

, still softening his tone, and reminding them of their oneness of blood and covenant with the speaker.

] There need be no difficulty in the application of the to even the rulers of the Jews. It admits of all degrees-from the unlearned, who were implicitly led by others, and hated Him because others did,-up to the most learned of the scribes, who knew and rightly interpreted the Messianic prophecies, but from moral blindness, or perverted expectations, did not recognize them in our Lord. Even Caiaphas himself, of whom apparently this could least be said, may be brought under it in some measure: even he could hardly have delivered over Jesus to Pilate with the full consciousness that He was the Messiah, and that he himself was accomplishing prophecy by so doing. Some degree of there must have been in them all.

The interpretation (Wolf) ye did, as your rulers (did), is of course inadmissible, being contrary to the usage of the words: can never mean to imitate, but must refer to a definite act (understood), and must take up another subject of .

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Act 3:17. , and now) , a formula of transition from the past to the present.-, brethren) An appellation full of courtesy and compassion.-, I know) Peter speaks to their heart, kindly. On this account he rather says, I know, than we know.- , through ignorance) ch. Act 13:27, Because they knew Him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath they; thet have fulfilled them in condemning Him.-, rulers) These were not present, but the people. Peter sets aside the prejudice of authority [viz. of the chief priests and rulers], and this again he does in a kindly manner.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

wot: Act 7:40, Gen 21:26, Gen 39:8, Gen 44:15, Exo 32:1, Num 22:6, Rom 11:2, Phi 1:22

through: Act 13:27, Num 15:24-31, Luk 23:34, Joh 7:26, Joh 7:27, Joh 7:52, Joh 16:3, 1Co 2:8, 2Co 3:14, 1Ti 1:13

Reciprocal: Num 15:27 – General 1Ki 1:18 – thou knowest 1Ki 12:15 – that he might

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Fulfilled Prophecies Verify Unfulfilled Prophecies

Act 3:17-21; Act 13:27-41

INTRODUCTORY WORDS

The Scripture chosen for today, is worth our thought. The first Scripture was spoken by Peter, the second by Paul. Let us note them, one at a time.

1, The first Scripture-Act 3:17-21. Peter is speaking to the rulers of the Jews, and to national Israel. He is pleading for them to repent, that so God may send Jesus Christ, “whom the Heavens must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all of His holy Prophets since the world began.” In these words Peter is asserting the certainty that unfulfilled prophecies must be fulfilled.

In enforcing this contention Peter asserted that “Those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all His Prophets, that Christ should suffer, He hath so fulfilled.”

It is easy to see that Peter uses the fact of the fulfilment of prophecy concerning Christ’s sufferings, as a certain assurance that He will fulfil all the prophecies of His Second Coming, when God shall send Jesus Christ, and the times of restitution shall come.

Peter likewise showed that all the Prophets, from Samuel down, spoke of the very days in which Peter then lived.

2. The second Scripture-Act 13:27-41. Our second Scripture is much like the first. Paul is now speaking, and he says that they who dwelt in Jerusalem, and the rulers, because they knew not the voices of the Prophets, which were read every Sabbath Day, they had fulfilled in condemning Christ. Then Paul said, “And when they had fulfilled all that was written of Him, they took Him down from the tree.”

With the statement of fulfilled prophecies plainly made, Paul warned the Jews to “Beware, therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the Prophets,” What Paul actually did, was to use the literal fulfillment of certain prophecies, as an argument that unfulfilled prophecy would be as literally fulfilled.

All will agree that Paul’s argument was just. All will agree that if certain prophecies concerning events far distant from the day when they were prophesied, have been fulfilled, then far distant prophecies which remain unfulfilled, must meet a like fulfilment.

We trust this study of fulfilled prophecy will prepare our hearts to accept the message of God to the certainty of unfulfilled prophecy.

I. PROPHECIES FULFILLED-TYRE (Eze 26:7-12)

This is a remarkable prophecy. There are some who tell us that these words were written after Nebuchadrezzar had destroyed Tyre. That is an attempt to rob God of His power to foretell. Here is the striking thing of the prophecy-It says, “Nebuchadrezzar * * shall slay” (Eze 26:8); in Eze 26:9, it says, “he shall set engines of war”; in Eze 26:10 it says, “by reason of the abundance of his horses * * he shall enter into thy gates”; in Eze 26:11, it says, “with the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all thy streets.” Now, notice, in Eze 26:12-“And they”-ah, the word is changed this time from the “he,” the singular, to the plural, “they.”

