Each of You

“While the beggar held on to Peter and John, all the people
were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon’s
Colonnade. When Peter saw this, he said to them: ‘Men of Israel, why does this
surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or
godliness we had made this man walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the
God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over
to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided
to let him go. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a
murderer be released to you. You killed the author of life, but
God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. By faith in the name of
Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name
and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to
him, as you can all see.

“Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance,
as did your leaders. But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through
all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer. Repent, then, and turn
to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may
come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for
you —even Jesus. He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God
to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. For Moses
said. ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from
among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you.
Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from among his
people.’

“Indeed, all the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have
spoken, have foretold these days. And you are heirs of the prophets and
of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, ‘Through
your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.’ When God raised up
his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning
each of you from your wicked ways” (Acts 3:11-26).

I have emphasized the word you in this passage—a word
that is not very important. What God has done through Jesus Christ is what
should be emphasized. The “you” that Peter is speaking to are the Jews in
Jerusalem, with their leaders.

The “you” that killed and disowned the Holy and Righteous
One, the author of life has now been commanded to “repent then, and turn to God
so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the
Lord, and that He may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you—even
Jesus.” And at the end of the chapter we see, “When God raised up His servant,
He sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked
ways.”

Peter is speaking to unregenerate men. He was arrested
before he finished speaking, but 2,000 men received Christ that day. All of
them had been commanded to repent and turn to God, and Jesus was sent to turn
each of them from their wicked ways. We are amazed at the 2,000. We should be
amazed that all of them, each of them, did not repent.

This post coordinates with today’s reading in the Same
Page Summer Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading
plan, please join us at TotheWord.com. We would love to have you reading with
us.