Of Which We Are Witnesses

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. But you denied the Holy One and the Just and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. 

Acts 3:13-15 

Our text is a portion of Peter’s second recorded preaching of Christ. He and John had gone up to the temple. As they went they encountered a beggar who had never been able to walk. Peter had gotten the man’s attention and had healed him instantly. This created quite a stir, because the man was apparently well known at the temple. The result was a crowd gathered quickly which afforded Peter the opportunity to preach Christ. Peter used the healing of the man to point to Christ with the words of our text. The first thing Peter does is connect Christ to the God of the Old Testament. The second thing he does is to declare Christ as the Messiah. The third thing he does is charge his audience with the guilt of having rejected, ‘and killed the Prince of life.’ The fourth thing he does is bear witness to the resurrection. During the rest of his discourse, Peter brings the healing of the lame man together with Christ to the point that he calls upon the people to repent, using Old Testament passages to underscore his message. Thus Peter takes advantage of this remarkable circumstance to point people to Christ. Our experience may not be quite as spectacular as Peter’s. Having said that, God does afford us opportunities, as we go about our daily activities to point people to Christ. We testify of Him as these opportunities arise. We can continue to proclaim Christ as the only Redeemer. We are not Peter, but we know Peter’s Christ.  

Our Gracious God and our Savior, 
we rejoice that You have given the message of Christ to Your people. 
We praise You that in every generation, 
You give us opportunity to make much of Him. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning