The lame man learns to dance Acts 3:12-26
12And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk? 13The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. 14But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; 15 And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses. 16 And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.
17 And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers. 18 But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. 19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. 20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: 21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.
22 For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. 23 And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people. 24 Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days. 25 Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. 26 Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.
All good sermons have three parts. There’s the beginning, the middle, and the end or the introduction, the theme, and the conclusion, and Peter has three here.
So, I want to focus on three things in this passage and the first one is where Peter stresses the guilt of this crowd and then second, he gives a message of both mercy and warning and then third, he gives a detailed list of the things they’ve done wrong and commands them to repent.
I The guilt of these people
Let me take you back to where we were a few weeks ago because Peter and John were on their way into the temple walking through those huge brass gates and they stopped and healed a crippled man. Now, I want you to understand that this didn’t happen somewhere in a quiet corner but as I said they were on their way into the temple area and as I told you there could have been somewhere around two million people attending the feast of Passover and everyone would be coming and going to the temple because everything related to the Passover was taking place was happening here.
So, there would be huge crowds attending every meeting and they’d be coming and going through these gates where Peter and John had healed this man right and the healing was very public and this healing would not only be witnessed by the crowds but there would have also been crowds of locals who were trying to make a few bucks off what they considered to be the tourists.
There’d be souvenir salesmen, food vendors of all kinds and people selling whatever you needed for the feasts whether it was animals for offerings or even exchange booths where they traded foreign currency for Jewish money because the leaders said you couldn’t give God pagan money and then would charge them exorbitant rates to exchange it.
And it’s interesting to look at this healing because I’m sure this crippled wasn’t the only one looking for handouts but there’d also be the blind, the deaf and everyone else who had whatever problem you can imagine.
And so, what I’m trying to do is paint a picture for you of the scene; because Peter doesn’t have to draw a crowd to listen to his message because there was already a crowd there and it also says that more came running what they heard what happened.
And as soon as this man was healed he, Peter and John walked inside the gates to a place called Solomon’s Colonnade. Now, just to help you understand, the outer court of the temple was called the Court of the Gentiles and the inner part of this court was surrounded by what they called porticoes which were roof structures under which some of the religious leaders taught their students and others conducted businesses like as I said, selling sacrifices, exchanging money and probably even souvenirs. And even though this area was considered by God to be part of the temple reserved for the Gentiles to worship in; the Jews treated it like it was some kind of religious market. So, all this area that was supposed to be set aside for Gentile worship was referred to as Solomon’s colonnade.
And listen, Jesus came in here twice and we see the first in John 2 where it says in verse 13, ‘And the Jews' Passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, and found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: and when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables; and said unto them that sold doves, take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise.’ But, regardless of how many times He cleansed it, they came right back in again.
So, this is Peter’s second sermon and you’ll remember that in the first, his message followed the anointing of the Holy Spirit where everyone came running to find out what was going on when they heard the apostles speaking in the various languages of everyone gathered there.
And here; we have the crippled man who was healed standing beside Peter and John as a demonstration of the power of God. In both situations, it was like God got the people’s attention because He had something He wanted to say to them.
And listen, the same thing happens to us; because sometimes things out of the ordinary happen and God can use these things to drive us to our knees.
And you’ve got to realize that the response of this crowd could have gone three ways because they could’ve just as easily reacted to the Peter’s message the way they responded to Jesus and killed all three, or they could have said, ‘Who cares’ and simply kept on going or they could have done what they did which was to listen to what they had to say. The fact is, Peter began preaching but he didn’t know if anyone was going to listen.
And he began by asking two questions and he addressed these people very respectfully by calling them, ‘Men of Israel’ and by doing this he was also reminding them of their heritage because the Jews had seen God’s hand before as He moved through Moses, Elijah and Elisha and even Jesus; though they rejected both Him and His claims.
And his first question was, ‘Why marvel ye at this?’ Or why are you so surprised? God is just doing what God has always done and He did this to get your attention.
And then secondly, he asks, ‘Why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or our holiness we had made this man to walk?’ And what he’s saying is: what are you looking at us for? We’re just two fishermen from Galilee, why are you looking like we have some kind of power or holiness. And then he says, in verse 13, ’The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus.’ In other words, the very God you’ve come here to worship is the One who did this, not us.
And then, he lowers the boom and lets them have the gospel as clearly as he can and makes three points that demonstrate their guilt in committing the greatest crime in the history of the world.
Go back to verse 13 and I’ll read the whole verse. And he said, ‘The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.’
