Acts 10:39-43 – “We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, 40 but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen.41 He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
“We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem.” It is important that they were witnesses. It is vital that they saw and they believed. They were not promoting themselves, or some scam that they thought up. After all if it comes down to dying for lie it is rare that man might do so. But that all twelve would be willing to die for a lie is not believable. All but John died for what they testified for, except John, and he did not renege even though they tried to kill him by boiling him in oil, but God protected him. Charles Colson, who was imprisoned for his part in Watergate wrote “I know the resurrection is a fact, and Watergate proved it to me. How? Because 12 men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead, then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years, never once denying it. Everyone was beaten, tortured, stoned and put in prison. They would not have endured that if it weren’t true. Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world-and they couldn’t keep a lie for three weeks. You’re telling me 12 apostles could keep a lie for 40 years? Absolutely impossible.” People don’t die for lies. They die for the Truth. People will lie about their guilt and then die. But people don’t die for a lie about a fact that could easily be taken back and they could then live a normal life. The ideas that the Apostles died for a lie is preposterous and anyone who would hold to that has ulterior motives.
“They killed him by hanging him on a cross, 40 but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen.” The will of God will be done. The enemy of God and us thought that killing Jesus on the cross had accomplished destroying the plan of God. But all they accomplished what was God had already planned. Jesus never prayed to the devil to please allow him to live. Perish the thought! Jesus prayed to His Father God who was in control. God was faithful and raised Jesus from the dead and because He lives, we know we too shall forever live be with God. Praise God!
“41 He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.” Again, it is God who is in control. He chose the Apostles, He chose who would see Jesus after Jesus rose from the grave. He chose who would see the resurrected Christ and so He chose who would be His witnesses. These men never reneged. They were beaten, tortured and killed and not one ever reneged. They did not hold to their story to die, they held to their story for life, eternal life that only comes from God! Praise God!
“He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead.” Our Savior and Lord commissioned the eyewitnesses, and us too. Matthew 28:18-20 “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”” And so Jesus was and is ever with them. And so Jesus is ever with us. We must also remember to be His witnesses to a lost world, just as the Apostles did. There are brothers and sisters in hostile countries who daily are losing their lives from their faith. May we at least be faithful to share The Gospel, whatever the cost.
“All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” It was not only the Apostles and the rest of the disciples who could not be quiet about Jesus and would not renounce Him. It was not only them that proclaimed Jesus, it was also the Holy Scriptures that God had already given them and that they claimed to know and cling to. Peter was saying that if one did not believe their contemporary witnesses, then they should believe what their ancestors had delivered to them as the very words of God. Believe Peter, or believe the Prophets, just believe and be saved.
That is our message to the world “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” (Romans 10:9-10) What lives within us is what lived within them and they shared. Jesus has not changed. His story does not change. We must hold to the unchanging truth to receive the unchanging processes. God will reward us. He is faithful. He is good all the time and He loves us. Thank you Jesus! Praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.