Acts 2:14 - Meaning and Application

Here we see the first fruits of the Spirit in Peter’s sermon, preached right after the coming of the Holy Spirit. He spoke, not to people from other nations in a strange language, though we are not told what answer he gave to those who were amazed and said, “What does this mean?” Instead, he spoke to the Jews in their common language, even to the ones who mocked. He begins by noticing their charge in (Acts 2:15), and directs his message in (Acts 2:14) to the men of Judea and the people of Jerusalem. Still, we have good reason to think the other disciples kept speaking to those who understood them, and who had gathered around them, in the languages of their own countries, declaring the wonderful works of God.

It was not Peter’s preaching alone, but the preaching of all, or most, of the other 120 disciples, that led to the conversion of 3,000 souls that day and added them to the church. Yet only Peter’s sermon is recorded, as proof that he had fully recovered from his fall and had been restored to God’s favor. The man who once denied Christ in fear now boldly confesses him. He that had once slipped back now stands forward without shame.

Peter begins with an introduction that asks for the crowd’s attention, or really demands it. He stood up (Acts 2:14), showing that he was not drunk, and the eleven stood with him. They agreed with what he said, and likely spoke in turn with the same message. Those with the greatest authority rose to answer the scoffing Jews and to confront those who opposed and insulted them, while the seventy disciples likely spoke to the willing converts from other nations in their own languages. In this way, among Christ’s ministers, some with greater gifts are called to teach those who resist, while others with humbler gifts help those who are ready to listen.

Peter lifted up his voice like one fully convinced of what he said and deeply moved by it. He was neither afraid nor ashamed to speak. He addressed the men of Judea, that is, the Jews, and especially those who lived in Jerusalem, who had taken part in the death of Jesus. In effect, he says, “Let this be known to you now, because you did not know it before, and now you must know it. Listen to my words, because I want to draw you to Christ, not to the words of the scribes and Pharisees, who would draw you away from him. My Master has gone, and you will hear his words no more as you once did, but he speaks to you through us. Listen now to our words.”

Peter then answers their insulting accusation in (Acts 2:15): “These men are not drunk, as you think.” These disciples of Christ, who were now speaking in other tongues, were speaking sensible words, and those who heard them were being led by those words to know the wonderful works of God. They could not be drunk, because it was only the third hour of the day, about nine in the morning. Before this hour, the Jews did not eat or drink on Sabbaths and special feasts. And in ordinary life, drunk people are usually drunk at night, not in the morning. Truly foolish drunkards are the ones who, when they wake up, immediately go back to it (Proverbs 23:35).

Peter then explains the miracle of the Spirit’s outpouring, which was meant to awaken them all to accept Christ’s faith and join his church. He reduces it to two things, that it fulfilled Scripture and came from Christ’s resurrection and ascension, which also proved both of those truths. First, it fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah’s kingdom, so it showed that the kingdom had come and that the other promises about it were also being fulfilled. He names one prophecy, from the prophet Joel (Joel 2:28).

It is worth noticing that Peter, though filled with the Holy Spirit and speaking as the Spirit gave him words, did not set Scripture aside or think himself above it. In fact, much of what he says is a quotation from the Old Testament, which he uses to prove his point. Christ’s followers never learn beyond their Bible. The Spirit is given, not to replace Scripture, but to help us understand it and use it well.

Peter’s quoted text in (Acts 2:17-21) speaks of the last days, the gospel age. They are called the last days because the rule of God among people, established by the gospel, is the final age of divine grace. We should expect no other until the end of time. Or the phrase may mean a long time after prophecy stopped in the Old Testament church. It may also point to the days just before the destruction of the Jewish nation, the last days of that people, right before the great and terrible day of the Lord in (Acts 2:20). Since it had been promised and foretold, Peter says in effect, they should expect it, welcome it, and not argue against it as though it were unimportant.

Peter quotes the whole passage because it is good to take Scripture as a whole. The prophecy says, first, that there would be a much fuller and wider outpouring of the Spirit of grace from above than had ever been seen before. The prophets of the Old Testament had been filled with the Holy Spirit, and it was said of Israel that God gave them his good Spirit to instruct them (Nehemiah 9:20). But now the Spirit would be poured out, not only on the Jews, but on all flesh, Gentiles as well as Jews, though Peter himself did not yet understand it that way, as (Acts 11:17) later shows. Or “all flesh” may mean people from every rank and condition.

