Sermon Tone Analysis

Main Point: There is only one Jesus that can save and he must be central to every message we give.

This is Jesus

Last week, we witnessed Peter stand up in front of a crowd of at least 3,000 Jews to explain to them what had just happened.

We heard Peter describe an Old Testament prophecy from Joel which told of this very day, the day that the Holy Spirit of God would come and indwell His people.

Today, we are going to hear the second part of Peter’s first sermon.

Once the groundwork was laid for the event that drew people to disciples, Peter would drive home the centrality of the true Jesus, just like a carpenter takes a hammer and drives a nail into the wood.

He would ensure that no one would leave that place without knowing exactly who Jesus is and why He matters.

Even as we look at the structure of Peter’s sermon, Jesus Christ is right at the center.

The sermon is in three sections: (1) He explains the event of Pentecost and the coming of the Spirit, (2) He fully proclaims Jesus (his life, death, resurrection, and ascension), and (3) then finishes with a call to repentance.

But he doesn’t just proclaim who Jesus is… Peter also ensures they understand the correct version of Jesus.

This reminds me of the 1997 movie, Face Off.

The basic plot of the movie involves two main characters: the terrorist sociopath, Castor Troy (initially played by Nicolas Cage) and the mission-obsessed FBI Agent, Sean Archer (initially played by John Travolta).

In the movie, Castor Troy is initially captured and knocked into a coma before he could be interrogated to reveal the location of a bomb in LA.

The only other person who knows the bomb’s location is Castors’ brother, who is in prison.

So, to get the information, Sean undergoes a radical surgery, where Castor’s face is removed and implanted on to Sean.

His body is then surgically altered to look like Castor’s body and they even implant a chip so that Sean’s voice matches Castor’s voice.

As you would probably guess, the real Castor wakes from his coma, realizes what has happened, and forces the doctors to give him Sean’s face, body, and vocals.

The rest of the story unfolds the battle between the two and the confusion that ensues as they each assume the other’s identities.

Sean (who looks like Caster) is imprisoned, while Caster (who looks like Sean) tries to assimilate into his life, living with his wife and daughter.

You can imagine the horror the real Sean must be living in with that knowledge.

So, you may be wondering why I am telling you this story.

Well, in the movie, you have two guys.

One looks like the other.

He sounds like him, he even mimics the same mannerisms, but he isn’t the other person.

The bad guy is still the bad guy, because he is a bad guy.

As he spends time with the good guy’s family, they begin to notice.

During this biblical story, there was a massive misunderstanding who the Messiah was.

The Jews (and even the disciples for a time) thought that the Messiah was supposed to be a military ruler who would come to vanquish Rome and establish his eternal rule.

Therefore, at least in part, they rejected Jesus because he didn’t fit this model.

In our day, there is even more confusion after nearly 2,000 years of misinformation and the twisting of the real Christ by other religions.

So, which Jesus are We Talking About?

Before we move any further, we have to get this part right.

New Age Jesus - an enlightened master like Buddha or Confucius who’s power showed how he tapped into the cosmic powers of the universe to attain a higher level of consciousness…and who has shown us how to do the same?

Islam’s Jesus - A respected and beloved Prophet, but was a prophet in line with other, Old Testament prophets who paved the way for Muhammad to reveal Allah’s final revelation in the Quran?

Jehovah’s Witness’ Jesus - created by Jehovah and formally the Archangel Michael (before the creation), then a man (but not God), and resurrected spiritually (not physically).

The Mormon Jesus - The first created being and brother to Lucifer as conceived between Yahweh (who used to be a devout mormon from another planet and became ruler of this plant as a reward) and one of his wives?

Cultural Christianity’s Jesus - The one who will abandon the attributes of justice and moral accountability for the ultimate revelation that love wins over all, no matter what depraved form that may take?

Biblical Jesus - as we will discuss and confirm during our time together today.

You see, you MUST have both.

You must keep Jesus Christ at the center, but it must also be the correct version, because the Jesus of Holy Scripture is the ONLY Jesus that can save you from eternal damnation.

Passage & Outline

Proof from Jesus’ Life [v 2:22]

Proof from Jesus’ Death [v 2:23]

Proof from Jesus’ Resurrection [vv 2:24-32]

Proof from Jesus’ Ascension [vv 2:33-36]

Proof from Jesus’ Life

[the miracles he performed: Acts 2:22]

Listen to my words...

The supernatural phenomenon of wind and speaking in multiple languages drew the crowd to Peter.

Now, Peter tells the crowd to listen to the words he is about to speak.

The main thrust of this day was the proclamation of the gospel, which is centered on the person of Jesus Christ.

Jesus was:

A man.

Peter appealed to His humanity, which would have been palatable to the audience.

He was warming up the crowd to deliver the hard-hitting news that was coming up next.

From Nazareth.

A place that was approximately 55 miles to the north of Jerusalem.

Most would have known and understood.

Unfortunately, it was not a very desirable place and many held it in low esteem.

Even in scripture, we see people saying things like, “Nazareth?

Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”

Attested by God.

In the eyes of the Jews, this would have affirmed Jesus as at least a good man and Prophet, which He was.

Perhaps Peter was getting them to say YES to one fact so that they were buttered up to say YES to the fullness of who Jesus is, which he will go on to explain.

Or, at least in light of the current controversy, he was showing them that Jesus wasn’t a villain since he was approved by God himself.

Through miracles, signs, and wonders.

It’s possible that the news of the resurrection of Jesus had not fully extended out to the surrounding regions, but certainly the news of His miracles over the past three years had.

These miracles should have verified his claim, but many rejected him even still.

The man born blind, whom Jesus healed, understood this:

In a nutshell, these three things should have produced:

Miracles = supernatural events performed by God through Him.

Signs = meant to point the people to something (or someone) specific

Wonders = the only appropriate response to the first two points

Unfortunately, this was not the case for most of them…yet.

But don’t worry, Peter still has plenty more to say.

Proof from Jesus’ Death

[as ordained by God, and as carried out by man: Acts 2:23]

Jesus’ death was revealed in advance in other places in Scripture (see Lk. 22:22, 37; 24:26, 46; Acts 3:18; 4:25–28; 17:2–3; 26:22–23).

God planned it

Like it or not, God the Father pre-planned and ordain the slaughter of Jesus.

It come with the territory of being Omniscient.

The harmony of scripture declares this attribute.

For instance, take a look at Isaiah 46 which says that God is the one who declares the end from the beginning…from ancient times what is still to come.

Why would God plan the murder of His Son?

Because that was the ultimate plan of redemption.

This isn’t cosmic child abuse as some have argued.

Hardly.

Actually, it is the complete opposite.

The murder of Jesus (which He did so willingly, I might add), is the ultimate act of love from the Father AND the Son, because it shows their complete unity in the overarching plan of redemption.

It grieved the Father to see the Son suffer.

Jesus experienced horrors we could never understand, and yet, it pleased the Father to crush Jesus because of what it would accomplish and Jesus endured it with joy because he knew the people that it would eternally secure in His kingdom!

So we are not going to try and get God off the hook for something he has intentionally done.

God is completely sovereign.

In fact, the very definition of the word is complete and exhaustive control.

It is impossible to be a little sovereign or even mostly sovereign.

You are either sovereign or not sovereign.

There is no in-between.

God also does not look into the future in order to understand outcomes or human decisions.

The words used don’t allow for such thinking: ‘Predetermined’ (having determined something in advance) and ‘Foreknowledge’ (knowing all the details from the very beginning).

Our family went on vacation to New Jersey this summer.