College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
Acts 3:11-26
ON SOLOMON'S PORCH Acts 3:11-26.
And as he held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon'S, greatly wondering.
And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this man? or why fasten ye your eyes on us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made him to walk?
The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Servant Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied before the face of Pilate, when he had determined to release him.
But ye denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted unto you,
and killed the Prince of life; whom God raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.
And by faith in his name hath his name made this man strong, whom ye behold and know: yea, the faith which is through him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.
And now, brethren, I know that in ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers.
But the things which God foreshowed by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ should suffer, he thus fulfilled.
Repent ye therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that so there may come seasons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord;
and that he may send the Christ who hath been appointed for you, even Jesus:
whom the heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, whereof God spake by the mouth of his holy prophets that have been from of old.
Moses indeed said, A prophet shall the Lord God raise up unto you from among your brethren, like unto me; to him shall ye hearken in all things whatsoever he shall speak unto you.
And it shall be, that every soul that shall not hearken to that prophet, shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.
Yea and all the prophets from Samuel and them that followed after, as many as have spoken, they also told of these days.
Ye are the sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
Unto you first God, having raised up his Servant, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.
97.
Is there any reason to believe that the lame man was well known among the Jews?
Acts 3:11 It will be noted that the healing of the lame man occurred at the entrance of the temple proper, the gate which opened into the court of the women being the exact spot. The incident to be described under the above heading occurs on Solomon's portico or porch, located on the outside of the Jewish portion of the temple.
It must be concluded from the text that upon being healed the lame man went into the temple with Peter and John (cf. 8). The apostles then came out of the sacred enclosure, doubtless because of the tumult caused by the miracle, and while they stood in Solomon's portico the lame man embraced them. The lame man might have called out to the crowd and thus gathered them, but it is not here mentioned.
Acts 3:12-13 a Peter, upon witnessing the circumstances, noticed that the wonder of the people was centered upon them and not in the God they served. Peter's boldness, wisdom and humility are seen in the next four verses. His boldness is portrayed in the fact that in spite of the unlikely circumstances he took this occasion to preach a gospel message. His wisdom is shown in the manner of development, and his humility is found in the introduction of the message. Peter in introducing his sermon gives credit to God for the miracle:
It was not power or godliness of ours that made this one to walk. look to the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, says Peter.
98.
Where did Peter preach his second sermon?
99.
Had Peter, John, and the man who was healed been in the temple? Why did they come out?
100.
Why do you suppose the beggar held Peter and John?
101.
What elements of Peter's character are brought out in his sermon and its delivery?
Acts 3:13 b - Acts 3:19 Then follows the body of the sermon. Why was this thing done? The answer comes: To glorify Jesus, God's Servant or Child. Peter again reminds these Jews of whom he is speaking. God's Servant is Jesus.
Jehovah is glorifying in this act just performed none other than the very one whom you Jews delivered up and denied. You preferred a murderer. You killed this one and in so doing you slew the very Prince or Author of Life. God, however, raised Him from the dead. Of this fact we apostles can all witness.
The question of how the healing of the lame man glorifies Jesus yet remains to be answered. The answer is found in the words of the sixteenth verse. The thought is that when the beggar was made whole, glory went to Jesus because it was only through faith in His name that this miracle could occur. The question naturally arises, Who exercised this faith? A moment's consideration of the facts will teach us that the beggar knew nothing of Jesus and as Luke tells us, was concerned with nothing but alms.
The faith of Peter and John in Jesus is the only logical answer to this question. This is in perfect accord with Mark 16:14-20 in which Jesus upbraids the apostles for their unbelief and then promises that signs would follow their work if they would believe. The power of performing miracles was given to the apostles by virtue of the baptism in the Holy Spirit, but they needed to exercise faith before this power could be used.
Peter follows this thought with the second point of his message. He speaks of the predetermined death of Jesus. This same truth was presented before by Peter on the day of Pentecost. It had great effect upon the Jew whenever given because it presented to his mind the strongest proof that the things being spoken of were true. Tempering his message just a little he says: And now, brethren, I know that in ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers. To show in their act the fulfillment of prophecy he says that the prophets spoke of the suffering Christ and thus were these prophecies fulfilled. The Jews were convinced that Jesus was the Christ from what had been said previously and even more so now by what was said concerning His resurrection and power to heal. They were convicted of sin through the words of Peter describing the tragedy of delivering up the Messiah to a heathen governor, of denying the very Christ of God and preferring a murderer; of killing the Author of Life. In light of this Peter could with great power call them to repentance and obedience. Note his words: --Repent ye therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out so that there may come seasons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord.
102.
What purpose does Peter assign to this miracle?
103.
Name three things Peter said the Jews did with Jesus.
104.
How did the healing of the lame man bring glory to Jesus?
105.
Explain how this miracle was accomplished by faith. How does the Holy Spirit baptism enter this incident?
106.
What is the second thought of Peter's sermon?