The Jewish teachers said the Spirit came only on wise and rich men, and only on those who came from Israel. But God does not bind himself to their rules. The prophecy also says the Spirit would make people prophets. By the Spirit they would be able to foretell future things and preach the gospel to every creature. This gift would not be limited by sex, because both sons and daughters would prophesy. It would not be limited by age, because young men would see visions and old men would dream dreams, and through these God would give them revelations to pass on to the church. It would not be limited by outward condition either, because even servants and female servants would receive the Spirit and prophesy (Acts 2:18). In short, men and women whom God calls his servants would share in it.

At the beginning of prophecy in the Old Testament, there were schools of the prophets, and before that the Spirit of prophecy came on the elders of Israel who were appointed to lead. But now the Spirit would be poured out on people of lower rank, and on those who had not been trained in the schools of the prophets, because the kingdom of the Messiah is purely spiritual.

The mention of the daughters (Acts 2:17) and the maidservants (Acts 2:18) suggests that the women noticed in (Acts 1:14) received the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit, just as the men did. Philip the evangelist had four daughters who prophesied (Acts 21:9), and Paul, seeing many gifts of tongues and prophecy in the church at Corinth, found it necessary to forbid women from using those gifts in public (1 Corinthians 14:26, 1 Corinthians 14:34).

One great thing they would prophesy about was the coming judgment on the Jewish nation. That was the main thing Christ had already foretold in (Matthew 24), when he entered Jerusalem (Luke 19:41), and again when he was about to die (Luke 23:29). These judgments came because the Jews despised the gospel and opposed it, even though it came to them with such clear proof. Those who will not submit to God's grace in this wonderful outpouring of his Spirit will fall under the outpourings of his wrath. Those who will not bend will break.

The destruction of Jerusalem, about forty years after Christ's death, is here called that great and notable day of the Lord, because it brought the Mosaic system to an end. The Levitical priesthood, that is, the priesthood from Levi, and the ceremonial law were then abolished forever. The ruin was unlike anything that had ever come on any people or place before or since. It was the day of the Lord because it was his day of vengeance on that people for crucifying Christ and persecuting his messengers. It was the year when he settled that quarrel, and also the bloodshed of the saints and martyrs, from righteous Abel onward (Matthew 23:35).

It was a little day of judgment, yet a very notable one. In Joel it is called a terrible day, because it was terrible for people on earth. Here it is called a glorious, shining day, using the word from the Greek Septuagint, because it was glorious to Christ in heaven. It was his appearing, or epiphany, as he himself called it in (Matthew 24:30). The destruction of the Jews meant deliverance for Christians, whom the Jews hated and persecuted. So the prophets of that time often spoke of that day to encourage suffering believers, reminding them that the Lord was near, the Judge was standing at the door (James 5:8, James 5:9).

The prophecy also foretells the frightening signs that would come before that destruction. There would be wonders in heaven above, the sun turned to darkness and the moon to blood, and signs on the earth below, blood and fire. Josephus, in the opening of his history of the Jewish wars, speaks of the signs and wonders that came before them, terrible thunder, lightning, and earthquakes. There was a fiery comet over the city for a year, and a flaming sword seemed to point down on it. A light shone on the temple and altar at midnight, as if it were noon.

Dr. Lightfoot gives another meaning to these warnings. He says they may refer to the blood of the Son of God, the fire of the Holy Spirit now appearing, the smoke cloud at Christ's ascension, and the sun darkened and moon turned to blood at Christ's suffering. All of these were loud warnings to that unbelieving people to prepare for the judgments coming on them. Or, the words may fit very well the earlier judgments that led to that ruin. The blood points to the wars of the Jews with neighboring peoples, such as the Samaritans, Syrians, and Greeks, where much blood was shed. It also points to their civil wars and the bloody struggles of the rebels. There was no peace for anyone going out or coming in.

The fire and smoke foretold here were fulfilled in the burning of their cities, towns, synagogues, and finally the temple. The sun turned to darkness and the moon to blood picture the collapse of their civil and religious rule, and the loss of all their lights.

