“Lord Jesus, we pray that we will be bold to present the truth to people, in love. In Your name, we pray. Amen.”
Act 3:11-12 Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch which is called Solomon’s, greatly amazed. (12) So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this?* Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?
Peter gave regard to His audience for their identity as Israelites but his purpose was to present Jesus as Lord and Christ and bring them to faith in Jesus. Act 3:26 To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.”
Though we credit people for who they are, we must be focused on our end purpose, which is to bring people to faith in Jesus.
Peter begins his message with the fact that this crowd knew all about the ministry of Jesus and that He was glorified by God.
Act 3:13-15 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. (14) But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, (15) and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.
Peter did not spare his audience, but he made them take full responsibility for killing the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead.
So, in addressing his audience as ’Men of Israel…’ Peter was bringing across a very clear weight of responsibility for the death of Jesus on this group. They were not being placated for being God’s chosen people. They were God’s chosen people but they had to be confronted with their evil and wickedness.
Our presentation of God’s message to any audience is not to soothe ruffled feathers but to present the truth of Jesus. Yes, as said earlier, we must be led by the Holy Spirit at all times, on how we present Christ in different situations.
This was how Peter dealt with the devout Jewish audience in Acts chapter two. Acts 2:22-23 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know (23) Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death;
We see a similar approach by Paul, as he and Barnabas spoke to the Jews in Antioch, Pisidia. The group were being addressed for who they were, which was children of Abraham, but at the same time, the fact of the unlawful and malicious way the Jews, put to death Jesus, was not overlooked.
Acts 13:26-30 “Men and brethren, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to you the word of this salvation has been sent. (27) For those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they did not know Him, nor even the voices of the Prophets which are read every Sabbath, have fulfilled them in condemning Him. (28) And though they found no cause for death in Him, they asked Pilate that He should be put to death. (29) Now when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb. (30) But God raised Him from the dead.
This way of presenting Christ is contrary to what we see happening. We are afraid to tell our audiences that they must repent and surrender to the lordship of Christ. Yes, we must credit people for who they are but the fact of people rejecting Jesus must be presented unequivocally.
Though the Jews did evil to Jesus, has God rejected them? No. This is the purpose of Peter’s message to this audience. Peter was reaching out to them to return to God.
Romans 11:1-5 I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. (2) God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, (3) “LORD, THEY HAVE KILLED YOUR PROPHETS AND TORN DOWN YOUR ALTARS, AND I ALONE AM LEFT, AND THEY SEEK MY LIFE”? (4) But what does the divine response say to him? “I HAVE RESERVED FOR MYSELF SEVEN THOUSAND MEN WHO HAVE NOT BOWED THE KNEE TO BAAL.” (5) Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
There is a remnant, whom God is gathering to Himself from amongst His people.
As we present Christ to people and confront them for rejecting Jesus, we must give them hope that God is reaching out to them in love, longing for them to be reconciled with Him, however evil and wicked they may be.