Summary: Peter’s sermon from Acts 3 gives us the essentials of what evangelism needs to be about.

At the dramatic conclusion of the musical, Camelot, the tragic figure of King Arthur calls a boy named Tom out of the bushes. Arthur dubs the boy a “Knight of the Round Table,” but orders him not to fight in the battle. He is to “grow up and grow strong” in order to tell of the ideals and accomplishments of Camelot so future generations would remember. A similar scene takes place in the graphic novel by Frank Miller, 300 (recently released as a feature film). One of the Spartans has lost an eye, so Leonidas sends him back to tell the citizens to “Remember us!” as the dying heroes’ way of saying that “Freedom has a cost.” Of course, Miller was kinder to Aristodemus than Herodotus was—the Greek historian noting that Aristodemus was considered a “craven,” a coward until he redeemed himself at the Battle of Plataea.

Today is Memorial Day weekend. For some, it has little meaning other than a day off and the running of the Indianapolis 500. Yet, the origin of the day began with remembering the dead in the War of Northern Aggression—the women of Pennsylvania who decorated Union graves in August of 1864, the women of Virginia who decorated Confederate graves in April of 1865, and the women of Columbus, MS who decorated the graves of both Union and Confederate dead—prompting Horace Greeley’s editorial and the subsequent events which called for national observance of such memorials. This day reminds us of all our war dead, hence that freedom has a cost.

In this morning’s text, Peter also calls on the crowd to remember. He even asks them to remember their own craven acts. Though God glorified His servant, His child—Jesus, the crowd had delivered Him up (handed him over as a criminal) and denied Him—the very Holy and Righteous One. Let’s read it, but since we’ve already read it in the King James Version, please indulge me with my translation as we go through the text.

13) The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, The God of Jacob, [and] the God of our [very own] fathers, glorified His servant/son, Jesus, [while] you [on the other hand] delivered Him [into custody] and rejected Him to Pilate’s face [or “in the presence of Pilate”] when he [Pilate] judged Him to be set free,

Whenever the Jews remembered God who provided their hope and salvation, they would almost always begin with a recitation of their beginnings: Abraham who left everything behind to follow God, Isaac who became God’s laugh as the miracle child of Promise, Jacob who overcame his selfish nature after wrestling with his own ambition and with God Himself, and all of the fathers who predicted that God wasn’t finished with them, yet. The Jews had thought that they were the “suffering servant,” but Peter quotes from Isaiah 52:13 in the Septuagint when he says that God has glorified his “servant.” Peter is saying, first of all, that the Jews need to remember God’s promises to them and that God would glorify a servant. Then, Peter goes a step further because the same noun can mean “child” as well as “servant.” So, Peter is laying the foundation for claiming Jesus as God’s SON.

14) But you, you [for emphasis] rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a man, a murderer to be given to you,

It is human nature for us not to like our failings to be pointed out to us. Students who aren’t exceptional really hate the “curve raisers” and “teacher’s pets” in school. And the Jews hated having the Sinless One show that they themselves weren’t perfect. They would rather have had a murderer, thief, and traitor in their midst than the sinless Son of God.

15) But you killed the Author of Life [or Point Person/Leader of Life] Whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.

Now, is this verse ironic? They asked for a murderer and killed the “author of life.” Instead of remembering God’s promises, they went against them. But God reversed the field on them. God raised Him (the ironically murdered Author of Life) from death to life.

16) And by means of His name, this one you observe and know, His name made strong and faith through Jesus has made him complete—this in front of all of you.

Of course, this is what Peter was getting to in his sermon. By means of the person and authority of Jesus Christ, this man was made strong and made complete. In verse 15, Peter claimed himself and the other apostles as eye-witnesses who could testify in a court of law to Jesus’ resurrection. Now, he says that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead was what raised this lame man to his feet and kept him there. And the kicker is that the crowd has become eye witnesses. THEY have seen the power of life at work as it is found in the name of Jesus.

We recently watched a DVD about prestidigitation. It was called The Prestige and was based on the idea that every illusion has three acts. The first act is “The Pledge” where the “magician” shows you something very simple and ordinary, though it rarely is. The second act is “The Turn” where something that seems extraordinary or impossible occurs. The third act is “The Prestige” where order is restored and, to your amazement, all is well.

Of course, that describes the nature of stage magic, but I think Peter has used the same kind of showmanship here to depict the divine reality of Jesus as God’s Son. YOU put Jesus to death, charges Peter—the pledge. GOD raised Him from the dead—the turn, but you’ve had to take “our” word for it until now. NOW, you’ve seen the power right in front of you as Jesus’ presence, power, and authority has healed this man to perfect health, the prestige. But Peter isn’t content to leave these observations as part of a sideshow, he wants them to remember for a purpose.

17) And now, I know, brothers, that you accomplished this in ignorance, even as did your rulers.

18) But what God announced by means of the mouths of all the prophets, that is that Christ should suffer, He brought to completion.

Peter absolves his listeners of culpability by stating that they didn’t understand what the prophets had said about the suffering servant and the need of the Messiah to suffer. They didn’t understand the “suffering servant” of Isaiah 52:13, the lamb led to the slaughter of Jeremiah 11:19, the anointed one who would be cut off in Daniel 9:26, or the shepherd who would be stricken in Zechariah 13:7b. He calls it an unwitting sin, but because he has shared the whole truth with them, they now need to act. Now, rejection of Jesus as Messiah and Lord is no longer an unwitting sin, a sin of ignorance—now it is deliberate.

19) Change your minds, therefore, and turn [your whole way of living] around into the erasure of your sins,

20) In order that the right [opportune] time of recovery may arrive from the presence of the Lord and He may send Jesus Christ Who He already has at hand for you.

Now, Peter’s appeal is to accept Jesus as the Messiah rather than rejecting Him in our ignorance. Yes, that requires a turnaround where we have to change our way of living. But do you think the man who was healed ever lamented that he didn’t get to hang around the Beautiful Gate much anymore? Do you think he complained that he didn’t have to call on his friends to drag him places anymore? Do you think he griped about having to walk to the marketplace? No way! He was thankful that God had given him a life that he never expected.

But how many people have you heard give a testimony with a wistful gleam in their eye, saying “Oh, I used to be the baddest!” or “I was such a horrible drunk [addict, fornicator, thief, crook, liar, sadist, or whatever]” in such a way that it sounds like they’re wishing for the “good ole days? Peter’s call for a turnaround is a demand for a life change, but it is a life change that should be better than we expected.

The Jews were still waiting for their Messiah, but God already had their Messiah at hand for them. That life, that refreshment, that recovery of the joy and zest for living that they longed for was immediately available for them if they would choose God’s way of living.

Frankly, the next time we prepare to celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we need to remember what our salvation cost—Jesus who left His throne in glory to live under the same kinds of limitations that we face and die in a way that none of us would choose. I offer you the reminder of what our salvation was for—Jesus is our Messiah who demonstrated for us the way to experience eternal life and participate in God’s Kingdom.

I don’t believe the lame man who was healed would have voluntarily gone back to begging helplessly at the gate. The name of Jesus changed his life forever. Has it changed yours? The Jews had ignorance for an excuse. WE have no excuse. Remember the cost and remember the promise.