Who Killed Jesus? Acts 2:22 36 Some people love mysteries. There have been countless who done it? books published for both adults and children. Sherlock Holmes is perhaps the best known detective of all time. Many of you will remember the Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew from your younger years. Board games such as Clue have been built around that fascination. TV shows have played on the detective theme. The common thread that runs through those items and the more hard core mystery genre that I haven t mentioned is the question, Who Done It? I m not a great fan of mystery novels. G. K. Chesterton s Father Brown is about my speed. 1 Not only are the mysteries not overly complex or bizarre (though they are good reading), but Chesterton has added his own moral and theological twist to the mix, for you see, Father Brown is a Roman Catholic priest who uses his unique knowledge of human nature gained in the confessional booth to solve a great many mysteries especially murder mysteries. It might be interesting to turn Father Brown loose on the story of Jesus death. That story has all the makings of a good mystery. There is a murder. We think we know who did it, especially since the act was committed in full view in a public setting. But there are some unexpected twists in the plot. Not only is the body never found it seems to just disappear but some of the evidence points in a different direction than you first think. And that, of course, is the mystery writer s favorite game making it look like 1 G. K. Chesterton, The Penguin Complete Father Brown (NY: Penguin, 1981).
somebody else did it. So let s take the role of Father Brown this morning and ask, Who killed Jesus? 2 Turn in your Bible with me to Acts chapter 2 and we will look again at the story of Jesus death, in this case as it is told by the apostle Peter a few weeks after the murder. As we read the story of Jesus, both in the Gospels and in the book of Acts, we often think in terms of Jesus being the central character. Jesus is the hero. It is quite interesting in that light to read what those closest to those events said about the Passion about the historical events that formed the last days of Jesus life and ministry 2,000 years ago, culminating in his death on the cross. The second chapter of the book of Acts is best known for its account of the events of the Day of Pentecost. We often turn to the early verses for the dramatic account of the Holy Spirit s coming upon those gathered in the Upper Room. Or we turn to the closing verses of the chapter to read about the church when it first came into being how they devoted themselves to the apostle s teaching, to fellowship, and to the breaking of bread. We probably remember that there is a sermon somewhere in the chapter, but I d venture to guess that most of us don t pay a great deal of attention to the content of Peter s sermon and if we do, it s usually to the introduction. So this morning, let s look at the second half of that sermon in verses 22 36 of Acts chapter 2. As we do, let me pose a question
for you to think about: What do these verses tell us that Jesus did? What actions does the text ascribe to Jesus? 3 If Jesus is the central character in the Easter story, it ought to be important to observe exactly what the Bible tells us that Jesus himself did. I m going to begin reading with v. 22. Remember, as I read, ask yourself, What does the Bible tell us that Jesus did? Men of Israel, 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 set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, 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. 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 live in hope, 27 because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you 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. 29 Brothers, 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 ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay. 32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. 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. 4 36 Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Acts 2:22 36 What did Jesus do according to these verses? Let s go one verse at a time. 1. Look back at v. 22. This verse mentions miracles, wonders, and signs. But who does them? Does v. 22 say that Jesus performs miracles? If you read v. 22 carefully, you will note that it does not say that Jesus performed miracles, wonders, and signs. 2. What about v. 23? What does this verse tell us that Jesus did? We are told here about Jesus death but notice that it isn t described as something that Jesus did. It does not say, Jesus died on the cross for you. That s a true statement, but it s not what this verse says. 3. What about v. 24? This verse tells us about Jesus resurrection, but what does Jesus do? Notice that it does not say, Jesus rose from the dead. Again, it s true that he did rise from the dead, but this verse doesn t say it quite that way does it? And on it goes. What I ve found fascinating in this sermon is that Peter does not focus on Jesus as the central character! Jesus is not the hero in this story as Peter tells it. Now there is a hero (and there is also a villain), but the emphasis is not where we sometimes think it is.
