30th July 2010

Acts 3:11-26 – Peter speaks to the onlookers.

• For the second time Peter addresses a group of people who are stunned by what God has just done.
• Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Peter expresses a number of possible feelings that I would have had if I were him. After this amazing healing he basically rebukes them. Why are they surprised about this he asks if they truly believe in the God they are worshipping?
• He then invokes a simple remez [hint] by reciting “The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers [has glorified his servant Jesus.]”
• They were at the afternoon Minchah prayer and he purposely puts this into his speech because these words are found in the first paragraph of the Amidah – the central section of the Minchah prayer service. He is quoting what they have just prayed!
• The irony it seems was not lost on him.
• Here are a group of religious people praying again for God to reach out to them and yet they could not see His response when it was right in front of them.
• The main reason we miss God’s move in our life is not because we don’t know what a move of God looks like but because we have decided in advance what a move of God looks like.
• Peter then says something that really helps the people to be able to respond: “you acted in ignorance”.
• Peter continues the pattern I saw on the 27th.
• He still loves; telling them they were ignorant is a hugely significant statement. According to their Judaism; In the Torah, certain atonement only covered sins that were unintentional. If their sin was pre-meditated they you were in some very real danger of not having that sin atoned for.
• He links the past to the future and therefore shows how what has just happened was all part of a historical plan. There is still hope!
• He tells them what to do to move on.
• I’m learning so much in these two situations where Peter addresses the crowds in such a way as to move on from the past. To do this he sees the importance of helping them understand. Without understanding they will continue to be ignorant. Ignorance always leads to sin and sin always has really bad consequences for us all.
• Peter does not berate them out of frustration even though they are so fickle; he forgives because he knows that he made the same mistakes.
• He is not better than them; he has just understood a little earlier.