So, first, he says, you delivered Jesus, the Son of God to Pilate. So, not only did you ignore the One who came to deliver you from sin but you actually turned Him over to people who would do the very thing you felt you were too good to do.
The other day I was reading through the last few chapters of John about the crucifixion and noticed again how the Jewish leaders would do the worst things imaginable but they’d always looked for ways to make themselves appear and then feel good about the things they did.
Like the night before the crucifixion when they went to see Pilate, they wouldn’t enter his courts because it was a time of separation and they were afraid they’d defile themselves by entering a filthy Gentiles home and yet; they were there to kill Jesus, who they knew was innocent.
And then there was the money they gave Judas because when Judas threw it in the temple they considered this money to be defiled because it was paid to betray Jesus and used it to buy the Potter’s Field for burying strangers. But, where did the money come from before Judas got it? It was obviously temple money they had given Judas and now they were trying to look like their hands were clean.
And not only did these men deliver Jesus up to Pilate but they also denied Him even though Pilate wanted to let Him go. According to the scriptures Pilate declares Jesus innocent no less than six times and even sought to release Him when his wife had a dream and said he should let Him go.
So, Peter was telling these Jews, that Pilate, the governor from Rome who you think is the worst of the worse acted better than you did.
Second, he said in verse 14, ‘But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you.’ So, not only did you side with our enemies but you also chose someone you knew was guilty of murder rather than the Son of God.
And then third, he said in verse 15, ‘And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.’ He said, “You handed him over to be killed,” and here he was speaking to the crowd and in Mark 15:1 we read that the Council, the Sanhedrin, meaning the Jewish authorities, handed Jesus over to be killed and in Luke 22:21 we read that Judas handed him over and in Luke 23:25 we read that Pilate handed him over. So, all of these people were guilty and had a part in handing Jesus over to be killed.
And Peter has an interesting approach because most people today would rather focus on the love of God and the peace He has to offer when talking to strangers but the fact is, until we deal with the issue of sin, no one will ever know the love of God or experience His peace. After all, salvation doesn’t mean anything if we fail to see ourselves as sinners who are headed for hell and deserving of the wrath of God.
So, after he states who Jesus was and is and what they had done to Him he directs their attention back to the man who had been healed, who was standing right beside him and says in verse 16, ‘And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.’
And Peter’s wasn’t referring to the lame man’s faith because he didn’t have any. He wasn’t even looking for healing, all he wanted was money. It was Peter’s faith and yet, even his faith was simply him being the channel of God’s blessing.
Second, he gives a message of both warning and mercy.
This a message of warning because as I said, these people and the others involved had perpetuated the most horrible crime in history but Peter says, they had done it out of ignorance – but - their ignorance was no longer an excuse for further rejecting Jesus.
And there was also a message of mercy because when he says they acted in ignorance he could have been referring to the Old Testament distinction between willful sins and sins that are done in ignorance. Jesus prayed for those who sinned in ignorance against Himself as He prayed from the cross and said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’ And Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:8, ‘That had they understood who Jesus was, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.’
So, Peter was saying, you did this but you didn’t know what you were doing and now God is willing to show mercy.
Let me read a few verses from the book of Micah that demonstrate the concept of mercy. It’s Micah 6:6-8 where the prophet said, “Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?’
So, the question the prophet is asking is; “What does God expect me to do? Or; how am I to express my love for Him and my gratitude for His forgiveness? And the prophet suggests several kinds of offerings that were common in his day. The first one was the burnt offering of calves a year old. And if calves were at the peak of their value when they were a year old; then this would really represent an excellent sacrifice for a burnt offering.
Now, I know we have a hard time grasping the concept of a burnt offering because we’ve always been taught we’re not supposed to waste anything and we would see a burnt offering as a waste. But; when they made a burnt offering in the Old Testament it was an act of faith. From a human perspective it was all gone and there was nothing to show for what you gave. And the person who made it was saying, “I have given this completely to God.”
Let me give you an example of what that would look today. Let’s say someone here decided they wanted to give a brand new Toyota to the Lord. They might drive down to a dealership and pick out a really nice one with air-conditioning, power windows and all the rest of the options. I mean, you wouldn’t want to give God second hand junk right? So, they’d get it all registered and licensed and then they’d bring it over to the church parking lot and everyone would get together for a prayer of dedication and then; they’d set it on fire and completely destroy it. Now, that would be an act similar to the Old Testament act of dedication.
Nobody walked away with anything, there was no tax receipt and no one got a pat on the back because they gave something to the church, missions or anything else but the gift was totally an act of dedication to God and they never considered anything that was given to God a waste. It was a sacrifice. It cost something for someone to give it and nobody made a profit on it. So, Micah asked, “Is this what God wants; a sacrifice?”
