Last week we read that Peter and John healed a lame man. When an astonished crowd gathered, it was time for a speech!
“The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Servant Jesus; whom you delivered up, and denied before the face of Pilate, when Pilate had determined to release him. You denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted unto you, and killed the Prince of life; whom God raised from the dead, whereof we are witnesses.[1]And by faith in his Name has his Name made this man strong, whom you see and know: the faith which is through him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.
The good news: Jesus, the Prince of Life, the long awaited Messiah, healed that man. The bad news: you killed him. This week, we are picking up from there.
“Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance (when you crucified Jesus), as did your leaders.[2]
Ancient Near East thinking had a legal principle that ignorance removes culpability. Judaism had a variation on that. In Jewish thinking, ignorance lessens blame but doesn’t remove guilt in the sense that wrong things still happened and they must be addressed.
“Now if the whole congregation/a leader/one of the common people of Israel strays unintentionally…and they violate any of the LORD’s commandments and incur guilt by doing what is forbidden, when they become aware of the sin they have committed, then [they] must bring [an offering]. (Leviticus 4)
Even if they didn’t mean to do it, it happened, and it must be addressed. There’s a line in Hamlet where he says to another character, whom he had wronged: “I shot an arrow over the house and hurt my brother.” It’s that idea. He didn’t mean to hit him, but he did – maybe he shouldn’t have been casually shooting arrows over a house? - and now that he is aware, there needs to be a repentant response.
* * * * *
“I know that you acted in ignorance (when you crucified Jesus), as did your leaders. But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer.”
To a Jewish audience, Peter points to the prophecies of suffering Messiah. He will cite Deuteronomy 18:15 in v. 22. He could have added Isaiah 53 (#sufferingservant), Psalm 16:8–11 (#resurrection), and Psalm 22 (#crucifixion). Contrary to the Zealot’s hope, Jesus was a Messiah who would save the world through giving His own blood instead of taking the blood of others. The Messiah was arriving in the power of cruciform love.
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Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus.
The idea of blotting out had roots in Israel’s Scriptures and rituals. In Numbers 5, a priest literally washed ink from a scroll into water, erasing the written curse as part of a judgment ritual. In Psalm 51, David pleads for God to “blot out” his transgressions, using the language of wiping a wax tablet clean, while Isaiah 43 and 44 picture God blotting out sins as effortlessly as a cloud vanishing from the sky.
The people had said, “His blood be upon us, and upon our children” (Matthew 27:25). They are going to need some “blotting out” of the curse they called upon themselves. To hear that sins could be “blotted out” was to hear that the record of transgression could be erased, the cloud of guilt could dissipate, and the covenant relationship could be fully renewed.
This repentance brings times of refreshing, which could mean, according to various commentaries: the gift of the Holy Spirit; the ongoing, renewing presence of Jesus; life in the age to come; the millennial reign of Jesus (depending on your view of End Times); a window of time before the fall of the Temple in AD 70.[3]
Though people disagree on some points on that list, this much is clear: a refreshing repentance involves turning away from sin and turning toward God in faith. The image in the original language is that of changing direction. I was going that way; I have pivoted and am not going this way. It’s an active change of habit and lifestyle that reflects the goodness of life in the Kingdom of God.
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He has blotted out by his authority the bill of our debts which was adverse to us and he took it from the midst and nailed it to his cross. Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised from ages past[4] through his holy prophets.
“Restoring everything” (apokatastasis) is reversal of brokenness: order instead of chaos, peace where there is strife, a groaning creation restored and whole. The Prophets foretold this:
“The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them… They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:6-9)
How thoroughly does water cover the sea? Entirely. Is “the earth” referring to Israel? Humanity? The entire cosmos? Church history has been full of speculation. This is for sure: It points to a renewal of creation (think of the New Heaven and New Earth in Revelation) and the restoration of God’s children. Adam Clarke has a good summary.
In Acts 1:6, when the disciples said to Christ, “Will you at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” they meant, “Will you take the kingdom from the Romans, and give it back to the Jews?” But [the restitution of all things] must mean the accomplishment of all the prophecies and promises contained in the Old Testament relative to the kingdom of Christ upon earth…
The grace of the Gospel was intended to destroy the reign of sin; its energetic influence is represented as restoring all things, destroying the bad state, and establishing the good, taking the kingdom out of the hands of sin and Satan, and putting it into [the hands] of righteousness and truth.
