Fear and Dread, Yet a Pardoning God (Matt. 3:11-26)

Introduction

English Standard Version Chapter 3

11 While he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s. 12 And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? 13 The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. 14 But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. 16 And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.

17 “And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. 19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, 20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, 21 whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. 22 Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. 23 And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’ 24 And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days. 25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ 26 God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”

This week we’re picking up where we left off in Acts chapter 3 in Jerusalem at the Temple in front of the Beautiful Gate where a man who had been lame from birth was miraculously made to walk after Peter told him, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” And we’re told that Peter “took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.” (Acts 3:7-8)

And in our last time, my aim was first, to consider the fundamental purposes behind miracles, and second, the purpose and significance of this particular miracle in Acts chapter 3; to answer the following questions, What purposes do miracles serve? and Why did Peter heal this particular man? Now, we spent most of our time answering that first question, that miracles testify to the miracle worker’s authority, such as with Jesus or his disciples, or as Peter put it back in Acts chapter 2, that Jesus had been “attested to [them] by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in [their] midst.” In other words, the miracles bore witness to who Jesus was, his authority, and the truthfulness of his claims. Likewise, this miracle, recorded here in Acts chapter 3, bore witness to the authority given to the Apostle Peter by Jesus.

We also pointed out that miracles were often performed out of compassion to those who benefited from them. That Peter and John did not ignore this lame beggar sitting on the steps leading up into the temple, that they did not avert their gaze like most of the people likely would have done, but like Jesus were likely motivated by compassion for this man, because, clearly, this miracle brought this man great relief and great joy.

Why did Peter heal this particular man?

But we didn’t spend any time considering Why Peter healed this particular man? Was it only as a result of their compassion for him? Did it only serve to bear witness to the authority given to them by Jesus? It certainly served those purposes, but it also served another specific purpose. It served the purpose of prophetic fulfillment. Which is what I want us to consider specifically today.

You see, most of the events recorded for us in the Book of Acts serve to demonstrate prophetic fulfillment. In other words, the miracle here in Acts 3 isn’t done in isolation from the rest of Scripture, but in concert with it. There’s a reason Peter chose to approach a lame man, take him by the hand, and raise him up, rather than walk around the Temple complex and ask everyone if they had any ailments that they could heal, like many of the self-proclaimed faith healers do today. No, they had a particular objective at hand, and it wasn’t to draw attention to themselves or to boast of their great power, but to proclaim the kingdom of God and the forgiveness of sin. And so my point is that this particular miracle was also intended to serve that overarching purpose.

To illustrate what I mean, I want you to consider for a moment what Jesus told John the Baptist while he was in prison. If you’ve read the Gospel of Matthew or the Gospel of Luke you might recall an event during Jesus’ ministry when John the Baptist sent two of his disciples to see Jesus, while John was in prison, in order to ask Jesus whether he was, in fact, the Christ, or if they should look for another.

Now, at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry John, without hesitation, identified Jesus as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." (John 1:29) However, after John was later thrown into prison for rebuking Herod in public, he seemed to have a moment of crisis or confusion, and as a result sent two of his disciples to Jesus in order to confirm whether he was the Christ or not, or if they should look for another. Listen to the account beginning in Matthew 11:1-6,

English Standard Version Chapter 11

11 When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.

2 Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. 6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

Now, if you’re not very familiar with the OT, especially the prophets, much of what Jesus told John’s disciples will be lost on you. You might ask yourself, how did Jesus’ response reassure John’s conviction that Jesus was the lamb of God? Now, you might simply assume that Jesus’ ability to perform miracles at all was sufficient to reassure John, and while you wouldn’t be completely wrong, you would be missing a very important element to Jesus’ argument.

You see, what’s significant about Jesus’ response is that he’s essentially quoting from Isaiah 35:5-6 when he said that “the blind receive their site and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.” Why is that significant? Because it meant that Jesus wasn’t performing just any miracles, but was fulfilling the ministry previously foretold by the prophet Isaiah. In other words, the miracles that Jesus was performing conformed to Isaiah’s prophetic blueprint of Israel’s future deliverance.