“And they shall make a spoil of thy riches, and make a prey of thy merchandise; and they shall break down thy walls, and destroy thy pleasant houses: and they shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the water.

“And I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease; and the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard.”

Here is a prophecy that man could not have uttered. God does not only say that Nebuchadrezzar is coming down upon the city and overthrow it and make a breach in its walls; but He says that they shall spoil the city and that the very walls shall be cast into the sea; He even goes so far as to say that the very dust of the streets shall be dumped into the sea. Nebuchadrezzar did come down in a few years to destroy the city, fulfilling the first stages of this prophecy in detail; but he did not utterly destroy the walls, nor cast them into the sea. He did not care to do it. Why should he? What was the sense of such an undertaking”? Why should any sane man take time to tear up the walls and throw them in the sea?

If I prophesied that an army would come to America and destroy Chicago, and throw its skyscrapers into the lake, you would laugh. The army might come and destroy the city, and raze its buildings with bombs, but they would not take the trouble, after the city was taken, to cast its very stones into our lake. Why should they do that?” Yet, concerning Tyre, one of the great cities of the East, God said just as much as that.

History shows that Nebuchadrezzar lived and died. He had fulfilled the first stage of the prophecy, but not the last. After his victory Tyre moved out. There was a little island half a mile away; there the new Tyre was builded. The city had the sea between them and their old city, which Nebuchadrezzar had destroyed.

The new Tyre felt secure. They said to themselves, “The nations cannot march their armies against us, we are separated by the sea. We are all right here, we can protect ourselves.” Some hundreds of years passed by,-about 395 years. During those years some one might have been reading this prophecy of Ezekiel, and they might have said, “God did foretell the truth partly, but not in full. He said Nebuchadrezzar would throw the very walls off into the sea, but he did not do it.” Wait a minute. After four hundred years, Alexander the Great, came by Tyre. History tells us that he sent word over to the island and asked Tyre to allow him to come over and worship in their temples. Tyre refused the victorious and mighty Alexander. They thought their city was secure, but what did Alexander do? He determined to take the city. But, how could he march his army across the half-mile stretch of sea. He had no cannons to shoot across the bay. This is what he did: He literally took the stones of the ruined city of Tyre; he also took his scrapers and scraped up the very dust of their streets, and threw stones and dust into the sea, and built him a cause-way. Upon this cause-way he marched his armies across, and took the new city of Tyre.

Alexander’s conquest happened four hundred years after Nebuchadrezzar had razed the city. Do you see how the very words that God had prophesied were all literally fulfilled? Surely it is time for us to bow before the Word of God, and do it obeisance. There is no other Book like it. No one has ever dared to foretell, like it foretells.

II. FULFILLED PROPHECIES-EGYPT (Eze 29:14-15; Eze 30:4-6)

The words of this prophecy were written about three thousand years ago. Egypt was afterwards depleted, and from that day to this, she has never lifted up her head above the nations.

You must remember, when this prophecy was written, Egypt was in her prime, revelling in glory, and in power. Egypt was the granary of the world. Egypt, with her great universities, with her marvelous cities; set the pace for the sciences; lead in literature and in art, and was the head of the nations. Yet the Lord God said, Egypt shall become a base nation, she shall no more lift herself against the nations forever.

What do you think of the Egyptians today? of Egypt as a nation? You say, the Egyptians are an impoverished people. Where is her beauty? where is her glory? where is her strength? where is her power? It is gone and it has been gone for centuries. Time and again they have sought to resuscitate themselves, and to regain their former honor, and glory-but God has said, “Neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations.”

Egypt was once peer among the nations; a nation that was a marvel to all time; a nation with exhaustless riches in her soil, because of the overflow of the River Nile; yet, the Lord God said that that country should become impoverished. The seemingly impossible is accomplished.

