Acts 2:24

Acts 2:24

St. Peter says Christ was raised from the dead because it was not possible that He should be holden of death. Let us consider what were the reasons for this Divine impossibility.

I. First, we find the reason which lay nearest to his conclusion, and which was intended to convince his hearers. It was not possible, because David had spoken concerning Him, that He should rise from the dead. It was their Jewish prophecy which forbade Christ to remain in the grave, and made His resurrection a Divine necessity.

II. But the second reason which would have shaped St. Peter's language lay in the character of Jesus Christ. His character, not less than His miracles, drew hearts to Him, and led men to give up all for Him. Of our Lord's character the leading feature, if we may reverently use such an expression, was His simple truthfulness. It was morally impossible for Him to hold out a prospect which could not be realised, or to use words which did not mean what they appeared to mean. Now, our Lord Jesus Christ had again and again said that He would be put to a violent death, and that afterwards He would rise again. If He had not risen, He would not have kept His engagement with the world. This was the feeling of those who loved Him best, and especially of St. Peter. All was staked on His rising from the dead; and when He did rise, He was proved to be the Son of God. Thus it was the character of Christ, more than the force of prophecy, which made the idea that He should not rise impossible to His disciples.

III. But we have not yet exhausted St. Peter's reasons for his statement. In the sermon which he preached after the healing of the man at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, he told his hearers that they had crucified the Prince of Life. In the truth of our Lord's jurisdiction over life, based on His Divine nature, he traces the third reason why it was impossible that He should not rise again. The buried Christ could not remain in the grave. He was raised by virtue of a Divine necessity, and this necessity while originally and strictly proper to Him, points also to a necessity which affects His Church. We see in it (1) the impossibility for Christians to be buried for ever in the tomb; (2) the principle which is applied to the Church itself as well as to our bodies. It is not possible that the body of Christ, instinct with His force and spirit, should be holden down in death. (3) The principle applies to individual lives. If we are any of us in the tomb of sin, it ought to be impossible for us to lie there.

H. P. Liddon, Christian World Pulpit,vol. ix., p. 257 (see also Easter Sermons,vol. i., p. 83).

References: Acts 2:24. Spurgeon, My Sermon Notes: Gospels and Acts,p. 175; Three Hundred Outlines on the New Testament,p. 107. Acts 2:25. Homiletic Quarterly,vol. iii., p. 323.Acts 2:25. G. E. L. Cotton, Sermons in Marlborough College,p. 428. Acts 2:29. Homiletic Quarterly,vol. iii., p. 324.Acts 2:32. T. Claughton, Church of England Pulpit,vol. viii., p. 129.