Now, you may have already noticed that one of those miracles, included in Isaiah, corresponds to the miracle we find here in Acts 3 where Peter heals a man who had been lame since birth. This isn’t a coincidence, rather this is likely why Peter would have healed this particular man, who was lame from birth. And while I don’t presume to know Peter’s precise thought process at the time, as it relates to when it was appropriate or fitting to perform miracles, I do know that he was undoubtedly familiar with the messianic blueprints articulated by the prophets (such as Isaiah), in addition to his time with Jesus during his earthly ministry, and I have no doubt that both those messianic blueprints and Jesus’ fulfillment of those blueprints played a fundamental role in his motivation and reasoning as he sought to bear witness to Christ after he had ascended into heaven.

So, what I want you to see is that the history of the early church isn’t merely a highlight reel of exciting, but arbitrary, events, but that the events of the early church were a fulfillment of OT prophecy, down to the type of miracles performed by the disciples, prophecy that had indicated a future time when Israel would experience restoration and blessing, just as the prophets, like Isaiah, had foretold hundreds of years earlier. A time of restoration that began at Pentecost and continues to this day, until Christ returns to finish the work the started.

Peter’s second sermon

Now, this miracle also became an occasion for Peter’s second sermon, an occasion to explain to the people what they were witnessing, an occasion to call them to repentance for their actions, an occasion to embrace Christ. Just as Peter had explained the events of Pentecost to them in chapter 2, he explains the reason for this man’s healing here in chapter 3, in order to call the people of Jerusalem to repentance and faith in Christ.

Look at what Peter says beginning there in verse 12,

English Standard Version Chapter 3

“Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? 13 The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. 14 But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. 16 And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.

Notice how Peter expects the crowd to react when he says, “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us?” He knows a miracle like this will draw attention, and he doesn’t ask why they’re amazed, as if it were strange to be in awe of a lame man walking. Instead, he’s saying, “You shouldn’t be surprised—this is what happens when the risen Christ works through faith in His name.” In other words, he’s challenging their assumption that this miracle happened as a result of their own piety or power, and tells them that “the faith that is through Jesus has given this man perfect health in the presence of them all.”

Healing connected to Jesus and recent events

Peter wants them to see that this miracle is connected to certain recent events and to a certain person, namely faith in Jesus, whom they delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, whom they killed, but whom God raised from the dead, and to which they are witnesses. You see, the man they put to death, God vindicated by raising him from the dead, and it’s by faith in his name that this man has been made strong, whom you see and know. To put it another way, this miracle bears witness against them, that Jesus isn’t dead, that he’s alive, that they murdered an innocent man, and not just any innocent man, a man in whose name can cause the lame to walk, and a man who still lives!

The fear and dread of Joseph’s brothers

Now I want you to consider for a moment the fear and dread those circumstances would have elicited within the minds these men of Israel. Most of us are familiar with the story of Joseph and his eleven brothers, Jacob’s twelve sons. Well, Genesis 37:3-4 tells us that Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he was the firstborn of his beloved wife Rachel, and so he made Joseph a robe many colors.

Now, you can imagine how his brother’s felt about this, the text says that they hated him for it, and as a result, they conspired to kill him, but luckily for Joseph his brother Reuben intervened. However, Joseph’s salvation didn’t last for long, while Reuben was away the rest of the brothers opportunistically decided to sell Joseph to some Ishmaelite traders that were passing by and headed to Egypt.

Eventually word got back to Jacob that Joseph is missing, but the brothers lied to him and told their father that they had found Joseph’s coat of many colors covered in blood, and that a fierce animal had devoured him, and that Joseph was undoubtedly torn into pieces.

