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” told them, “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. 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 you yourselves also know”, and in chapter two and verse twenty-three of the book of Acts Luke shared how Peter said to the multitude about Jesus, “you have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain” where we read:
Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God,
you have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:
The verse begins, “Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ...” Luke began with the word, “Him” which refers to “God's Son Jesus”, “being delivered by the determinate counsel” or “being given up to the power and will of some through the determined, appointed and ordained purpose, advice and will” “and foreknowledge of God” which means “and forethought and pre-arrangement belonging to the Heavenly Father God”. Luke shared how “Peter” said Jesus was “given over” to the power and will of others because God the Father prearranged it.
The verse continues, “... you have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:” Luke added the words, “you have taken” or “you, Jewish people in the multitude, have lay hold of, carried away, claimed and procured”, “and by wicked hands” which means “and through destitute, lawless and violating means of determining and controlling the destinies of men” “have crucified” or “have fastened, impaled and hung upon a cross” “and slain” which means “and put to death, killed and murdered”. Luke shared how “Peter” told the crowd they, with their “evil means”, sent Jesus to hang on the cross until He died.
When we meditate upon Luke's words in this verse, we learn that “Peter” told the multitude that Jesus was “delivered over” to the authorities to condemn Him by God's pre-arrangement, and the crowd themselves were guilty of condemning Him to die upon the cross. We can only imagine how this crowd reacted to “Peter's” boldness when inditing them, and anyone who thinks through this idea will realize they are guilty of sending Jesus to the cross as well. People have “sinned”, and Jesus came to die for the penalty for those sins. Anyone who yields their life to Him will be forgiven of their sins and granted everlasting life. Those who are wise will put themselves in the position of those in this crowd and submit themselves to Jesus who desires to save every person who submits to Him.
Next time Luke shares how Peter speaks concerning Jesus, “whom God has raised up, having loosed the pains of death”, 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".
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