The passage also promises a clear preservation of the Lord's people. Whoever calls on the name of the Lord Jesus, which is the mark of a true Christian (1 Corinthians 1:2), will be saved, meaning he will escape that judgment, which served as a sign and promise of eternal salvation. When Jerusalem was destroyed by the Chaldeans, a remnant was marked out to be hidden in the day of the Lord's anger. When it was destroyed by the Romans, not one Christian perished. Those who stand out in sincere godliness will be marked out for special protection.

Notice also that the saved remnant are described as people who pray. They call on the name of the Lord, showing that they are not saved by any merit or right of their own, but only by God's favor, which must be sought in prayer. It is the Lord's name that they call on, and that name is their strong tower.

Peter then applies this prophecy to what was happening right then: This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel. It is the fulfillment of that promise, the full fulfillment of it. This is the outpouring of the Spirit on all flesh that was to come, and we are not to expect another, any more than we are to expect another Messiah. As our Messiah lives in heaven, ruling and interceding for his church on earth, so the Spirit of grace, the Advocate, that is, the Helper or Comforter, given now according to the promise, will remain with the church on earth to the end. He will work in and for every member of it, in ordinary ways and in extraordinary ways, through the Scriptures and the ministry.

This gift also came from Christ, and it proves his resurrection and ascension. From the gift of the Holy Spirit, Peter moves at once to preach Jesus to them. He begins this part of the sermon with another solemn call: "Men of Israel, hear these words." It is a mercy that they could hear them, and it was their duty to pay attention. Words about Christ should be welcome to the men of Israel.

Peter gives a summary of Christ's life in (Acts 2:22). He calls him Jesus of Nazareth, because that was the name people commonly knew him by, but the shame attached to that name was enough to be rolled away. He was a man approved by God among them, though condemned by men. God showed his approval of Christ's teaching by the power he gave him to work miracles. Dr. Hammond says the phrase means a man marked out by God, singled out and made noticeable among all who now heard Peter.

He was sent to you and placed in your land as a glorious light. You yourselves are witnesses of how he became known through miracles, wonders, and signs. These were works beyond nature, outside its normal course, done by the power of God through him. God plainly stood with him, for no one could do such works unless God were with him.

Peter gives great weight to Christ’s miracles. First, the facts could not be denied. They were done among them, in their own country, city, and public gatherings, and they knew it. Peter appeals to their own eyes and asks whether anyone can object or prove otherwise.

Second, the meaning of the miracles is clear and hard to avoid. If Jesus did these works, then God approved him and declared him to be who he said he was, the Son of God and the Savior of the world. The God of truth would never put his seal on a lie.

Peter then gives an account of Christ’s death and suffering, which they had also seen only a few weeks earlier. This was the greatest wonder of all, that a man approved by God should seem to be abandoned by God, and that a man honored among the people should be abandoned by them too. But these deep mysteries are explained in Acts 2:23.

Christ’s death is first viewed as God’s act, and in it there was great grace and wisdom. God delivered him up to death, not merely allowing it, but giving him over to it. Paul explains this in Romans 8:32: he delivered him up for us all. Yet this did not mean God disapproved of him. It happened by God’s fixed plan and foreknowledge, in perfect wisdom and for holy purposes, in which Christ also agreed. In this way, divine justice was satisfied, sinners were saved, God and man were brought together again, and Christ himself was glorified.

This was not only God’s will, but the counsel of his will, part of his eternal purpose, which could not be changed. That made Christ willing to go to the cross. His heart was, Father, your will be done. Father, glorify your name. Let your purpose be carried out, and let its great end be reached.

Christ’s death is also seen as the people’s act, and in them it was a terrible sin and a great folly. To persecute the one God approved was to fight against God. To persecute the greatest blessing on earth was to fight against their own mercy. Neither God’s eternal plan nor the good he brought from it would excuse their sin, because their act was voluntary and came from a morally evil heart. So Peter says, “You crucified and killed him by wicked hands.”

It is likely that some of those listening had been present when the crowd cried, “Crucify him, crucify him,” or had helped in the murder in other ways. Peter knew this. Even so, the act was rightly treated as a national sin, because it was done both by the decision of the leaders and by the voice of the crowd. What is done publicly by the greater part is counted as the act of the whole.