And then his second suggestion was; thousands of rams or rivers of oil. And this was like saying, would God get more excited if we gave Him quantity, I mean, if we give Him so much it will absolutely astonish Him and everyone else who saw it. Not just one sacrifice; but thousands and not just a barrel of oil but a river.
And then he says; if that’s not good enough then what if we gave Him our firstborn child as a sacrificial offering? And the firstborn symbolized the most precious thing you had. Do you remember when your firstborn was in your hands for the first time? It was the most precious thing you’ve ever held. And the prophet says, “Would God want this as an offering?”
So, he mentioned three options, gift, riches or something that’s going to break your heart in order to demonstrate your sincerity? And then he says, “That’s not it.” God doesn’t want your stuff, He wants your heart. And he mentions three things God wants to demonstrate that our hearts belong to Him.
The first is that we do justly. In other words we are expected to use what we have to express the love of God to those around us. In James 1:27 it says, “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their trouble and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” It’s the idea of reaching out to those who not only have the greatest needs but by doing so you also know that the only rewards for your efforts are going to come from God Himself because back in the days of the New Testament neither widows or orphans had anything.
So, first, we’re to do justly or express the love of God to those who are in need and then second, we’re to love mercy. Mercy is the same as kindness and gentleness and it was meant to demonstrate compassion to those who’ve failed in life.
In other words, we’re never to look down on those who are less fortunate than ourselves because we think we’re smarter or better handlers of money than they but God expects us to show them mercy. After all, Jesus said, “Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.” People who lack mercy have a problem with pride and they see themselves as spiritually superior to the people they’re looking down on. And let’s face it; it’s easier to write people off as losers than it is to show mercy the way Jesus did.
So, we are to be loving to the unlovely, merciful to those who need it and then third, he says we’re to walk humbly with our God. And that tells us we’re to have a sense of our sinfulness and His holiness. So, we who have been shown mercy are expected to be merciful.
And then, third, he commands these people to repent.
In verse 19 he says, ‘Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.’
When the National Enquirer broke the news about Senator John Edwards’ marital affair, he made this statement, “Two years ago I made a very serious mistake, a mistake that I am responsible for and no one else. In 2006, I told Elizabeth about the mistake, asked her for her forgiveness, asked God for his forgiveness. And we have kept this within our family since that time.”
Now, on the surface, his admission seemed humble and remorseful but when people refer to their sins as mistakes; they’re either consciously or unconsciously evading personal responsibility.
The term “mistake” implies an error in judgment or something someone did unintentionally. A mistake might be: turning the wrong way onto a one-way street or pouring salt into your coffee because you thought it was sugar. We make mistakes when we’re not paying attention or even when we’re careless.
But; a sin is more than a mistake. Sin is a deliberate choice to do something we know is wrong. And there are a couple of other words that describe sin. The word “transgression” implies deliberately stepping over a boundary. And the word “trespass” implies entering someone else’s property without permission. And unlike a mistake, when we sin, transgress or trespass we need to take responsibility and accept the consequences that follow.
What can we do to make sure we preserve this distinction between sins and mistakes? I suggest five things and these are very simple:
1. Choose your words carefully. If you’re confessing a sin never minimize it by referring to it as a mistake. The meaning of confession in the Greek is homologeo and that means “to speak the same word.” In other words, we are to agree with God and say the same thing about our sin that He says about it.
2. Take responsibility for our actions and even though we might consider the other person to be 90% responsible, we are to accept 100% responsibility of our 10%. In other words, when it comes to sin, there’s no room to make excuses.
Too often, we ignore our own part; and focus on the other person to the point that we see them as the source of all evil and see ourselves as the picture of holiness. But, when it comes right down to it, none of us are innocent because we’re all sinners who are blind to our own sin. So, never follow your confession with the word “but” because the word ‘but’ is simply the beginning of an excuse.
3. Acknowledge your guilt. It is normal to feel guilty when you sin because guilt is one of God’s gifts and it’s designed to motivate us toward repenting.
In the New Testament, there’s a difference between repentance and remorse. Judas “felt remorse when he returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priest and elders.” As a matter of fact, he even confessed his sin when he said: “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.”
Someone said, ‘Judas had come face to face with the hideous beast of evil in his soul but shrank back in terror and shame. Instead of leading him to God and life, his guilt hounded him to the gates of death. His shame turned to self-hatred and drove him to suicide.’ The apostle Paul calls this “the sorrow of the world” because the world offers no hope for those who are plagued by guilt.
