As he clung to Peter and John, all the
people hurried in amazement toward them in the portico called “Solomon’s
Portico.” 12 When Peter saw this, he
addressed the people, “You Israelites, why are you amazed at this, and why do
you look so intently at us as if we had made him walk by our own power or
piety? 13 The God of Abraham, [the
God] of Isaac, and [the God] of Jacob, the God of our ancestors, has glorified
his servant Jesus whom you handed over and denied in Pilate’s presence, when he
had decided to release him. 14 You denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be
released to you. 15 The author of life you put to death, but God raised him from the dead;
of this we are witnesses. 16 And by faith in his name, this man, whom you see and know, his name has
made strong, and the faith that comes through it has given him this perfect
health, in the presence of all of you.
As the people gathered around in amazement, Peter took the opportunity to address the crowd. He began his speech by recalling the names of the revered OT patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Ex. 3:6). God glorified his suffering servant Jesus (Is.52:13 - Is. 53:12) through his death and resurrection. Peter told the people that they put to death the sinless and Holy one of God (Lk. 1:35), the author of life, and released a murderer (Mt. 27:20-22). God’s action led to life; human action led to death. Peter was not condemning the Jewish people but was giving them an opportunity to repent and be converted. Through Jesus’ death God reconciled mankind to himself and opened the door to eternal salvation for all who confess and believe in His son (Rom. 10:9).
Almighty God, in the beginning you gave physical human life to Adam through your Son, and by the incarnation you gave eternal spiritual life to all who love you. Grant, we pray, that we may never spurn so great a gift by taking it for granted and expecting you to serve us and do our will. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990
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