Peter charges this sin on them as members of that nation, because he wants to bring them to faith and repentance. That was the only way they could separate themselves from the guilty and free themselves from the guilt.

Peter then gives the proof of Christ’s resurrection, which fully removed the shame of his death. God raised him up. The same God who delivered him to death delivered him from death, and in doing so gave a greater approval of him than all the miracles together had done. That is why Peter speaks so fully about the resurrection.

He says that God loosed the pains of death, because it was impossible for death to hold him. The word can mean the sorrows or pains of death, and some think it points to the deep trouble of his soul, when he was sorrowful even to death. The Father loosed him from those pains when, at his death, he said, “It is finished.”

Some understand this as Christ’s soul being brought out of deep spiritual anguish. Like Heman in Psalm 88, he had overwhelming distress, but he was stronger than it and broke through it. That was the resurrection of his soul, and it is a great thing to bring a soul out of such deep sorrow. This was not God leaving his soul in hell, while the words about not seeing corruption speak of the resurrection of his body.

Others take it to mean that God dissolved the pains of death for all who believe in Christ. By raising Christ, God broke death’s power and destroyed its power over his people. Christ has abolished death and changed what it means. Since it was not possible for him to be held by death forever, it is not possible that believers will be held by it forever either.

Most, however, take this as referring to the resurrection of Christ’s body. Death is a penal state, a state of punishment, even if it does not always bring pain in the same way. One writer notes that the Greek word can mean cords or bands, which fits the picture of loosing and being held. Christ was held as a prisoner for our debt and bound in death. But once divine justice was satisfied, it was not possible for him to remain there, either by right or by force. He had life in himself, power over his own life, and he had conquered the ruler of death.

Peter also bears witness to the truth of Christ’s resurrection: God has raised him up, and of that we all are witnesses. The apostles and their close companions knew him before his death, and they were closely with him after his resurrection. They ate and drank with him. They received power when the Holy Spirit came upon them so they could be skilled, faithful, and bold witnesses of this fact, despite the claims of his enemies that they had stolen his body.

Peter also shows that the resurrection fulfilled Scripture. Since Scripture said that Christ must rise before he saw corruption, it was impossible for him to be held by death and the grave. Peter quotes David’s words in Psalm 16:8-11, which apply in part to David as a saint, but chiefly to Jesus Christ, of whom David was a type. He then gives the passage in full, because it was all fulfilled in Christ, and it shows us this truth.

Our Lord Jesus kept his Father before him throughout his whole work. He looked ahead to his Father’s glory as the goal of everything he did. He knew his suffering would bring great honor to God and would end in his own joy. That was always before him, and it gave him strength to keep going (John 13:31-32; John 17:4-5).

He also had full confidence that his Father would stay with him and give him power. “He is at my right hand,” meaning at the place of action, to strengthen, guide, and uphold him. So he would not be shaken or turned away from his mission, no matter what hardships came. This was part of the covenant of redemption, the agreement of salvation between the Father and the Son (Psalm 89:21). If God is at our right hand, we too will not be moved.

Our Lord Jesus went forward with cheer, even though he knew sorrow was ahead. He was sure he would not fail, and that the Lord’s purpose would succeed through him. So his heart rejoiced, and his tongue was glad, and the thought of his suffering could not take away his joy. It was always a pleasure to him to look toward the end of his work and know that it would be glorious. He rejoiced in spirit (Luke 10:21). In the psalm, it says, “my glory rejoices,” which shows that the tongue is a kind of glory to us, because speaking is a gift of honor, especially when it is used to praise God. Christ’s tongue was glad, for even as he was about to suffer, at the close of his last supper, he sang a hymn.

He also saw the happy result of his death and suffering, and that gave him courage and cheer. Though he was laying down the body, his flesh would rest. The grave would be a place of rest for his body, and hope would make that rest sweet. It would “rest in hope,” because God would not leave his soul in hell, that is, in the unseen state of the dead. The soul might go there for a time, but it would not stay there. God would bring it back, and would not leave it there as he leaves the souls of other people.