4. Change your behavior. After all, words are cheap and it’s easy to say I’m sorry when you simply want people to go away but if we do that then; nothing ever changes. Repentance is not only a change of mind; but it’s also a change of direction. And unless we’ve changed our behavior, we haven’t really repented.
There was a story about a man who sent a check to the government for back taxes with a note attached that said, “I felt so guilty for cheating on my taxes I had to send you this check. If I don’t feel any better, I’ll send you the rest.” Well, that’s not repentance; that was simply someone trying to feel better about things he knew he had done wrong.
J. Edwin Orr, a professor of Church history described the great outpouring of the Holy Spirit during the Welsh Revivals of the nineteenth century. As people sought to be filled with the Spirit, they did all they could to confess their wrong doing and to make restitution. But it unexpectedly created serious problems for the shipyards along the coast of Wales.
Over the years workers had stolen all kinds of things, from wheelbarrows to hammers. However, as people sought to be right with God they started to return the things they had taken and the result was, the shipyards of Wales were overwhelmed with returned property. There were such huge piles of returned tools that several of the yards put up signs that read, "If you have been led by God to return what you have stolen, please know that the management forgives you and wishes you to keep what you have taken." Listen; that’s genuine repentance.
5. Ask for forgiveness and hope the person you’ve sinned against will be forgiving.
Can you imagine if a true spirit of repentance came upon our church? Everyone would love one another, in spite of their differences. Every service would be full because everyone would want to hear the word and fellowship with everyone else who loves the Lord and everyone would be looking for ways to use their spiritual gifts.
One of the greatest sermons on repentance was given by Jonathon Edwards who preached in an old church without lights and the title of his message was, ‘Sinners in the hands of an angry God’ and he actually read this sermon from a manuscript and asked the question “why you are not already in hell” and then he then went on to describe God’s anger and told them hell was only a block away.
And the strange thing was, Edwards wasn’t a very emotional preacher but he actually read his sermon word-for-word, as he was hunched over the lectern, rarely lifting his head to look at the congregation -- and they said his monotone voice was guaranteed to put anyone to sleep. But, they say this Sunday these people convulsed as the Holy Spirit convicted them of sin and the dangerous position they were in before God who was Holy and Just and whose judgement could not be avoided.
Well, that began a revival but six years later on June 22, 1750 is the anniversary of the day Jonathan Edward was fired by his church for preaching that only believers should be allowed to take communion. The revival was six years before and now everybody was content to go back to sleep.
So, here was Peter preaching repentance and this wasn’t new to these people because it had been preached in the Old Testament. In Ezekiel 14:6, ‘Therefore say unto the house of Israel, thus saith the Lord GOD; repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.’ And then in Ezekiel 18:20-22 ‘The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live. ‘And then down to verse 28, ‘Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.’ So, it was a common teaching in the Old Testament.
And then in the New Testament the preaching of repentance began with John the Baptist in Matthew 3:1-2, ‘In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, and saying, repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Now, that wasn’t all John preached but it’s obvious that this was foundational to everything else he had to say because when people asked John what they were supposed to do after they repented he said, ‘He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise.’ And then to the tax collectors who repented he said, ‘Exact no more than that which is appointed you.’ And to the soldiers who had repented he said, ‘Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.’ In other words, every one of you, after you repent, you need to start living right.
And after Jesus fasted forty days and forty nights and was victorious over the temptations of Satan; He began to preach and Matthew 4:17 says, ‘From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ In other words, turn from your sin because heaven is here for those who want it but only if you turn.
The issue of repentance is common in the book of Acts not only with Peter here but also with Paul when he spoke to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:17-21, ‘And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church. 18 And when they were come to him, he said unto them, ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons, 19 serving the LORD with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews: 20 And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house, 21 Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.’
Listen, true repentance is the only reaction to the convicting power of the Holy Spirit.
So, Peter says, in verses 19 and 20, ‘Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you.’
One commentator said, ‘It may be thought that Peter’s words were surprisingly lenient to people like Caiaphas and the other chief priests, whose determination to have Jesus put to death is underscored in all the Gospels. Nevertheless, here is the proclamation of a divine amnesty, offering a free pardon to all who took part in Jesus’ death, if only they acknowledge their error, confess their sin, and turn to God in repentance.’
One of the clearest passages in the New Testament on repentance is found in Matthew 21 (turn there for a minute) and it begins in verse 23 ‘And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, by what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?’
In other words, they were saying, if none of the Rabbis or temple authorities gave you the authority to teach, then what do you think you’re doing here?