Let me read the passage again. This time, instead of setting you up to focus on Jesus, let me ask you a more general question: Who is portrayed as the central character in these verses? Who is the real hero here? You might also pay attention to the villain in the story. Who are the bad guys here? Who killed Jesus? 5 Re-read Acts 2:22 36 Now, as you ve read the story a second time, Who is the central character? Who is in charge? Who is it that planned these events? Who is it that carries out the plan? Who sees to it that the plan succeeds? Who is the hero? You ve perhaps noticed by now that it is God the Father who is the central focus of this sermon. Jesus is surely involved and important; without him there would be no story. But isn t it interesting that it is the Father who is the One who is pictured here as the center of the story? God the Father is the One who acts to provide for our salvation. When we think about the story of the crucifixion, our attention is focused almost exclusively on Jesus Christ and he surely does deserve our attention and our worship. I m not suggesting that we have been misguided in exalting our Savior, Jesus Christ. Far from it. But I would like us to recognize that some passages in the Bible describe these events from a different perspective.
There are two main statements in these verses. One describes the actions of the villain; the other statement describes the work of the hero. Let s begin with the bad guys. If you read carefully through this paragraph, you will find that the first main statement comes at the very end of v. 23. the main idea here can be summarized simply as, You killed Jesus. [Repeat:] You killed Jesus. As you read it in your Bible, it is the statement, you put him to death. The him is Jesus. The basic statement of this verse, then, is: You killed Jesus. 6 The main statement of vv. 22 and 23 is that simple, but awful declaration, You killed Jesus. If we want to know Who done it? then we need to ask, who is the you whom Peter says killed Jesus? To whom is Peter speaking? Look back at the very first phrase in v. 22. There you read that Peter is talking to the Jews of Jerusalem men of Israel. This was a stinging accusation of guilt. The nation of Israel was guilty of a most heinous crime. Even though it was technically the Romans who carried out the execution they were the ones who nailed Jesus to the cross, but the Jews are still charged with guilt. Now that s not the whole story. The Romans are also guilty and they are mentioned here also. They are the wicked men of v. 23. It was with the help of those wicked, Roman hands that Israel rejected her Messiah and Savior and nailed him to that cruel cross. Peter declares, Men of Israel, you killed Jesus! Peter repeated this charge of guilt frequently in his preaching. In Acts 3 Peter preached at the Temple after healing a crippled beggar. There he declared once again (3:13 15),
You handed [Jesus] over to be killed You disowned him before Pilate You disowned the Holy and Righteous One You killed the author of life 7 When Peter and John are then arrested and brought to trial, Peter again declared in his defense, It is by the name of Jesus whom you crucified [that this man was healed] (4:10). In Acts 5 we find Peter once again on trial and we find there that Peter boldly repeats his charge that they had killed Jesus by hanging him on a tree (5:30). Once more in Acts 10 when Peter preaches at Cornelius house we hear the same refrain the Jews killed Jesus by hanging him on a tree (10:39). But enough for the villains! Yes, they killed Jesus. But despite the fact that their dastardly deed forms the main statement of this paragraph in Acts chapter 2, the emphasis lies elsewhere. That simple sentence, You killed Jesus, serves to set the stage and to introduce the topic, but most of the statement is to be found in the many other descriptions that are added. Remember who the hero of this story is! It is not primarily a story about how the Jews killed Jesus with the help of Roman soldiers. Instead, it is the story of what God the Father accomplished in the life and death of his Son Jesus to provide salvation for a world of lost people. I want you to notice in these verses that there are five things that God the Father is specifically said to have accomplished. God is the One who acts! First, God authenticated Jesus to Israel, v. 22.