In every believing soul, all things are restored… and the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keeps the heart and mind in the knowledge and love of God…Jesus Christ comes to raise up humanity from a state of ruin, and restore to us the image of God, as we possessed it at the beginning.” (Adam Clarke)
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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 their people.’ Indeed, beginning with Samuel, all the prophets[5] who have spoken have foretold these days.[6]
His argument is basically that taking Moses seriously will lead to a true belief in Jesus.[7] Jesus was the new and better Moses, a law-giver of new law that would build upon and then supersede the old law. [8]
* * * * *
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.’[9] When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”
This is full of hopeful promise. While they may be guilty, they are the heirs of the promise made to Abraham that through them all peoples on earth shall receive blessings.[10] Peter had not yet had the vision to take this message to the Gentiles (Acts 10),[11] so it is possible that Peter did not yet appreciate the full scope of this promise. Everyone, everywhere would benefit from the presentation of Jesus. Like Jesus said, he would draw all people to himself. [12]
Paul will eventually teach that all those who follow Jesus are now “Abraham’s offspring” (Galatians 3:16, 29), the ones through whom God intends to bless the nations. And that’s us More on that in a minute.
I thought I might try to offer this in one smooth presentation of the passage with all the commentary we just covered blended in. I think it’s helpful to go through each part, but then it’s easy to lose sight of the forest for all of the trees. Let’s check out the forest before we hit some closing points.
Acts 3:17–26, Rewritten with Commentary Embedded
Brothers and sisters, I know you acted in ignorance when you rejected Jesus—and I know your leaders did the same. If you had truly recognized Him as the Messiah, you would not have crucified Him. Even so, ignorance doesn’t erase responsibility.
You still bear guilt. But take heart: your sin is not beyond forgiveness. Remember, even as Jesus was dying, He prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Yet all of this—your rejection, His suffering, His death—was not outside of God’s control.
This is precisely what God foretold long ago through His prophets: that the Messiah would suffer. You’ve read of Isaiah’s Servant “pierced for our transgressions” (Isaiah 53). You’ve prayed the Psalms that describe His crucifixion (Psalm 22) and His resurrection (Psalm 16).
You didn’t realize it then, but all of that pointed to Him. So now, repent. Turn away from sin and turn toward God. Do this so your sins may be wiped away—blotted out, erased like ink wiped off parchment. The record of guilt that condemns you, the handwriting of your debts, will be destroyed.
Think of Israel’s rituals, when the curse written in a book was washed away with bitter water. God offers something greater—the erasure of every accusation against you by the cleansing of his blood. Repentance is not loss. It leads to life. It opens the floodgates of refreshment from the Lord.
That refreshment may come as the Spirit’s presence filling you, as the healing you’ve longed for, as renewal of your soul, or as the foretaste of the kingdom still to come. And in the end, when the time is right, God will send the Messiah once more.
But for now, heaven must hold Him, until the day comes for God to restore all things. Remember what the prophets promised: creation renewed, peace between wolf and lamb (Isaiah 11), a new heaven and earth (Isaiah 65), the restoration even of those once cast off (Ezekiel 16).
That is restoration: a world once ruined, brought back to its true order, humanity restored to the image of God. The grace of the gospel destroys the reign of sin and Satan, and gives the kingdom back to righteousness and truth. That restoration will fill the whole earth, as Scripture itself promises.
Moses told our ancestors, “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.” Moses was pointing to the final Prophet, the true Mediator, the new Lawgiver. To listen to Him is to remain in covenant blessing; to refuse Him is to cut yourself off from life itself.
From Samuel onward, every prophet spoke of these days. Samuel anointed David, to whom God promised an everlasting kingdom. You are heirs of those promises. God said to Abraham, “Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.” That offspring is Christ—and through Him the blessing now extends to all nations.
And notice the order of grace: God raised up His Servant, Jesus, and sent Him first to you—to bless you by turning each of you from your wickedness. You, the children of the covenant, the ones who called for His blood, are the first invited to receive the mercy provided by His blood.
And in turning back, you will not only find forgiveness—you will discover the life of faith, love, joy, and hope that He gives.
* * * * *
So where does that leave us?
First, it means we live in hope. That the people could be forgiven for killing Jesus ought to give all of us hope. It’s hard to imagine a greater crime than deicide. And yet here is Peter – who had betrayed Jesus himself – reminding them of the mercy of God. I was thinking of this great song by Julie Miller called “Broken Things.”
“You can have my heart, though it isn't new
It's been used and broken, and only comes in blue
It's been down a long road, and it got dirty along the way
If I give it to you, will you make it clean and wash the shame away?
You can have my heart, if you don't mind broken things
You can have my life; you don't mind these tears
Well, I heard that you make old things new, so I give these pieces all to you
If you want it, you can have my heart
The same God who restored those guilty of crucifying Jesus can restore us from our guilt and shame. Our history is not our destiny. When we are that lost sheep- whether because we sprinted away or we just got lost – how long does Jesus look? Until he finds us.[13] If you are thinking, “I am a lost sheep, and I don’t feel found,” don’t worry – he’s coming for you. He said he would.