‘24 And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I in likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, if we shall say, from heaven; he will say unto us, why did ye not then believe him? 26 But if we shall say, of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet. 27 And they answered Jesus, and said, we cannot tell. And He said unto them, neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.’ In other words, if you don’t answer My question I’m not answering yours.
But listen, then Jesus went on in verse 28 and said, ’But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, son, go work today in my vineyard. 29 He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. 30 And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. 31 Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, the first. Jesus saith unto them, verily I say unto you, that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.’
And Jesus really put these men in an awkward place because He asked them, to choose between a rebel or a liar. And He asked them, ‘Which of them did the will of their father.’ It doesn’t matter who said what but who did what?
I remember having a debate in Bible College and the question was, ‘How much do you have to believe to be a believer?’ And during the debate the subject of personal convictions came up and someone asked: ‘What’s the most pressing social issue facing Christians today?’ And someone piped up and said, ‘Abortion.’
I asked if this person if they were opposed to abortion and if so why? And they said they were and gave several excellent reasons to back their position; and then I asked, ‘What have you done about what you believe in the past twelve months? Have you, written to your member of parliament, have you picketed an abortion clinic or even made a donation to a home for unwed mothers. They didn’t do anything of these things because there are a lot of things we say we believe but that’s where it ends.
Listen, as Christians, what do we really believe in?
Number one, we believe the Bible is the inspired word of God but do we read it and take every opportunity to hear it explained? Do we practise what it says? You see, the true believer isn’t just someone who says he is but acts like he isn’t but a true believer is someone who allows God to change him or her from the inside out. And God uses both His word and His Spirit to change us.
Second, do you believe in missions? I mean, reaching the unsaved outside our doors for Christ no matter if they’re next door or a continent away. If so, do you pray for even one missionary?
Third, do we really believe in evangelism? If we do, then how many people have you spoken to about the Lord and I’m not referring to twenty years ago. It’s amazing how many evangelical churches haven’t evangelized anybody in a long time. Maybe they should think about changing their name.
And then Jesus closed this parable in Matthew 21 by saying, ‘Verily I say unto you, that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.’ Listen to what He said to these religious leaders who had spent their lives memorizing scripture, attending synagogue every time the doors were opened and tithing every nickel they ever earned. Jesus said; there are two groups of people who will be in heaven before you. The first were the publicans, and these were men who collected taxes for the hated Roman government, which was occupying their country and these men were considered to be so bad they were forbidden entrance to the temple worship services. And Jesus said, these guys are going to get in heaven before you do.
And then He mentions the harlots and these weren’t just loose women but there were no limits to their immorality and these women would do anything for money but Jesus said; these women are going to get into heaven before you.
You see, the tax collectors had sold out their country while the prostitutes had sold their bodies but the chief priests and elders sold out God by exploiting all the worshippers. Each of the three did what was wrong but the first two had repented.
And then in verse 21 Peter says of Jesus, ‘Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.’ And what he’s referring to is that Jesus is going to remain in heaven until the restitution of all things or until everything prophesied is fulfilled. And this would not only refer to Old Testament prophecies but even those written future to this sermon which are in the book of Revelation.
And then finally, he addresses the subject of their heritage in verses 22-26, where he says, ‘For Moses truly said unto the fathers, a prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. 23 And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people. 24 Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days. 25 Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. 26 Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.
So, first he’s dealing with the prophecy of Moses regarding Jesus with the admonition that people should listen to Jesus the way they listened to Moses and everyone who refuses to do so will ultimately be destroyed.
And then he goes on and says that everything you’re witnessing has been prophesied from Samuel and all the rest of the prophets and you are the children of these prophets and have received the promise that through you ‘in your seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed because it was to the Jewish people that God sent His Son Jesus as he says in verse 26, ‘to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.’
Let me finish with a story and it’s a true one. There was a man by the name of Frank Sosienski and he was a mailman in Louisville, Kentucky. Well, Frank, for some reason got tired of delivering the mail everyday and no one was sure why. It might have been the dogs, the cold weather or maybe the mail bags just seemed too heavy but for some reason Frank decided he’d like to cut his route a little shorter each day. And every day Frank started to bring a bag of mail or two home with him. We don’t know what he was thinking, he might have thought; I’ll deliver it tomorrow but soon, people started complaining because their mail wasn’t arriving. There was an investigation and it all led to Frank house. And when the postal authorities searched his house they found the mail in Frank’s attic. And over a six-year period he put over 1200 bags of mail there.
Now a mailman is supposed to do what? Pick up and deliver the mail. And what’s a Christian supposed to do? A Christian is someone who has turned from their sin, received the Lord Jesus Christ and then faithfully follows His word and bears witness for Him.