I am quoting now from Urquhart’s book concerning the glories of Alexandria and Memphis, Egypt’s great cosmopolitan cities in the seventh century. Their culture, the variety of their riches and their beauties, Urquhart thus describes: “Alexandria contains four thousand palaces, four hundred theaters, twelve thousand shops for the sale of vegetable foods, forty thousand tributary Jews.” Who. would dare to prophesy that such a country, with a city like Alexandria, would become what it is today? Yet that is just what the Word of God did prophesy in 350 B.C. Until this hour there has never been upon the throne of Egypt a native born king or prince, God had said, “There shall be no more a prince in the land of Egypt.”

Her victories have ceased, her glory is departed, her people are illiterate. She who was once a leader, the glory of the world, is now a base nation, never ruling, and never lording it over other nations. God said it should be thus, and thus it is.

III. FULFILLED PROPHECIES-CITIES OF ISRAEL (Lev 26:27-34)

“If ye will not for all this hearken unto Me, but walk contrary unto Me:

“Then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.

“And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat.

“And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and My soul shall abhor you.

“And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savour of your sweet odours.

“And I will bring the land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it.

“And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.”

You know that in the year 70 A.D., Titus came to overthrow the city of Jerusalem. You know that in the year 135 A. D., 580,000 Jews fell in one war.

God said, “I will destroy your sanctuaries, I will bring them into desolation.”

Jesus added concerning the great Temple in Jerusalem, “There shall not be left one stone upon another.”

He said, “Your enemies shall dwell there, and be established in it,”

In the year 135 the whole land of Israel was put on sale, and the Gentiles flocked in where the Jews once thrived.

God said, “And I will scatter you among all the nations, and will draw out a sword after you.”

How wonderfully has that prophecy been fulfilled, you know it as well as I. And He said, “Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies’ land.”

Isaiah said, “How long?” And God said, “Until the cities be wasted, without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, and the Lord have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.”

Do you know, beloved, that today there are cities over there, actually standing without an inhabitant in their houses, and some of those houses are in the most marvelous state of preservation. Those deserted cities, far over in the old Bible lands, are waiting for the Jews to march in and take possession. God also said that the very city of Jerusalem should be plowed as a field. It is true that the vast part of the old city, is not included within the new walls; that part is actually plowed as a field.

Here is one of the most remarkable things in prophecy. Deu 29:22 : “And the stranger (the foreigner) that shall come from a far land”-I wonder why the Holy Ghost said that? When He had said the land and the city would be trodden down, destroyed and devastated; why should people from a far land want to look at it? Perhaps some of you have been in Jerusalem.

Every ship that goes over, carries its sightseers. I have had various descriptive trips to Jerusalem, sent me; they would like us to go. Strangers, from far countries are constantly going to that land. Why? Because it was there the Lord was crucified. People are going to the land that lies desolate; to the land where the old Jews, the fathers, beat their heads against the walls and weep and wail, because their city lies waste:

Listen to Jeremiah: “Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Zion shall be plowed like a field.”

Dr. Thompson says that only the Northern portion of Zion is included in the walls of the present city; the rest of the surface is tilled, that is, plowed as a field. Now, notice another local touch. Jesus Christ said of the Temple, “There shall not one stone remain upon another.”

Titus came, and the Temple was destroyed in A. D. 22; but the words were not wholly fulfilled, until 135 A. D. Emperor Julien said, “I will build the Jews’ Temple.”

He started his work, but judgments from God fell and the workmen were afraid and the emperor stopped the work.

That temple shall never be built until Christ, whose name is the Branch shall come and rebuild it. See. Zec 6:12, Zec 6:13.

IV. PROPHECIES OF TWO COMINGS SIDE BY SIDE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES (1Pe 1:10-11)

The Prophets saw two things, the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow; that is, they prophesied two comings, but they understood them not. The age in which we now live is a long-drawn parenthesis, lost to the view of the saints who lived before Christ came. They did not know that centuries would intervene between the two comings; they did not know that the Church would be builded, give its testimony and pass up to be with the Lord, before the second stage of their prophecies came to pass. We know these things. We also know the certainty of unfulfilled prophecies, because of the faithful fulfilment of fulfilled prophecies.

Let us now mark several prophecies which detail, in one breath, the two comings of Christ.