Now, while everyone had assumed Joseph was dead, those Ishmaelite traders had sold Joseph into slavery in Egypt, but rather than perishing, Joseph eventually received his freedom and climbed the ranks of the Egyptian government until he was second in command only to Pharoah. God had preserved Joseph’s life despite the wickedness done to him by his brothers.

Eventually, as a result of a prolonged famine in the region, Jacob’s sons traveled to Egypt to buy food from Pharoah, but unexpectedly and unbeknownst to them they ended up buying food from their brother Joseph. They didn’t recognize him at first, not until they returned a second time to buy more food, and you can imagine their shock when they did. Here’s their brother years later running the most powerful nation on the planet, and they’re begging him for food in order to survive. Oh, how the tables had turned. In fact, their fear and dread of what Joseph might due to them, knowing what they had done to him, prompted them to fabricate a story that their father had commanded them to write a letter pleading with Joseph to forgive his brothers.

The fear and dread of the men of Israel

The men of Israel here in Acts 3 found themselves in a similar situation. They had put an innocent man to death, and thought they had gotten away with it, but God preserved Jesus’ life and raised him up from the grave, who afterward appeared to more than 500 of his disciples, until finally ascending to the right hand of Power in heaven. (Matt. 26:64) And this would have been increasingly evident to them, as signs and wonders descended upon the city of Jerusalem at Pentecost, and as the disciples began to perform many mighty works in their midst, all in the name of Jesus Christ. In other words, the man they thought was dead and buried, was no longer in the grave. And like Joseph’s brothers they undoubtedly were filled with fear and dread of what Jesus might do to them, knowing what they had done to him.

And Peter didn’t refrain from piling it on. He reminded them that it was “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of [their] fathers, [who] glorified his servant Jesus, whom [they] delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when had decided to release him.” That Jesus wasn’t just any ordinary man, buy that they “denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to [them], [that they] killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead.”

Now I want you to think about that for a minute, to consider the implications of what Peter highlights there. They not only executed a righteous man, but they demanded the release of a guilty man in exchange for him. They preferred a murderer over the Holy and Righteous One, they’d rather have a murderer than the Author of Life! What’s further revealing about this is that it teaches us something about human nature, that while unregenerate man can dress up and make himself look moral and respectable, that underneath all of it there’s a heart that has the capacity for great evil if given the opportunity or backed into a corner. That when pressed, our sinful nature would rather keep company with a murderer than with the Author of Life.

Ignorance

Now, Peter anticipated their mounting fear and dread as their present circumstances inevitably dawned on them. So, listen to what he said there in verse 17,

English Standard Version Chapter 3

17 “And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled.

In other words, after Peter piled on the guilt, he let off the gas to keep them from becoming hopeless unto despair, so he told them, “And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers.” Now Peter isn’t giving them a free pass, he isn’t saying that due to their ignorance that they won’t be held accountable for their actions.

Thomas Aquinas distinguished between two kinds of ignorance, invincible ignorance and vincible ignorance. Invincible ignorance is a type of ignorance that a person cannot overcome, it’s invincible. Let me give you an example, if a city council passed an ordinance in secret, criminalizing a certain activity, and neglected to make that ordinance publicly available they could not rightly hold anyone accountable for violating it. Why? Because it would be impossible to know the contents of that ordinance or that it evens exists. Therefore, no one can be held liable for their ignorance of the ordinance. Their ignorance of the law is invincible, it cannot be overcome.

Whereas, vincible ignorance is ignorance that can be overcome, it’s not invincible. Vincible ignorance is ignorance that could have been overcome with reasonable effort. For example, when I travel to another country it’s my responsibility to become familiar with that country’s laws and regulations. They’re not going to let me off the hook when I break their laws by merely pleading ignorance, because my ignorance could have been reasonably overcome, it’s not invincible.

