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Thursday 26 October 2023

Acts 2:22,23 - A man accredited by God

2:22

Peter now speaks about Jesus. It is through Jesus that all the prophecies of the Old Testament are fulfilled. Peter refers to Jesus as “a man accredited by God”. God appointed Jesus, so any contrary views we may have are worthless. How did God demonstrate that Jesus was His appointed agent? By the miracles, signs and wonders. Part of the purpose of miracles etc are to demonstrate that God is doing something significant. The people had seen the miracles, the life of Jesus was not a mystery to them, for He had carried out His ministry, including the miracles, in public.


2:23

It is clear in the gospels, especially John’s gospel, that the religious leaders were the main instigators of the crucifixion of Jesus.  Here Peter says “This man was handed over to you ...” So all the people bore some responsibility. Peter also says that this was “by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge”. These events did not take God by surprise, and they were also part of the plan. We also see something of how predestination works. Men were responsible for their actions, but it was God’s plan that was being carried out. “With the help of wicked men”. This probably refers to Israelites who weren’t Jews (i.e. not followers of the religion, just scoundrels) and the Romans. We put Jesus “to death by nailing Him to the cross”. 


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