1. Our First Scripture Is Isa 9:6-7

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his, name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”

Part of this prophecy was fulfilled in Christ when He was born, a Child; and when He was given, a Son. Dare we hesitate to believe that that Son shall fulfill the other part of the prophecy, which is yet unfulfilled, and sit on the throne of David?

2. Our Second Scripture Is from Psa 22:1-31

My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture(Psa 22:17-18), “I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. For the Kingdom is the Lord’s; and he is the governor among the nations” (Psa 22:28).

At a glance the Scriptures to the left, speak of Christ on the Cross. It was on the Cross that Christ cried, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me!” It was there that His bones were “not broken,” although they “looked and stared” upon Him, It was there that they “parted His garments, and cast lots upon His vesture.” In fact, all of Psa 22:1-31, down to Psa 22:20, was distinctively, and decisively fulfilled on the Cross.

The first Scripture in our right hand column was fulfilled in the resurrection, when Christ said, “Go tell My brethren, that I go before them into Galilee.” With these fulfilled Scriptures before us, may we not assuredly expect to see the final Scripture, and its surrounding verses just as literally fulfilled?

There is no doubt that Christ has never yet been governor of the nations, nor, has the “Kingdom” been the Lord’s-yet, He will come and accomplish both prophecies, for the Word of the Lord can never fail.

3. Our Third Scripture Is Psa 69:1-36

Reproach hath broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink (Psa 69:20-21).

For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah; that they may dwell there, and have it in possession. The seed also of his servants shall inherit it; and they that love his name shall dwell therein (Psa 69:35-36).

Psa 69:1-36, like 22, is strictly a Psalm of the Cross; yet, not exclusively of the Cross. Both Psalms prophesy the Second Coming. This is seen at a glance. He who came and fulfilled the verses in our left column, will just as surely come and save Zion and build the cities of Judah. The fact that twenty centuries since Christ fulfilled the first prophecy have passed without the fulfillment of the second set of prophecies, in no sense makes the Word of God void.

4. Our Fourth Scripture Is Psa 110:1-7

The Lord said unto my Lord. Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool (Psa 110:1).

The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries. He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head (Psa 110:2, Psa 110:6-7).

This marvelous Psalm has been fulfilled so far as Christ’s sitting at the right hand of the Father is concerned. The same Christ will come and fulfil every jot and tittle of the balance of the Psalm. He will rule in the midst of His enemies; He will judge among the heathens, and fill the places with dead bodies, and wound the head over many countries. In that day He will send forth the rod of His strength out of Zion.

5. Our Fifth Scripture Is Dan 9:1-27

“Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity” (Dan 9:24, f.c).

“And to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy” (Dan 9:24, l.c.).

Bible students know that sixty-nine weeks are past, and that the Scripture in the first column has met its fulfilment; they also know that after the present parenthesis in which Jewish time is not counted, God will just as faithfully fulfil the second portion of the verse, in the second column, and that Christ, the Most Holy, will be anointed.

6. Our Sixth Scripture

“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit” (Joe 2:28-29).

“And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call” (Joe 2:30-32).

Comment is unnecessary. The first stage of this prophecy, as printed in column one, met at least a partial fulfilment at Pentecost; the second stage of the prophecy will meet as literal a fulfilment, at Christ’s Second Coming, when all that Joel said, will be fulfilled to the letter.

Had Israel received the Lord, nationally, as Peter preached and pled, the prophecy would have been completely fulfilled at that time. Israel rejected her call, her house was left unto her desolate, and she shall not see the Lord until He comes back again to complete the fulfilment.

7. Our Seventh Scripture

“Behold the man whose name is The Branch, He shall grow up out of His place” (Zec 6:12).

“And He shall build the temple of the Lord * *; and He shall sit and rule upon His throne; and He shall be a Priest upon His throne” (Zec 6:12-13).

Christ is the man who was called, “The Branch”-He was born, “the root and the offspring of David.” He will come again and build the Temple, He will rule on His throne, and be a King-Priest.

8. Our Eighth Scripture

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thy King cometh unto thee, He is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass” (Zec 9:9).

And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and He shall speak peace unto the heathen; and His dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth” (Zec 9:10).

Christ came the first time and fulfilled the prophecy of Zec 9:9; however Zec 9:10 was not then fulfilled. We believe therefore that all of Zechariah’s prophecy will be fulfilled, and fulfilled to the letter of its statement.

9. Our Ninth Scripture

“Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered; and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones” (Zec 13:7).

“And His feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east; and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley: and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.”

“And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and His name one” (Zec 14:4, f.c. and Zec 14:9).

Where is he who doubts that the first column statement was literally fulfilled as the disciples forsook Christ and fled? Shall we not then believe that Christ will come again? that His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives? that He shall be King over all the earth? Where is our honor and honesty, if we accept one prophecy and reject the other? The fulfilment of the one makes certain the fulfilment of the other.

V. THE SECOND COMING IN TYPES

For a final consideration, we wish to present this fact: The Old Testament typical characters, which so marvelously set forth Christ, in His first coming, have met exact fulfilment; shall not the same characters which continued to set forth Christ in His Second Coming, meet as exact a fulfilment?

1. The Adam and Eve type. All will grant that Adam was put to sleep, and his open side, with the extracted rib and the woman made, was a most striking and realistic type of Christ Jesus, put to sleep on the Cross, of His riven side, and of the Bride formed withal. Who then dare doubt that Eve presented to Adam, is as true a type of that glorious Heavenly scene of the presentation of Christ’s Bride unto Himself, at the Heavenly marriage of the Lamb?

2. The type of Noah. Where is the Christian who has not heard the ark used time and again as a type of Christ, saving the trusting sinner from the wrath to come? Shall we then fail to see that the flood, with the subsequent earth, renewed and blessed, is a type of Christ’s Second Coming and the Millennial blessedness that will ensue?

3. The type of Joseph. Where is he who has not rejoiced over the detailed foreshadowing of the earlier experiences of Joseph, as they have seen in him, step by step, the life of Jacob’s greater Son, outlined? Shall the foreshadowings cease before Joseph is made ruler in the land, with all the earth coming to seek his favor, and with the sons of Jacob repentant and restored by Jacob’s grace to plenty and power?

If we had time, we could outline two distinct details of the life of Joseph. The one, would include his supremacy over his brethren, his love from his father, his hatred by his brethren, his search of his brethren, his casting into the pit, his sale to the Ishmeelites, etc. These all spoke with strange clearness of Christ, in His first coming. Then, we could present the other side of Joseph’s life: his exaltation in Egypt, his marriage to a Gentile wife, his watchful eye during the seven years of famine, his making himself known to his brethren, with his forgiveness assured, his welcoming back all of Jacob’s sons and their families, etc. All of these speak just as plainly of Christ in His resurrection and in His Second Corning.

4. The type of David. David is pre-eminently the foreshadower of Christ in His conflict with the antichrist, and in His ultimate reign over a restored and reunited Kingdom. It is marvelous to watch David as, upon the effort of Absalom to take away his kingdom, he passes weeping over the brook Kedron, and then goes up, by the way of the mount of Olives. It is just as wonderful, after Absalom is dead in battle, to hear the people saying, “Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now, therefore, why speak ye not a word about bringing the king (David) back?”

5. Isaac a type. All are familiar with Isaac’s offering on Mount Moriah. All know that, step by step, the Cross of Christ, His death, and resurrection, is set forth, in a most marvelous way, in Gen 22:1-24.

Are all as familiar with the story of Rebekah, in chapter 24? Abraham sought a wife for Isaac. His faithful servant of Damascus went to seek that wife. Rebekah gladly left all and went with the servant across the desert sands. Isaac went forth by the well Lahai-roi (the place of meeting), to await Rebekah’s coming. He received her with joy, taking her to his mother’s tent, where she became his wife. The Lord’s seeking a Bride, His Second Coming, and the marriage in the skies, are here all beautifully forecast. Surely he is blind who sees in these Bible-typical characters, the Christ of Calvary; but fails to see the Christ of the Glory Cloud.

Can we sit down at the Lord’s Table and remember His death, and fail, withal, to anticipate His Coming? If so,-blind, blind, blind, amid the blaze of noon.

