These next few verses are actually part of the previous passage, Peter continuing his conversation with the people amazed at the lame man’s healing. Let us continuing learning from from the apostles in Acts 3:17-26.
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.”
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Looking more closely at Acts 3:17-26
When we left Peter, he was telling the onlookers what they did. It’s a damning statement, that they rejected the Holy One. As Peter said “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.“
Acts 3:17
But then he goes on to say this “And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers.” If I heard that, I would feel both ashamed and yet relieved. He knew we were just being stupid! Having a monumental brain fart. Can you imagine someone realizing our vast ignorance? Granted, he first called us to account, but then said he realized we were just being ignoramuses. But not just us, part of the generic masses, but also those in leadership over us. All of us just being ignorant.
Acts 3:18
I don’t know if this is meant to be a relief from the guilt of being ignorant or not, but Peter tells it straight up. But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled.
God knew this would happen. He foretold it. And then fulfilled it. So the ignorance we showed in allowing Christ to be sacrificed was all part of God’s plan.
Why was this all part of God’s plan?
Acts 3:18
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.
So that when we come in repentance our sins can be blotted out. So they won’t be seen anymore. Blotters are used to absorb ink, or to document investment trades. But we aren’t talking about that sort of blotting, but of sin being blotted out.. wiped away, stains being removed, not just covered up or documented in some way, but completely wiped away.
Acts 3:22-24
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.
Do you see it? Moses said what God was going to do. God would raise up a prophet who should be listened to. Not listening to him has grave consequences. And every single prophet that followed Moses has spoken to that same truth.
Acts 3:25
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.’
So just who are we (the audience) that sacrificed Christ? We are the offspring of Abraham, people with whom God made a covenant so that the all families of the earth are blessed. Do you understand that? If you are loved of by God, you are blessed.
Acts 3:26
26 God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”
Hmmm… this verse eh? We who sacrificed Christ, who allowed a really bad guy to go free, are the first to have this chance. What chance? To be blessed as we are turned away from our wickedness. It’s not us doing that turning but God turning us. We just can’t do it on our own you know? That internal wickedness is so built into us, but then God comes along with this fantastic plan whose end result it to turn us from our wickedness.
I can’t wait to see what we’re going to learn about next. What about you?
To see that despite our ignorance in killing God’s most beloved son, which he knew we would do, God’s plan for us hasn’t changed. He wants to turn us away from our wickedness. It’s an amazing story of love isn’t it? Isn’t it good to learn more of God’s love for us and his plan for our lives?
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