Without excuse

There are many people who claim to be agnostic, that is, they plead ignorance as it relates to God’s existence, that they simply don’t know. The agnostic says, “If God would have just made himself known to me I would believe, if he had just shown me a miracle, or provided me with enough evidence I would have believed and followed him.” The agnostic blames God for his unbelief, and thinks that his ignorance will get him off the hook, but Scripture teaches us otherwise, that we all know that he exists, as the Apostle Paul puts it in Romans 1:19-20,

English Standard Version Chapter 1

19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

You see, the men of Israel had everything they needed to recognize the Messiah, they had everything they needed at their disposal, recorded for them in the Scriptures. Their ignorance wouldn’t save them, but what Peter was saying is that he recognized that they didn’t fully understand the gravity of their actions, as a segway to offer them pardon, he intended to open for them a door for repentance. Just ask Jesus, at his crucifixion, said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,” he wasn’t letting them off the hook, but despite their guilt he still offered them pardon.

Model for evangelism

Peter’s preaching here is a model to follow for everyone who intendeds to share the Gospel with others effectively. Notice how Peter firmly holds their feet to the fire, how he appeals to their conscience, how he does not fear offending them, and how he doesn’t sugarcoat their guilt before God, but he does all of this with a good purpose in mind, not to see them despair unto hopelessness or to see them destroyed or to exalt himself, but to see them despair of their own circumstances enough to repent and come to Christ. You see, no man will ever come to Christ as long as he’s content to think he’s not in need of him. Men must despair of our circumstances before they will come to Christ. This is why, for example, you see people become more sensitive to the Gospel when tragedy strikes, when their life starts to fall apart, during a moment of crisis.

What you meant for evil God meant for good

Now, notice what Peter says next in verse 18, he tells them what Joseph told his brothers when they feared what he might do to them, that what you meant for evil God meant for good. That despite their wicked actions, “what God had foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled.” (Acts 3:18) In other words, despite their wicked actions that made them guilty, God had brought about what he had planned from the beginning, that Christ would redeem them through his death. That their evil had given way to their salvation. (Calvin) What they intended for evil God intended for good. This is one of the most profound mysteries in all of Scripture, this doctrine which we call concurrence. This is why the Apostle Paul writes later in 1 Corinthians 2:8, that “none of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”

In these last days God has spoken to us by his Son

Therefore, Peter goes on in verse 19 to offer them pardon for their actions,

English Standard Version Chapter 3

19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, 20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, 21 whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. 22 Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. 23 And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’ 24 And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days. 25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ 26 God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”

The disciples were not calling the men of Jerusalem to follow a new teaching or a new religion, but to follow the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; they were calling them to follow and obey the Prophet of whom Moses wrote in Deuteronomy 18 that, “the Lord their God would would raise up for them a prophet like himself from among their brothers. That they should listen to him in whatever he tells them. And that it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from among the people.”

Now, when the Moses initially spoke those words it was primarily a reference to the prophets that God would raise up after him for the nation of Israel, that this would be how God would make his will known to Israel, through prophets, but as time went on the Jews had come to recognize that those word’s were ultimately a reference to the Messiah, that God would ultimately raise up a prophet greater than Moses. This is why, for instance, the people asked John the Baptist whether he was that prophet, and he answered that he was not.

So, Peter’s point here is that Jesus is that prophet, foretold by Moses, that they should therefore listen to him, and that if they don’t that they will be destroyed from among the people. If you call, on the Mount of Transfiguration when Jesus was transfigured and his face shown like the sun and his clothes became as white as light, a voice came from heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son, which I am well pleased; listen to him. Or what the writer of Hebrews says at the outset of his letter, that “long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.” (Hebrews 1:1-2)

Conclusion

And we know now, in hindsight, that those who did not obey him were indeed destroyed from among the people just a few decades late in AD 70 when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Roman army. However, this warning was not only for those unbelieving Jews in the first century, but that warning still stands for us today, for anyone who is found unbelieving among us. That the destruction of Jerusalem foreshadows final judgment, when Christ comes against to judge the living and the dead. Therefore, let no one among us be found having an unbelieving heart. Let none of us think that our ignorance can save us.

Prayer