Fuente: Neighbour’s Wells of Living Water

7

Act 3:17. Ignorance does not excuse anyone in wrongdoing, but it may explain how it came about. The word is from AGNOIA, which Thayer defines, “Want of knowledge.” The idea is different from being lacking in common intelligence, for then they might not have been held so strictly to account. But the information was available had they made use of it; they did not, and were like Israel of old who did not know, simply because they did not consider (Isa 1:3). Wot is an obsolete word for “know” as the apostle was considering his own frame of mind. As to the rulers, they were the ones in power and who were chiefly responsible for the death of Jesus.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Act 3:17. Peters tone changes here. After his vivid picture of the awful guilt incurred by the Jews as a nation in murdering the Messiah, he now lovingly would not have them despair, but tells them they knew Him not when they consented to that cruel deatha death, too (Act 3:18), which was necessary as part of the redemption plan of God.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Observe here, 1. How careful the apostle was, not to drive these murtherers of Christ (and consequently the worst of men) to despair, but to draw them to repentance; in order to which,

1. He mitigates their sin, imputing it rather to ignorance and blind zeal, than to malice.

2. He is charitable as to impute it to the ignorance of the Pharisees their rulers also.

3. He calls them brethren, though guilty of so great a mistake in their judgment, and fault in their practice. Now brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers.

Learn hence, That God used the ignorance of some, and malice of others, for his own glorious ends, in accomplishing the fore-ordained and fore-told death of our Redeemer.

Observe, 2. St. Peter acquaints them, to keep them from despair, that God hath decreed the sufferings of Christ for man, and by his prophets fore-told them, who, as they spake by one Spirit, did all speak the same things, as if they had all spoken out of one mouth. So that what the Jews did, he tells them, was, though unknown to them, a fulfilling of ancient prophecies and promises for man’s redemption. Those things which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath now fulfilled.

The death and sufferings of Christ, with all the circumstances relating thereunto were all ordained by God, and foretold by the prophets; which though it doth not excuse his murtherers from the guilt of a dreadful sin, yet may be improved as an argument to keep them from despair. What God before had shewed, he hath now fulfilled.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Act 3:17-18. And now, brethren A word full of courtesy and compassion; I wot That is, I know: here he speaks to their hearts; that through ignorance ye did it Which lessened, though it could not annihilate, the guilt of your conduct; as did also your rulers The prejudice lying from the authority of the chief priests and elders, he here endeavours to remove, but with great tenderness. He does not call them our, but your rulers. For as the Jewish dispensation ceased at the death of Christ, consequently so did the authority of its rulers. This was the language of Peters charity, and it teaches us to make the best of those whom we desire to make better: not to aggravate, but, as far as may be, to extenuate their faults or sins. Perhaps Peter perceived, by the countenances of his hearers, that they were struck with great horror at being informed that they had murdered the Messiah, the Prince of life, and that they were ready either to sink down in distress, or to fly off; and, therefore, he saw it needful to mitigate the rigour of his charge, that he might prevent their utterly despairing. He had searched the wound to the bottom, and now begins to think of healing it: in order to which it was necessary to beget in them a good opinion of their physician. And in proceeding thus, he had the example of his Master to justify him, who prayed for his crucifiers, and pleaded in their behalf, that they knew not what they did. And it is said of the rulers, that they would not have crucified the Lord of glory, if they had known him, 1Co 2:8. Doubtless many of the rulers, and of the people, in crucifying Christ, rebelled against the light and the convictions of their own consciences, influenced by envy and malice; but the generality, probably, were carried down the stream, and acted as they did through ignorance, as Paul persecuted the church ignorantly and in unbelief, 1Ti 1:13. But those things, &c. But God permitted this that you have done, and overruled it for wise and gracious purposes; for he hath thus fulfilled what he had before showed by the mouth of all his prophets Had plainly foretold in the various ages of the world; that Christ should suffer As an atoning sacrifice for the sins of mankind. Now, though this was no extenuation at all of their sin, in hating and persecuting Christ unto death, yet it was an encouragement to them to repent, and hope for mercy upon their repentance; not only because, in general, Gods gracious designs were carried on by it, and thus it agrees with the encouragement Joseph gave to his brethren, when they thought their offence against him almost unpardonable, (Gen 50:15; Gen 50:20,) but because, in particular, the sufferings and death of Christ were for the remission of sins, and the ground of that display of mercy he now encouraged them to hope for.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

