Peter's second sermon and response

3:11 While the man was hanging on to Peter and John, all the people, completely astounded, ran together to them in the covered walkway called Solomon's Portico. 3:12 When Peter saw this, he declared to the people, "Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this? Why do you stare at us as if we had made this man walk by our own power or piety? 3:13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our forefathers, has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate after he had decided to release him. 3:14 But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a man who was a murderer be released to you. 3:15 You killed the Originator of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this fact we are witnesses! 3:16 And on the basis of faith in Jesus' name, his very name has made this man - whom you see and know - strong. The faith that is through Jesus has given him this complete health in the presence of you all. 3:17 And now, brothers, I know you acted in ignorance, as your rulers did too. 3:18 But the things God foretold long ago through all the prophets - that his Christ would suffer - he has fulfilled in this way. 3:19 Therefore repent and turn back so that your sins may be wiped out, 3:20 so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and so that he may send the Messiah appointed for you - that is, Jesus. 3:21 This one heaven must receive until the time all things are restored, which God declared from times long ago through his holy prophets. 3:22 Moses said, 'The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must obey him in everything he tells you. 3:23 Every person who does not obey that prophet will be destroyed and thus removed from the people.' 3:24 And all the prophets, from Samuel and those who followed him, have spoken about and announced these days. 3:25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors, saying to Abraham, 'And in your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed.' 3:26 God raised up his servant and sent him first to you, to bless you by turning each one of you from your iniquities."

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The healing of the lame man shows that Jesus is alive, exalted, and still acting with divine authority. Peter uses that miracle to confront Israel with its rejection of Jesus and to call them to repent, so their sins may be wiped away and they may share in God’s promised blessing rather than face judgment.

Website-Ready Commentary Main Point: The healing of the lame man shows that Jesus is alive, exalted, and still acting with divine authority. Peter uses this miracle to confront Israel with its rejection of Jesus and to call them to repent, so their sins may be removed and they may share in God’s promised blessing. Commentary: After the healing, the man remained close to Peter and John, and the people rushed together in amazement. Peter immediately made it clear that this miracle did not come from the apostles’ own power or personal godliness. He would not let the crowd fix its attention on human instruments when the true source of the healing was Jesus. Peter then spoke in language the Jewish crowd would readily understand. He referred to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the God of their fathers. The point is clear: the God who acted in Jesus is the same covenant God revealed in Israel’s Scriptures. Jesus is not a break from God’s earlier revelation. Rather, God has glorified His servant Jesus, the very one whom the people had handed over and rejected. Peter does not soften their guilt. He says they rejected the Holy and Righteous One and chose a murderer instead. They killed the Author of life. Yet human rejection did not overturn God’s purpose. God raised Jesus from the dead, publicly reversing the verdict of sinful men, and Peter with the other apostles stood as witnesses to that reality. Peter also explains what the healing means. The man was made strong through Jesus’ name. Here, “name” is not a mere spoken formula. It refers to Jesus’ person, authority, and effective power. The miracle shows that the crucified and risen Jesus is still active. The phrase “the faith that is through Jesus” most likely refers mainly to faith centered in Jesus, especially trust in His exalted authority, though the passage does not allow complete certainty in every detail. Still, Peter’s central point is unmistakable: the healing must be credited entirely to Jesus, not to apostolic power. Peter next acknowledges that the people and their rulers acted in ignorance. This does not remove their guilt, but it does help explain the character of their sin and opens the way for a merciful call to repentance. At the same time, their actions fulfilled what God had announced beforehand through the prophets—that the Messiah would suffer. Jesus’ suffering, then, was not an accident or a defeat. It took place within God’s foretold plan. Because this is true, Peter calls them to respond: “Repent and turn back.” Repentance means a real change of mind about Jesus and a real turning from sin to God. The call to “turn back” shows that this is more than regret. It is a concrete return to God in covenant faithfulness. Peter presents forgiveness and blessing as tied to this necessary response. He then speaks of “times of refreshing” from the presence of the Lord and of God sending the Messiah appointed for them, namely Jesus. He adds that heaven must receive Jesus until the time of the restoration of all things spoken by the prophets. This language likely includes both present and future elements. There is a present offer of forgiveness and divine refreshment, yet the wording also points ahead to the future messianic restoration associated with Jesus’ return. The sermon should not be flattened into only a present spiritual experience or only a distant future event. To strengthen his appeal, Peter quotes Moses’ promise that God would raise up a prophet like him from among the people. Jesus is that prophet. Therefore, He must be obeyed in all that He says. Refusing Him is no small matter. Peter includes the warning that everyone who does not listen to that prophet will be cut off from the people. The issue is obedience to God’s appointed prophet, with blessing for those who respond and judgment for those who refuse. Peter then says that all the prophets from Samuel onward spoke of these days. This shows that the events surrounding Jesus fulfill the scriptural hope of Israel. The crowd belongs to the people of the prophets and of the covenant God made with Abraham. That covenant included the promise that through Abraham’s offspring all the families of the earth would be blessed. So the gospel is rooted in Israel’s covenant story, even as it reaches beyond Israel to the nations. Still, the offer comes to Israel first. God raised up His servant and sent Him first to them. This is both a privilege and a responsibility. Their covenant heritage does not excuse unbelief; it increases accountability. Christ’s blessing is described here in moral and spiritual terms: He blesses by turning people from their wickedness. The Messiah’s blessing is not permission to remain in sin, but deliverance from it. In the flow of Acts, this sermon is not a detached religious speech. It is part of the risen Christ’s witness in Jerusalem through His apostles, accompanied by signs and soon followed by opposition. The miracle and the sermon belong together. The sign authenticates the message, and the message explains the sign. This passage, then, should be heard not mainly as private inspiration, but as public covenant witness: God has vindicated Jesus, and those who hear must repent, obey Him, and receive the promised blessing rather than face judgment. Key Truths: - The healing points to Jesus’ living authority, not to the apostles’ own power. - Israel rejected Jesus, but God raised and glorified Him. - Jesus’ suffering fulfilled what God had foretold through the prophets. - Repentance and turning back to God are necessary for sins to be wiped away. - Jesus is the promised prophet like Moses and must be obeyed. - Covenant privilege increases responsibility; it does not remove the danger of judgment. - God’s blessing through the Messiah includes turning people away from their sins.

