You know sometimes we run across things in life that intrigue us and confuse at the same time. We don’t quite understand what we’re seeing – but we can’t look away. And sometimes we’ll do anything to find out more about it.
[Discovery channel giant snake and mummies story.]
Governments spend millions of dollars sending probes and people into space to find out just what’s out there. People will spend their entire lives digging up bones and fossils in the desert trying to find out what the past was really like. There’s some things in life that intrigue us so much that we’ll do anything to understand what we’re seeing.
Today we find ourselves looking at a moment like that as we continue our studies through the book of Acts. We’re in Acts 2 where the Jews that were in town for the Feast of Weeks, the day of Pentecost, couldn’t understand how the followers of Jesus were able to speak in the many languages of the world. “What does this mean?” “How can these simple Galileans speak in all of our languages?”
So Peter answered them in his great sermon and started out by saying that what was going on there was because of Jesus Christ, and that if they would call upon Him they would be saved as well.
[Read Acts 2:21.]
Now this was just the introduction to his message. [2] But before he was done preaching he would demonstrate to them that Jesus, the Jesus they had crucified, is both Lord and Christ. Let me read for you this sermon as Peter preached it.
[Read Acts 2:22-37.]
Now hopefully, this is one of those intriguing moments for you today. The fact that the Bible claims Jesus to be both Lord and Christ should cause us to wonder. Just what does that mean to me? How does that make a difference in my life? How does that help me pay the bills? How does that help me raise my kids? How does that help me with addiction? How does that help me with depression? How does that help me handle bullies at school?
Understanding that Jesus is both Lord and Christ and choosing to follow Him will make all the difference in the world in your every day life. Let’s look at how Peter establishes that Jesus is in fact both Lord and Christ. [3] He does it by examining the evidence, the relevance and the consequence of Jesus as Lord and Christ. First the evidence. [4]
Peter starts out by asking the people to think back to all the miracles that Jesus publicly performed in their midst.
[Read Acts 2:22.]
As we studied through the book of John last year we saw Jesus publicly working miracle after miracle to establish that He was in fact God. Changing the water into wine, healing the sick, calming the storm, walking on water, even raising people from the dead. These and many more signs Jesus gave the people to validate His claims. And Peter here calls attention to the fact that they all knew about it. There was no way anyone could claim that Jesus didn’t work all those miracles because there was just too many witnesses to the contrary. Jesus’ miracles were evidence that He was both Lord and Christ. [5]
Jesus’ crucifixion also supported this fact.
[Read Acts 2:23.]
Peter tells the crowd that Jesus’ crucifixion wasn’t just an unfortunate ending to His life, but that it was because of the predetermined plan of God. Isaiah 53 clearly prophesied that the Savior would suffer and die for the sins of the world and Jesus did just that. Jesus’ crucifixion was evidence that He was both Lord and Christ. [6]
But not just His crucifixion, but His resurrection as well.
[Read Acts 2:24, 32.]
The twelve apostles, Jesus’ family, and many other disciples had seen the risen Lord. Jesus even appeared to a group of 500 at one time after He was resurrected according to the apostle Paul. They didn’t just see a ghost or His spirit, but they saw Jesus Himself bodily resurrected. Something they were willing to die for. Something they were willing to live for! Jesus came back from the dead, just like He said He would, and they saw it for themselves. He must be Lord and Christ to rise from the dead.
And you know what else? These were things that were predicted hundreds of years before they happened right in front of them. [7] Fulfilled prophecy established the fact that Jesus was both Lord and Christ.
[Read Acts 2:25-31.]
In other words, David wasn’t talking about himself in Psalm 16:8-11. We know where he’s buried. He was referring to the Lord being resurrected some 700 years before it ever happened. This prophecy, (along with the other 300+ that Jesus fulfilled), is evidence that Jesus is both Lord and Christ.
[8] The final bit of evidence that Peter gives them is that the Holy Spirit of God was causing the miracle of tongues that was happening right in front of them.
[Read Acts 2:33.]
When Jesus was exalted on high after His resurrection, He fulfilled His promise to us that He would send His Spirit. That’s what you see and hear right now!
And remember this, Peter’s audience was the Jews that had come to Jerusalem from all over the world for the feast of weeks. Obviously, as he’s speaking these words to them they are all hearing them in their own language. Peter was probably speaking in his own language, but everyone there heard the words in their own language. That’s what caught their attention in the first place, and now He’s explaining to them that it was because of the resurrected Jesus who is both Lord and Christ. [9] And that’s where the relevance comes in.
[Read Acts 2:36.]
That’s why this matters so much. These faithful Jews who were in Jerusalem to worship, had missed what God had done in their midst. You see, not only did they miss the Messiah that God had sent, (whom faithful Jews all expected to come some day), not only did they miss Him – but they killed Him!
Because Jesus wasn’t the kind of Savior they expected and wanted, they wrote Him off as a fraud and a heretic and had Him crucified. (Even though the evidence was overwhelming that He was the One they were waiting for!)
Jesus was both Lord, (or God), and Christ, (or Savior), and they missed it! They said they loved God but were too religious and self-centered to even recognize Him!
Once this realization started to sink in, a deep conviction came into their hearts of the people there and thousands realized what they had done. [10] But the consequences of hearing and believing the message of Jesus were incredible!
[Read Acts 2:37-41.]
3,000 people listened and believed and were saved that day! Amazing!
Now let’s make sure we understand how these people were being saved here. When Peter instructed the people to “repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus” he wasn’t telling them that the act of baptism would save them. He told them to first repent, which means to do an about-face in their beliefs. Turn away from your lack of faith in Jesus and turn towards Him in faith.
Then, be baptized in His name as evidence of your new faith. Baptism had always been a symbol of people’s beliefs in those days. It wasn’t a religious hoop to jump through. It was a message to the world about what you believed, and Peter told them to be baptized in Jesus’ name.
Also in verse 41 it says that “those who received His word”, those who were down with what he was saying, were baptized. Belief always proceeds baptism.
[11] For those religious people who were there that day and witnessed the Spirit working through the apostles, their realization that Jesus was both Lord and Christ led to a conviction within their heart, which led to their salvation of their souls and their very lives.
Realizing that Jesus is both Lord and Christ made all the difference in the world to the people we read about here. Next week we’re going to see just how this played out in their every day lives and lifestyle. These early disciples understood what “being the church” was all about. But it all started with believing that Jesus is both Lord and Christ.
[12] So what do you believe about Jesus? Do you believe that He really is both Lord and Christ? Do you believe that Jesus is both God and Savior? Then you believe that nothing is impossible for Him. That He has a plan for your life. That He loves you and will take care of you. That He will see you through tough economic times. That He will give you wisdom for life’s decisions. That He will answer your prayers. That He will give you courage and strength and comfort and peace. That He wants to use you to bless others. That He is preparing a heavenly home for you. That He will forgive your sins. That He’s given you His Spirit. That He knows exactly who you really are and that He loves you with His every thought and action.
When you believe that Jesus is both Lord and Christ everything changes. Life now has purpose and Truth and direction and security. What do you believe about Jesus?
[Quiet prep for communion.]
[Communion, Luke 22:19-20.]
[13] [Closing prayer.]
