Luke the physician wrote after the Holy Spirit came upon the people in the upper room, a crowd gathered who wondered if they were drunken. Jesus' disciple “Peter” stood up and declared, “this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel. And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved”, and in chapter two and verse twenty-two of the book of Acts Luke shared how “Peter” said, “You men of Israel, hear these words;” where we read:
You men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:
The verse begins, “You men of Israel, hear these words;” Luke began with the words, “you men of Israel” which means “you people both male and female from Israel which refers to the descendants from Israel”, “hear these words” or “be endowed with hearing, perceiving, understanding and comprehending of the speeches and discourse Peter is going to give”. Luke shared how “Peter” began to challenge the Jewish people from “Israel” to “understand and perceive” the declaration he was about to make.
The verse goes on to say, “... Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs,” Luke continued with the words, “Jesus of Nazareth” which refers to “the Son of God, the Savior of mankind and God incarnate whose name means Jehovah is Salvation belonging to the village of Nazareth which means one separated”, “a man approved of God among you” which means “a male human being declared, proved and demonstrated by the Godhead bodily and trinity which is comprised of God the Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit” “by miracles” or “through and by way and means of power, strength, might and virtue” “and wonders” which means “and portents and strange miracles” “and signs” or “and “marks, tokens and prodigy portending remarkable events”. Luke shared how “Peter” began to tell the multitude about “Jesus Christ” who was “proved and demonstrated” by God Almighty to be the Messiah “among” them by all the “miraculous works, portents and tokens of remarkable events” He performed.
Finally the verse says, “which God did by him in the midst of you, as you yourselves also know:” Luke concluded this verse with Peter's words, “which God” or “that the God the Heavenly Father” “did by him” which means “performed, produced and made ready through him, Jesus” “in the midst of you” or “in the middle of you, people in the multitude” “as you yourselves also know” which means “even like you, your own selves, crowd of people gathered, even so and indeed perceive, understand and portend”. Luke continued to write about “Peter's” declaration which referred to the source of Jesus' works among the people being from “God the Father” Himself.
When we consider Luke's words in this verse, we learn how “Peter” transitioned from the “pouring out God's Spirit” to the proof that God sent His Son Jesus to be the “Savior” of the world. God performed many “wonders and miracles” through His Son Jesus “among the people”, and they “knew” He did things they had never seen before. God loves people, and He sent His miracle working Son Jesus to die so they could be forgiven of their sins and live forever with Him. Let all who examine God's Son Jesus yield to Him as their personal “Savior and Lord”.
Next time Luke shares how “Peter” declares to the multitude about Jesus, “you have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
No comments:
Post a Comment