Luke contributed two works to the New Testament, both biographical in nature. In his Gospel, Luke reported the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. In the book of Acts, Luke provided portraits of the work of the Holy Spirit through the apostles and the early church. The earlier account dovetailed into the latter, bridged by the promise and fulfillment of power from on high coming upon the apostles—as Jesus had prophesied in Luke 24:49. Peter’s sermon in Acts 2 is one of the earliest examples of someone looking back to the Old Testament in light of Christ’s death and resurrection. Peter argued that the arrival of the Spirit was directly related to the death and resurrection of Christ—according to the witness of the Old Testament. Peter portrayed Scripture as a storyline that in Christ had reached its climax, signifying the dawn of the last days.
(1) In Acts 2:17-21, Peter declared that the presence of the Spirit upon those gathered in Jerusalem fulfilled Joel’s prophecy that the arrival of the Spirit would signal the last days. Joel prophesied of the day of the Lord, the time when God would intervene to destroy those who opposed Him and rescue the faithful of His people. In Joel 2, the prophet urged his audience to turn to the Lord, saying, “Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave a blessing behind Him, so you can offer grain and wine to the LORD your God” (Joel 2:14). Joel went on to prophesy that the Lord would restore the fortunes of His people, removing their disgrace in the eyes of the surrounding nations (Joel 2:19). Joel announced that the Lord would pour out His Spirit upon young, old, male, female, and slaves so that they would all proclaim God’s presence among them (Joel 2:28-32). When Peter saw the manifestations of the Spirit on those in the temple during Pentecost, his attention was drawn to Joel 2. Peter proclaimed that the Spirit’s presence confirmed that Jesus was the Messiah. Jesus had been raised and then ascended to God’s right hand, pouring out the blessing of God’s Spirit. The events of Pentecost pointed back to what God had revealed of Himself in Jesus’ death and resurrection. While the Jewish leaders killed Jesus for the great acts He had performed, they could not stop God’s plan. The Spirit came upon the people of the Messiah that they might bear witness of Him (John 14:15-26; 16:5-15).
(2) In Acts 2:25-31, Peter stated that when Jesus was raised from the dead, Jesus fulfilled David’s prophecy of resurrection in Ps 16:8-11. In Psalm 16, David wrote a poem of trust in the Lord’s covenant faithfulness. The psalmist concluded by predicting that the Lord would not leave his soul in Hades but show him the path of life and give him pleasure at the Lord’s right hand forever. Peter understood Psalm 16 prophetically, pointing forward to one of David’s descendants, Jesus, who would sit on David’s throne eternally (2 Sam 7:13; Luke 1:32-33).
(3) In Acts 2:34-35, Peter proclaimed that by ascending to the Father, Jesus fulfilled David’s prophecy in Ps 110:1. Psalm 110 describes the enthronement of King David. Seated at God’s right hand, the king enjoyed security and strength as God made the king victorious over his enemies so that he could serve as an eternal priest for the people. Peter reasoned that the presence of the Spirit on those in Jerusalem confirmed that Jesus was at God’s right hand, pouring out God’s blessing upon His people (Acts 2:33). Peter stated that his argument was based on Ps 110:1, “For it was not David who ascended into the heavens, but he himself says: The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies Your footstool’” (Acts 2:34-35). Peter’s use of Ps 110:1 cohered with Jesus’ use of the text (Matt 22:41-46//Mark 12:35-37//Luke 20:41-44) and established a frame of reference employed by the author of Hebrews (Heb 1:13; 8:1; 10:12).
Acts 3-5
After His resurrection, Jesus recalled Peter to ministry on the shores of the Sea of Galilee (John 21:15-19). Within a few weeks, the Spirit empowered Peter in Jerusalem. There and then Peter received a level of courageous speech unmatched in the unfolding of redemptive history. Peter used the Old Testament in his sermons, and his interpretations provide a window for understanding the shift that Jesus’ death and resurrection had brought about in the unfolding of Scripture’s storyline. For Peter and the persecuted believers gathered in Jerusalem, the prophetic witness of the Old Testament pointed to Jesus’ ministry.
(1) In Acts 3:22-23, Peter quoted Deut 18:15-19 to argue that Moses predicted a figure like Jesus would arise and God would speak through Him. In Deut 18:9-22, Moses warned Israel to avoid divination and test prophetic utterances. If a prophet’s word did not come true, the prophet was false. Moses said that the Lord would raise up a prophet from among the people so that God would speak through the prophet and not through His terrifying presence as the Lord had done on Mount Sinai (Exodus 19). After the Lord healed the lame man at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, Peter declared to the people that the ability to heal did not reside in him or John, but Jesus. Those who had witnessed the miracle—those whom Peter identified as “sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your forefathers” (Acts 3:25)—were responsible to believe in the Prophet predicted by Moses in Deut 18:15-19 and listen to Him, to Jesus (Acts 3:22-26).
(2) In Acts 3:25, Peter quoted God’s covenantal promise to Abraham in Gen 12:3, stating that God blessed Abraham’s descendants by raising up Jesus from the dead. In Gen 12:1-3 and 15:1-6, the Lord promised Abraham both land and lineage. Abraham’s descendants would be powerful, blessing the nations. So numerous would be Abraham’s descendants that they would be as the stars in the heavens. Peter addressed the audience that had witnessed the healing of the lame man in the temple as those who were descendants of Abraham. In Peter’s interpretation of the Abrahamic covenant promise, God raised up Jesus and sent Him first to Israel that they would repent, receive the Lord’s blessing, and bless all the families of the earth (Acts 3:24-26).
(3) In Acts 4:11, Peter stated that the rejected stone of Ps 118:22 referred to Jesus. Psalm 118 is a psalm of thanksgiving for God’s mighty deliverance. The psalmist recounted that though mighty nations surrounded him and God’s people, the Lord intervened and made them victorious. While the nations thought themselves builders and attempted to reject Israel, the Lord reversed the fortunes of His people and made Israel the chief cornerstone of His sovereign rule over the nations. When the Jewish leaders arrested Peter and John for preaching Jesus in the temple following the healing of the lame man, Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and confronted them based upon Ps 118:22. Peter portrayed Jesus and not Israel as the cornerstone and said, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Peter’s interpretation of Ps 118:22 reflected Jesus’ use of the verse at the conclusion of the Parable of the Vineyard Owner (Matt 21:42//Mark 12:10-11//Luke 20:17).
(4) In Acts 4:25-26, the church gathered for prayer and confessed that the Jewish and Roman opposition to Jesus was in accord with Ps 2:1-2. In Psalm 2, the psalmist pictured kings and nations coming against Israel and her king. But their plans were futile. The Lord laughed at those who would oppose Him, and the psalmist urged all nations to kiss Israel’s king, God’s son, and make peace before the Lord crushed them in His wrath. Peter and those in his fellowship understood the referents of Ps 2:1-2 as “Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel” (Acts 4:27). Though the Jewish and Roman leadership united against Jesus, the church confessed that the Lord had predetermined Jesus’ death and resurrection. And since God was sovereign over the human schemes that led to Jesus being crucified, the church asked God to show His sovereignty by giving them boldness to testify of Jesus in the face of great opposition (Acts 4:27-30).
Acts Commentary New Testament