• The healing points to Jesus’ living authority, not to the apostles’ own power. - Israel rejected Jesus, but God raised and glorified Him. - Jesus’ suffering fulfilled what God had foretold through the prophets. - Repentance and turning back to God are necessary for sins to be wiped away. - Jesus is the promised prophet like Moses and must be obeyed. - Covenant privilege increases responsibility
• it does not remove the danger of judgment. - God’s blessing through the Messiah includes turning people away from their sins.

• The exact force of the phrase 'the faith that is through Jesus' cannot be settled with complete certainty from this passage alone. - The language about 'times of refreshing' and the 'restoration of all things' has a future kingdom horizon, though it also stands alongside the present offer of forgiveness. - The term 'servant' likely echoes Isaiah's servant imagery, even though Peter does not directly quote Isaiah here. - Do not read this passage as an isolated proof text or as a timeless ministry technique detached from Acts' unfolding witness to the risen Christ.

Acts 3:11-26 should be read within Luke's second-volume witness narrative: Acts traces the gospel's advance from Jerusalem toward Rome and shows the risen Christ forming a witness-bearing people by the Spirit under divine providence. At the enrichment level, the unit works within a corporate rather than merely individual frame; wisdom-speech patterns of exhortation and contrast. Launches the apostolic witness in Jerusalem through Spirit gift, preaching, signs, and mounting opposition. This unit concentrates that movement in the scene or discourse identified as Peter's second sermon and response. Delivers concentrated instruction that interprets discipleship, belief, watchfulness, or mission within the book's larger theological movement.

- When God does something remarkable, Christian witness should direct attention away from human agents and toward the risen Jesus. - Admiration is not enough; the right response to the gospel is repentance, return to God, and obedience to Christ. - Religious heritage and covenant privilege should not produce presumption, but deeper responsibility to respond rightly to God's revealed Messiah. - Teach and read this passage in its narrative setting, where the sign and the sermon interpret each other.

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