Acts 2:14-41

Acts 2:14-41

Imagine that you were part of the crowd that screamed for Pilate to condemn Jesus’ to death. Now on the day of Pentecost, the apostle Peter preaches to you about how Jesus was foretold in the Old Testament, how Jesus proved he was the Messiah by performing miracles, but despite those clear signs – you yelled for his execution. Despite your hate, however, God raised him from the dead and Jesus is now exalted at the right hand of God. If you heard that Jesus is now alive and well after you viciously denounced him, what would your reaction be? Fear of retribution? Terror of justice?

The crowd displayed those emotions to Peter after his convicting message. Verse 37 recounts their horrified question – “Brothers, what shall we do?” Is there any hope? Did God want to severely punish the murderers of his son? On the contrary! Peter said that God actually wanted to save those Jews. His answer to their frightened cries was “Repent and be baptized… for the forgiveness of your sins” (Vs. 38). So the very first converts to Christianity were actually the people who killed Jesus in the first place!

Because all of us share blame in the death of Jesus Christ because of our sin, we all deserve God’s punishment. But amazingly, God desires to use that horrible story as a message of hope. Since the first people who were baptized were the original killers of God’s son, surely that gives us hope that whatever we have done to God in our past, He will gladly forgive us and make us His own.