Jesus did not simply show up in Israel and claim to be Messiah. When he came, he was authenticated by God approved, attested, accredited on the basis of the miracles which were performed. The miracles which Jesus did are described by three different words in v. 22. They are called miracles ; that is a word which refers to the supernatural power that was necessary to perform them. The second word, wonders, describes the amazed response of those who witnessed them: Wow! They are also described as signs which pointed beyond the miraculous events themselves to their significance. In this case the signs served to point to Jesus as Messiah they authenticated him as the One who possessed the requisite Messianic credentials. 8 Throughout the OT, the first part of our Bible, there are many prophecies about a coming Messiah. Those people who knew their Bible had an abundance of information that would enable them to recognize Messiah when he came. Part of that information was the fact that Messiah would perform miracles. As just one example, the prophet Isaiah said that Messiah would heal blind people, those who could not hear or speak, and those unable to walk. Isaiah said it this way: Your God will come to save you. Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb shout for joy (35:4 5). When Jesus came, he fulfilled these prophecies. The early chapters of Mark s gospel, to select just one of many accounts, record the healing of Peter s mother-in-law who was bed-ridden with a fever (1:30f), the exorcism of many demons (1:23f, 34), the healing of a man with leprosy (1:40f), a paralytic is cured (2:1f), a
woman with a chronic bleeding problem is healed (5:25f), and a little girl was raised from the dead (5:23f). We are told several times that he healed many who had various diseases (2:34; cf. 3:10). 9 These were some of the Messianic credentials that Jesus displayed. They are what Peter refers to here in Acts 2:22 when he tells us about Jesus of Nazareth a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs. But notice something interesting about this statement. By whom were these miracles performed? Does your Bible say that Jesus did these miracles to prove that he was Messiah? Look at v. 22 again: miracles, wonders, and signs which God did. God did these miracles! Now wait just a minute, you may say, Jesus was God. I certainly believe that Jesus was God. But look at your Bible again; look carefully at v. 22. Notice that Peter declares that God did these miracles, wonders, and signs by or through him, i.e., through Jesus. In other words, God and Jesus are distinguished here as two different persons. God in v. 22 refers, not to Jesus as God (which he was), but to God the Father. These signs are said to be miracles which God did. Yes, they were done through Jesus, but Peter wants us to realize that these miracles were evidence of God the Father at work in our world to authenticate his Son as Messiah. It is God who is at work here. Second, not only did God authenticate Jesus, he also handed Jesus over to the Jews. We don t usually think of Jesus death in those
terms do we? We usually focus on the treachery of Judas who betrayed him, or the wicked plotting of the Jewish leaders, or the lawless deeds of Pontius Pilate and his executioners. We say that Jesus was betrayed; he was unjustly tried; he was murdered. If we use the term handed over, or delivered at all in this context, it is usually to describe what the Jewish leaders the Sanhedrin, did in handing Jesus over to the Romans for condemnation. When we ask Who done it? we say, The Jews killed Jesus. 10 But is it quite that simple? Remember we ve already noted that the Romans were involved as well. Is there more to it than a murder plot hatched by the Jewish leaders and the Roman governor? Look carefully at what the Bible tells us in v. 23. Him [i.e., Jesus], being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. In other words, This man was handed over by God. By God?! Handed over to be mocked, scourged, spit upon, and killed?! Was God the Father responsible for Jesus death? Our detective friend Father Brown would be asking, Did God the Father kill Jesus? Was the Father responsible for handing over his sinless Son for such shameful treatment? Yes, he was. The text is even more specific than that. Not only did God deliver his Son to wicked men, but he did that according to his predetermined plan it was by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God that the sinless Son of God was given over to sinful men to suffer and to die.
You see, Calvary was no accident. The death of Jesus was not an unexpected twist in an otherwise uneventful week. It was not a last minute emergency implementation of Plan B. 11 We traditionally call the day Jesus died Good Friday. The only way that we can possibly call it Good Friday is if we understand that Jesus death was part of God s plan. If we did not have the assurance that God was in control, we would have to call it Awful Friday Disastrous Friday, Horrible Friday, Catastrophic Friday, What Alexander would have called The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (if you are familiar with the children s book by that title!). 2 Or on a more somber note, we might in recent years call it a Nine-Eleven Kind of Friday. But remember that Jesus was called the Lamb of God. The Bible tells us that he slain from the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8), which means that God planned for Jesus to die before he even created the world. The apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians that God works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will (1:11), including his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord (3:11). God has a plan and a purpose for everything that happens in this world even those things that seem tragic to us, whether the death of Jesus, or the death of one 2 Judith Viorst, The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (Aladdin, 1987).