17, 18. At this point in the discourse there is a marked change in Peter’s tone and manner, which we can attribute to nothing else than some visible indication of the intense pain produced by what he had already said. He had made a most terrific onslaught upon them, and exposed their criminality in unsparing terms; but now, induced by some perceptible change in their countenances, he softens his style, and extenuates their fault. (17) “And now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers. (18) But those things which God had before announced through the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath thus fulfilled.” That they acted in ignorance of the real character of Jesus was an extenuation of their crime, but it did not render them innocent; for the preceding remarks were intended to convict them of crime, and in his preceding discourse he charged that with wicked hands they had crucified and slain him. Peter assumes, what none of them could honestly deny, that it was by wicked motives they were impelled to the fatal deed.

In connection, with this assertion of their criminality, he states another fact hard to be reconciled with it in the philosophy of man, that, in the commission of this crime, God was fulfilling what he had declared through his prophets should be done. Once before, in speaking of this same event, Peter had brought these two apparently conflicting facts, the sovereignty of God, and the free agency of man, into juxtaposition, when he said, “Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken, and with wicked hands have crucified and slain.” That God had predetermined the death of Jesus can not be denied without contradicting both the prophets and the apostles; and that they acted wickedly in doing what God had determined should be done, Peter affirms, and three thousand of them on Pentecost, with many more on this occasion, admitted it. If any man can frame a theory by which to philosophically reconcile these two facts, we will assent to it, if we can understand it; but unless both facts, unaltered have a place in the theory, we must reject it. We reject every man who denies either of the facts; but while he admits them both, we will not dispute with him about the theory upon which he attempts to reconcile them. This much, fidelity to the word of God on the one hand, and brotherly kindness on the other hand, demand of us. In the mean time, it is better to follow Peter’s example. He lays the two facts side by side, appealing to the prophets for the proof of one, and to the consciences of men for the proof of the other, and there he leaves them, seeming not to realize that he had involved himself in the slightest difficulty. It is folly to attempt to climb where we are certain of a fall.

Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)

17. Though, as Peter says, The Jews blindly and ignorantly slew the Prince of Life, yet they were awfully criminal in the sight of God because they had yielded to the lies of Satan and spontaneously turned away from the light.

Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament

Verse 17

I wot; I am aware. Observe the gentleness, as well as fidelity, with which Peter reproves this sin.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

3:17 {3} And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did [it], as [did] also your rulers.

(3) It is best of all to receive Christ as soon as he is offered to us: but those who have neglected so great a benefit through man’s weakness, yet have repentance as a means. As for the shame of the cross, we have to set against that the decree and purpose of God for Christ, foretold by the Prophets, how that first of all he would be crucified here upon the earth, and then he would appear from heaven the judge and restorer of all things, that all believers might be saved, and all unbelievers utterly perish.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

Peter’s exhortation 3:17-26

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

If Peter’s charges against his hearers were harsh (Act 3:13-15), his concession that they acted out of ignorance was tender. He meant that they did not realize the great mistake they had made. Peter undoubtedly hoped that his gentle approach would win a reversal of his hearers’ attitude.

"Israel’s situation was something like that of the ’manslayer’ who killed his neighbor without prior malicious intent, and fled to the nearest city of refuge (Num 35:9-34)." [Note: Wiersbe, 1:413.]

Jesus did not demonstrate His deity as convincingly as He might have during His earthly ministry. Consequently the reaction of unbelief that many rulers as well as common Israelites demonstrated was partially due to their ignorance. They were also ignorant of the fact that Jesus fulfilled many messianic prophecies in the Old Testament. Peter hastened to point out that Jesus’ sufferings harmonized with those predicted of the Messiah by Israel’s prophets. It was the prophets’ revelations about the death of Messiah that the Jews in Peter’s day, including Jesus’ own disciples, had difficulty understanding.

"Doubtless many in Peter’s Jewish audience would have been agreeable to much of the preceding statement. They would not have been averse to accepting the idea of a genuine miracle, nor were they unfamiliar with Jesus’ reputation as a miracle worker. The problem they faced was identifying Jesus as their conquering Messiah in the light of the crucifixion." [Note: Kent, p. 41. Cf. Blaiklock, p. 63.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)