2:31
Peter now declares that David was looking forward to the resurrection of the Messiah. The mistake of some of the Jews was to think that the Old Testament events were it, they were the full and final fulfillment of the promises. However, there were Jews who recognised that what they had could not be “it”, but they were still looking for the “old wineskins” to hold the new wine. So when something radically different came along, ie Jesus, they failed to recognise it. We need to beware of thinking that what we have experienced so far is all we can experience. Nothing that God does will be in contradiction to what He has said or done in the past, but we must never imagine that we have seen it all. This is a criticism I would make of the preterist (and partial preterist) school of interpretation of Revelation. There is much to be gained by understanding Revelation in the context of the first century, and in the context of Old Testament prophecy, but there seems to be a tendency to get stuck there.
However, David was declaring that Messiah would not be abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor would His body see decay. The resurrection was not a mere resuscitation.
2:32
God reveals Himself and His purposes by His actions, and He did this supremely by raising Christ from the dead. Moreover, the disciples were all witnesses to the fact. This was not an idea, or a way of thinking, but a hard fact. Jesus was raised from the dead, and it was provable.
2:33
The “promised Holy Spirit” is reference back to the quote from Joel 2:28-32, where God promises to pour on His Spirit on all people. In John’s gospel Jesus told His disciples that He had to return to the Father in order for Him to be able to send the Holy Spirit to us (John 16:7). After His ascension Jesus was exalted to the right hand of the Father. He was then given authority to pour out the Holy Spirit on us. We see that what takes place in heaven has a real effect here on earth.
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