We need not ask as to the meaning of the first words of this charge for all know with at least some degree of completeness the meaning of the word repentance (the word signifying a change of mind, which works a complete change of conduct). But for what is Peter asking when he calls upon these Jews to turn again? To begin with note that in repenting and turning again, they were to receive exactly what was promised in the second chapter for repentance and baptism. Mark the parallel: in Acts 2:38 they were told to repent and be baptized for the remission of their sins to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 3:19 they are told to repent and turn again that their sins might be blotted out and that they might receive seasons of refreshings from the presence of the Lord. Does it seem logical that Peter would require repentance and baptism on the day of Pentecost for the forgiveness of sins and here on Solomon's porch, while speaking to the same type of persons, require something else for the same result? We say then that the thought behind the words turn again was nothing short of baptism. The Jews had no doubt witnessed the baptism of persons every day (cf. Acts 2:47) and thus when Peter called upon them to repent and turn again they knew exactly what he inferred. A complete discussion of this text is found in J. W. McGarvey's New Commentary on pages 58-63.
Acts 3:20-21 Still another result was to follow. Upon their repentance and turning again their sins were to be blotted out, They were to receive the times or seasons of refreshing from the gift of God's Spirit, sent as he was from His presence. But also upon their obedience to this charge they were promised that God would send to them the Christ. What is the meaning of this expression? It could have no reference to the first advent of Jesus for He had already come; nor could it refer to the presence of Christ through His Spirit, for the gift of the Holy Spirit had already been spoken of. It could only refer to the second coming of Christ. Every Jew looked forward to the Christ coming as a great king in his kingdom. He was to come to conquer and subdue all kingdoms. This indeed He will do when He comes again; hence, we have the words of Peter to these Jews that their hopes will be realized in the second coming of the Christ. Not in a temporal, earthly, kingdom, but in the triumphant glory of the eternal conquering king in His kingdom. When He does come it will be none other than the same Jesus whom they had crucified.
107.
Why was it appropriate for Peter to call the Jews to repentance and obedience at the time that he did?
108.
What is the meaning of the word repentance?
109.
What is the meaning of the expression turn again? Prove your answer.
110.
What is the meaning of the phrase: seasons of refreshing?
But says Peter, The heavens will hold Him until a certain time, then He will come. The time being set as the times of the restoration of all things whereof God spake by the mouth of the holy prophets that have been from of old. Upon this point we say with J, W. McGarvey:
It is difficult to determine the exact meaning of the word restoration in this place; but it is limited by the expression, all things whereof God spake by the holy prophets. and consequently it consists in the fulfillment of the Old Testament predictions; and the remark gives assurance that Jesus will not return again till all these predictions shall have been fulfilled (ibid. p. 63).
What these predictions are and what they entail it is not our purpose to discuss in these notes.
Acts 3:22-26 Peter ends as he began; with proof from the Old Testament that this Jesus was the Christ. The prediction made by Moses and read by the Jews for these hundreds of years now finds its fulfillment. Moses said:
1.
The Lord God would raise up a prophet; which thing God did in Jesus.
2.
That this prophet would be raised up to be sent to the Israelites; which thing was fulfilled in Jesus.
3.
That the prophet would be from among their brethren; Jesus was of the tribe of Judah.
4.
That he would be like unto Moses. The comparisons of Jesus and Moses are too numerous to mention. Moses also predicted the dire results that would follow upon not harkening unto this prophet.
Peter climaxes his message by making the sweeping statement that all the prophets from the first one, Samuel, down to the very last one foretold of the days of the Son of man.
Then the appeal of the apostle. He strikes at the very heart of the Jew when he reminds him of the treasured truth that they are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant God made with their fathers; saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. The strong inference is that the blessing which God promised to the world through them was nothing short of Jesus Christ. He had come through them, i.e. through their seed, and now He was to bless the families of the earth through His work of redemption. They were indeed honored and blessed, for God had now sent this one first to them, even as He came through them, to turn every one of them away from his iniquities; to give them that balm for which their hearts longed, the blotting out of their sins.
111.
What is the meaning of, the times of the restoration of all things?
112.
How did Peter conclude his message?
113.
What appeal is made by the apostle in the close of this message? What is the strong inference?
Shall we now note an outline of Peter's message?
The circumstances of preaching. Acts 3:11.
Theme: The glorification of God's Servant Jesus.
Introduction: The question of Peter framed as it was to point away from the apostles as a source for the healing. Acts 3:12.
IGod, your Father, has done this through Jesus. Acts 3:13-16.
1.
But you have delivered up this one, you have denied Him. Acts 3:13.
2.
You asked for a murderer instead. Acts 3:14.
3.
You have killed the very Prince of life. Acts 3:15 a.
4.
But God has raised Him from the dead and we are witnesses of this fact. Acts 3:15 b.
5.
It is our faith in Jesus that has performed this miracle. Acts 3:16.
IIHe was put to death in ignorance but in fulfillment of prophecy. Acts 3:17-18.
IIIA call to repentance and obedience for the blotting out of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 3:19.
IVIf obedience is forthcoming the promise of the blessings of the second advent will be yours. Christ must needs remain in heaven until all things which are spoken of Him in the Old Testament have been fulfilled. Acts 3:20-21.
VFurther prophetic proof that Jesus is the Christ. Acts 3:22; Acts 3:24.
1.
Moses and what he said concerning Him. Acts 3:22-23.
2.
All the prophets have spoken of His days. Acts 3:24.
VIA call to the Jews, as sons of the prophets and covenants, to accept Christ and thus enter into all the promises of the prophets and the covenants. Acts 3:25-26.
Luke only gives us a brief resume of the words of Peter. No doubt Peter developed each of these points at great length, and with much application.
114.
What is the theme of Peter's sermon?
115.
Write from memory the main outline of Peter's message.