Sermon – Acts 2:14-15, 22-36 “In This We Rejoice”
New Covenant Church
Bright Sunday
April 23, 2017
Last week we encountered an empty tomb. Our expectation, as the sun came up last Sunday, was that Jesus would be in it. After all dead people usually do not get up and walk out of a tomb. And yet this is exactly what happened. The first reaction that people had when they heard about the empty tomb was fear. But as they encountered the risen Jesus they began to experience great joy. This joy is what we celebrate on Bright Sunday.
Jesus walked out of the tomb because he had been resurrected from the dead. The first persons to understand this were the Apostle Peter and ten other disciples who experienced the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The Holy Spirit spoke to them through scripture and opened their eyes to what really happen on Easter. Today we will turn to the Book of Acts. Chapter 2 records these extraordinary events as the disciples realized that Jesus' resurrection had actually been spoken of by the prophets centuries before. Today we will look closely as Peter reflects on Psalms 16 and 110 and preaches the first Christian sermon. We will get to this, but first let's pray.
“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)
Fifty days after the resurrection after Jesus had ascended to heaven the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples. This filled them with such joy that other people thought they were drunk. But what had happened was that the Holy Spirit has opened their eyes to understand scripture. They realized that the prophet Joel had
written about what they were now experiencing. And they realized that prophets, including King David, had predicted that the Messiah would rise from the dead. This realization filled them with so much joy that a crowd developed and wanted to know what made them so happy. Here is Peter's response.
Acts 2:14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say.
22 “Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23 This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men,[a] put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.
Peter started by reminding them of their own experience of Jesus. They all had either known Jesus or knew about him from others. Everyone had heard of his miracles and teachings. But everyone also knew that he had been executed on a cross. What the Spirit had revealed to Peter, and what he revealed to everyone else was that this was all part of God's plan. God had used wicked men to achieve his purpose. And God's purpose was to have Jesus publicly killed so that Jesus could be publicly raised from the dead demonstrating his power over death itself.
Coming to this realization was a big jump for the disciples. How do you get from an empty tomb and conversations with a resurrected Jesus to the idea that this was part of God's plan? And how do you then conclude that Jesus had actually overcome death itself? The way they figured it out was to meditate on Psalms 16 and 110 and let the Holy Spirit show them the connection to Jesus. Let's get back to Peter.
25 David said about him: “‘I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. 26 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest in hope, 27 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, you will not let your holy one see decay. 28 You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.’
When David was in battle he held his shield in his left hand. In his right he held a sword. Therefore his right side was vulnerable to attack. So he would put his best, most trusted, warrior at his right hand to defend his right side. This person at the right hand of the king in battle would often be his own son and future king. And this person would prevent the King's death.
The Holy Spirit reminded Peter that David did die. He did not live forever. And therefore David must have been talking about his son, a descendant, who would live for eternity. All of David's descendants died and are in their graves today, expect one. Only David's descendant Jesus was resurrected from the dead. And so David must have been talking about Jesus all along. Peter put it this way.
29 “Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. 30 But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. 31 Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the
Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay.
Peter knew that God had promised David that his heirs would sit on his throne forever. This was the basis for the hope that an anointed descendant of David would come, a Messiah. With Jesus' resurrection from the dead, God clearly indicated that Jesus was the Messiah they had been waiting for. And so, like David, their hearts were glad and their tongues rejoiced.
But there was a problem with all this. The Messiah was suppose to stay in Jerusalem and rule the kingdom. Jesus didn't do this. He went away. The Holy Spirit had an answer for this one too. As Peter meditated on Psalm 110 he realized that the Messiah, descended from David would not reign from Jerusalem. Rather, he would reign from heaven sitting at God's right hand. Let's listen to Peter.
32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. 33 Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. 34 For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said, “‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand 35 until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”’
And with that King David had prophesied that his descendant the messiah would rule with power from the position of God's right hand man. At that is where Jesus is today. What can we conclude from all of this. First, we know that through the resurrection God proved that Jesus was Messiah, the anointed one, the Christ. And by exalting Jesus to a position of power as his right hand God made Jesus our Lord. Here is how Peter put it.
36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”
As Christians we follow Jesus. We follow him as our Messiah through death into resurrection to eternal life. And we follow his as our Lord by living our lives in obedience to his will and commands. Accepting Jesus as our Messiah and Lord frees us from the fear of death and leads us to the joy of obedience and eternal life. This is why the disciples were so happy on Pentecost Sunday. They had received the gifts of faith in Jesus Christ, the desire to obey his will, and the promise of eternal life, This is why we are so happy to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ with joy today. Let us pray.
Father in Heaven we are so joyful because you have given us a Messiah to lead us to eternal life and a Lord who calls us to obedience. We are so thankful that you have given us Jesus as this Messiah and Lord. And so we are fill with joy this Lord's Day. Amen.
Coming to this realization was a big jump for the disciples. How do you get from an empty tomb and conversations with a resurrected Jesus to the idea that this was part of God's plan? And how do you then conclude that Jesus had actually overcome death itself? The way they figured it out was to meditate on Psalms 16 and 110 and let the Holy Spirit show them the connection to Jesus. Let's get back to Peter.
25 David said about him: “‘I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. 26 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest in hope, 27 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, you will not let your holy one see decay. 28 You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.’
When David was in battle he held his shield in his left hand. In his right he held a sword. Therefore his right side was vulnerable to attack. So he would put his best, most trusted, warrior at his right hand to defend his right side. This person at the right hand of the king in battle would often be his own son and future king. And this person would prevent the King's death.
The Holy Spirit reminded Peter that David did die. He did not live forever. And therefore David must have been talking about his son, a descendant, who would live for eternity. All of David's descendants died and are in their graves today, expect one. Only David's descendant Jesus was resurrected from the dead. And so David must have been talking about Jesus all along. Peter put it this way.
29 “Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. 30 But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. 31 Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the
Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay.
Peter knew that God had promised David that his heirs would sit on his throne forever. This was the basis for the hope that an anointed descendant of David would come, a Messiah. With Jesus' resurrection from the dead, God clearly indicated that Jesus was the Messiah they had been waiting for. And so, like David, their hearts were glad and their tongues rejoiced.
But there was a problem with all this. The Messiah was suppose to stay in Jerusalem and rule the kingdom. Jesus didn't do this. He went away. The Holy Spirit had an answer for this one too. As Peter meditated on Psalm 110 he realized that the Messiah, descended from David would not reign from Jerusalem. Rather, he would reign from heaven sitting at God's right hand. Let's listen to Peter.
32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. 33 Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. 34 For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said, “‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand 35 until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”’
And with that King David had prophesied that his descendant the messiah would rule with power from the position of God's right hand man. At that is where Jesus is today. What can we conclude from all of this. First, we know that through the resurrection God proved that Jesus was Messiah, the anointed one, the Christ. And by exalting Jesus to a position of power as his right hand God made Jesus our Lord. Here is how Peter put it.
36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”
As Christians we follow Jesus. We follow him as our Messiah through death into resurrection to eternal life. And we follow his as our Lord by living our lives in obedience to his will and commands. Accepting Jesus as our Messiah and Lord frees us from the fear of death and leads us to the joy of obedience and eternal life. This is why the disciples were so happy on Pentecost Sunday. They had received the gifts of faith in Jesus Christ, the desire to obey his will, and the promise of eternal life, This is why we are so happy to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ with joy today. Let us pray.
Father in Heaven we are so joyful because you have given us a Messiah to lead us to eternal life and a Lord who calls us to obedience. We are so thankful that you have given us Jesus as this Messiah and Lord. And so we are fill with joy this Lord's Day. Amen.