Second, it means we live in repentance. Peter calls his audience — and us — to turn back to God, to align ourselves with the Messiah who brings blessing. Repentance isn’t about groveling; it’s about walking into the light of restoration. Awareness of our sin is not meant to drive us to despair. It’s meant to bring about a godly sorrow that leads to repentance and draws us to the grace-filled, loving forgiveness of Jesus. Think of how the Father cut off the Prodigal Son in the midst of his prepared speech. The son didn’t need to grovel. He needed to get ready for a celebration because he was home.
Apparently when we embrace repentance as a normal part of our life, we will experience refreshing. I suspect it’s more than just an inner spiritual reality; I think it’s also practical. When we learn how to sincerely repent to each other, it’s refreshing to us. We don’t have to carry around our defensiveness and self-justification. We can let go of the anger we use to bully our way through confrontation to avoid acknowledging our own failure. We can be free to honestly asses ourselves an imperfect image bearer of God and be really pleased with what looks like Jesus in us and surrender what doesn’t to the restorative power of Jesus. And it’s refreshing to be able to do that honestly, without shame or hiding.
Third, it means we live on mission. If God’s heart is to bless all people through Jesus, then our calling as the “body of Christ” is to let everyone around us know that God plans to bless all people through Jesus.
We do this with our words when we speak the good news of the Gospel: God so loved the world that He gave Son so that we may have life and not death.[14] We tell them we know a Great Physician who can heal even the sickest of souls. We tell them and remind each other, “Come, all who are weary and heavy laden, and Christ will give you rest.”[15]
We do this with our lives by embodying cruciform love, expending our lives in expressions of love that follow the lead of Jesus. We love everyone, even our enemies; we bless those who curse us; we protect and provide for “the least of these”; we bring healing where there is hurt; we offer a faithful presence to the lonely and the wandering and invite them into a community of Jesus followers who will be faithfully present with them as God does His work. We get the privilege and responsibility of showing the world — through our words and our lives — what Jesus is like, so that the world experiences the blessing God intends for all.
St. Clement of Rome (A 1st century disciple of Peter)
“Grant us, Lord, to hope in your Name, the source of all creation; open the eyes of our hearts, that we may know you alone are highest among the high, ever faithful, showing mercy to those who trust in you. Through Jesus Christ, the high priest of our offerings, the guardian and helper of our souls, through whom be glory and majesty to you now and for all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
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[1] Note again the collective responsibility we talked about a couple weeks ago. All had some accountability even if they had not participated directly.
[2] Adam Clarke calls this “a very tender excuse for them.” This is a gentle approach for Peter after just pointing out that THEY KILLED JESUS.
[3] For example, “When the times of refreshing shall come —signifies a breathing time, or respite, and may be here applied to the space that elapsed from this time till the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. This was a time of respite, which God gave them to repent of their sins, and be converted to himself.” (Adam Clarke)
[4] “Since the world began. — it is sometimes applied, by way of accommodation, to denote the whole course of any one period, such as the Mosaic dispensation. Genesis 21:33. It may therefore here refer to that state of things from the giving of the law; and as Moses is mentioned in the next verse, and none before him, it is probable that the phrase should be so understood here..” (Adam Clarke)
[5] Samuel was the prophet who anointed David to be king and spoke of the establishment of his kingdom (cf. 1Sa 16:13; see also 13:14; 15:28; 28:17). Furthermore, Nathan's prophecy regarding the establishment of David's "offspring" as recorded in 2Sa 7:12-16 was accepted in certain quarters within Judaism as having messianic relevance and was taken by Christians as having been most completely fulfilled in Jesus (cf. 13:22-23, 34; Heb 1:5). (Expositor's Bible Commentary (Abridged Edition): New Testament)
[6] Interestingly, Moses and Samuel are mentioned in the same breath by David. Psalm 99:6 states: "Moses and Aaron were among his priests, and Samuel also was among those who called on his name. They called on the Lord, and he answered them."
[7] Expositor's Bible Commentary (Abridged Edition): New Testament
[8] “A new commandment I give to you: Love one another, as I have loved you.”
[9] Genesis 22:18
[10] “Once again we are reminded of the inclusiveness of the gospel (see also 2:39).” (Africa Study Bible)
[11] (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary of the New Testament)
[12] John 12:32
[13] Luke 15:3-7
[14] John 3:16, my paraphrase
[15] Matthew 11:28