of our loved ones. We may not understand why, but we worship and serve a sovereign God who is in control of our world. 12 Jesus understood that for he told his disciples in the Upper Room the night before he was betrayed, arrested, and killed that he was going to the cross according to what has been decreed (Luke 22:22). The early church also understood. In Acts 4 as they prayed together following the release of Peter and John from prison, they acknowledged that the actions of Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Jews in conspiring against Jesus, were only doing what God s power and will had decided beforehand (Acts 4:28). No, Calvary was not an accident. Jesus Christ was deliberately (and willingly) handed over by God to sinful people. Although they willfully acted to crucify him and as such they are guilty they were actually carrying out God s eternal plan. God handed Jesus over to be killed. There is a third thing which God did according to Acts 2. He raised Jesus from the dead. Although sinners killed Jesus, v. 24 tells us that 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. It is only because that is true that we can celebrate each spring, not only Good Friday, but also Resurrection Sunday. Our Lord suffered the agony of death, not because he deserved to suffer in that way, but because he willingly suffered what we should have suffered. He died in our place as our Substitute. Had he suffered for his own sin, death would have held him fast death would
have had a claim upon his life. But since this was the sinless substitute, it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. 13 Peter goes on in his sermon to quote the OT prophecy of Jesus resurrection from Psalm 16. Look at what your Bible says in vv. 25 28. Remember that was a prophecy given 1,000 years before it happened. David, speaking as a prophet, tells us about someone who would be killed, but who would not remain dead; he would be raised back to life. After quoting those words from Psalm 16, Peter then explains the significance of that prophecy and shows that it could not refer to David, but that it must be a prophecy about the coming Messiah. Look at what he says in vv. 29 32. Psalm 16 can t refer to David because David was still dead and buried. Peter wants us to know that it was God the Father who raised Jesus from the dead. The fourth item that our text lists as the work of God the Father is the exaltation of Jesus. As v. 33 explains, Jesus was exalted to the right hand of God. This verse does not describe just the Ascension of Jesus from the Mount of Olives to heaven 40 days after the resurrection, although it includes that event. It relates primarily to Jesus present ministry in heaven. The Father gave him both an exalted position (seated on the right hand of the Father s throne) and he gave him an exalted ministry. This exalted ministry relates to the work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and he has, in turn, poured out the Spirit on those disciples
who awaited the fulfillment of Jesus promise to baptize them with the Spirit. It was the privilege of the exalted Jesus to bring into existence the church which is his body on the Day of Pentecost by pouring out the Spirit to unite those who believed as members of his body. 14 You can see all the members of the godhead working together here. God the Father raises Jesus (God the Son) from the dead, exalts him to heaven, and then Jesus (God the Son) sends the Holy Spirit God the Holy Spirit to begin a new work here on earth. All three, Father, Son, and Spirit, are God. This pouring out of the Spirit is the only event in the entire chapter which is attributed directly to Jesus and even that is related to the Father s previous work of exalting Jesus and giving him the Spirit. The last statement in Peter s sermon highlights a fifth action taken by God the Father. Look with me at v. 36. In Acts 2:36 Peter concludes his sermon with an emphatic statement that God the Father has made this Jesus... both Lord and Christ. This is God s formal appointment of the resurrected, glorified Jesus to his dual role as both Messianic King of Israel and as head of the church. Up to this point his Messianic credentials (the miracles which God did through him, v. 22) have been demonstrated, authenticating his right to Messianic office, and he has served as the suffering Savior in the climatic events on Calvary. But at the Ascension Jesus ministry shifts focus. On the basis of his exaltation and resurrection, he is now appointed by God to be Lord over the church. By pouring out the Spirit on the Day of
Pentecost, Jesus both brings the church into existence and also actively takes up his role as her Lord. Also on the basis of his exaltation and resurrection God also appoints him to be the Messianic King of Israel. At a time which is yet future Jesus will also pour out the Spirit on Israel, thus actively beginning his role as Israel s King. 15 In all of this it is God the Father who is active. It is he who resurrects Jesus. It is he who exalts Jesus to this own right hand. It is he who appoints Jesus to be the Lord of the church. It is he who proclaims Jesus to be the Messianic King. It is this profoundly God-centered message of good news that forms the heart of our faith that enables us to describe an otherwise tragic day in history as Good Friday. God has been at work in history in our world. When those listening to Peter s sermon understood that, they responded immediately with a cry, What shall we do?! In response to Peter s instructions to repent, there were 3,000 people that day who placed their faith in Jesus Christ. Perhaps you are like them in that you have for the first time realized the significance of the Jesus death the significance of God s provision of a Savior of Jesus death on the cross in your place. If so, then you ought to do as they did. You ought to repent of your sin and place your faith in Jesus Christ and trust him for the forgiveness of your sin and for the assurance of heaven when you die. Rodney J. Decker, ThD, Professor of NT Baptist Bible Seminary, 2002, rev 2008