His body would also stay in the grave only a short time. God would not let his Holy One see corruption, meaning his body would not remain long enough to decay and rot. So he had to rise again on or before the third day after his death. Christ was God’s Holy One, set apart for God’s service in the work of redemption, that is, buying sinners back by his death. He had to die, because he had to be consecrated by his own blood. Yet he could not see corruption, because his death was a sweet-smelling offering to God. This was pictured in the law about sacrifices, where the meat of an offering was not to be kept until the third day, so that it would not begin to decay (Leviticus 7:15-18).

His death and suffering would also open the way to blessed immortality, not only for him, but for all who belong to him. God had made known to him the ways of life, and through him those ways were made known to the world and opened up for us. When the Father gave the Son life in himself, meaning the power to lay down his life and take it up again, he showed him the way of life in both directions. The gates of death were open to him, and so were the doors of the shadow of death (Job 38:17), so that he could pass through them for the sake of man’s redemption.

At last, all his sorrows and sufferings would end in perfect and lasting joy. The reward set before him was joy, full joy, and joy in God’s presence, in the Father’s countenance, or approving face. The Father’s welcome, when Christ was received at his ascension and brought to the Ancient of Days, filled him with joy beyond words. That is the joy of our Lord, into which all his people will enter, and in which they will be happy forever.

Peter then explains this text, especially the part that speaks of Christ’s resurrection. He speaks respectfully, saying, “Men and brothers” (Acts 2:29). You are men, so you should let reason guide you. You are brothers, so you should receive kindly what I am saying, since I speak to you as one closely connected to you and deeply concerned for your good. So let me speak freely about the patriarch David, a great and honored ancestor, and do not take offense if I say that David was not speaking about himself here, but about the coming Christ.

David is called a patriarch here because he was the father of the royal line and a man of great importance in his generation. His name and memory were rightly precious. When we read this psalm, we must remember first that David could not have been speaking of himself, because he died, was buried, and his tomb was still with them in Jerusalem when Peter spoke. His bones and ashes were still there. No one ever claimed that David had risen, so he could not have meant himself when he said he would not see corruption, since it was plain that he did see corruption. Paul also uses this argument (Acts 13:35-37). Though David was a man after God’s own heart, he still went the way of all the earth, as he said himself (1 Kings 2:2), both in death and burial.

So David was speaking as a prophet, looking ahead to the Messiah. The prophets had testified beforehand about the sufferings of Christ and the glory that would follow, and David did the same in this psalm, as Peter clearly shows.

David knew that the Messiah would come from his family line (Acts 2:30). God had sworn to him that from the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on David’s throne. God had promised him a Son whose kingdom would be established forever (2 Samuel 7:12). Scripture also says that God swore this truth to David (Psalm 132:11). When our Lord Jesus was born, it was promised that the Lord God would give him the throne of his father David (Luke 1:32). All Israel knew that the Messiah was to be the Son of David, meaning that, according to his human nature, he would come from David’s line. But according to his divine nature, he was David’s Lord, not David’s son.

God had sworn to David that the Messiah, promised to his fathers, would come from his line, as his son and heir to his throne. David kept that promise in mind when he wrote his psalms. Since Christ was the fruit of David’s body, and thus in David’s line when the psalm was written, the words cannot be taken as speaking about David himself, because that does not fit the psalm’s meaning. They must point to the son who was then still in David’s line, the one in whom David’s family and kingdom would find their full and lasting fulfillment. So when David says that his soul would not be left in the grave, where it is separated from the body, and that his flesh would not see decay, he is speaking of the resurrection of Christ (Acts 2:31).

As Christ died, so he rose again, just as the Scriptures said, and the apostles were witnesses of that. There is also a hint of his ascension here. David did not rise from the dead, and he did not go up into heaven bodily, as Christ did (Acts 2:34). Peter also points to another psalm, where David speaks of the next step in Messiah’s exaltation, and clearly shows he is speaking of someone else, someone who is David’s Lord (Psalm 110:1): “The Lord said to my Lord, when he had raised him from the dead, Sit at my right hand, in the highest place of honor and rule there. Be entrusted with the rule of the kingdom, both in providence, God’s wise care over all things, and in grace, his saving favor. Sit there as king until I make your enemies either your friends or your footstool” (Acts 2:35).

Christ rose from the grave in order to rise higher, so David must have been speaking of Christ’s resurrection, not his own, in Psalm 16:1. There was no need for David to come out of the grave if he was not also to ascend to heaven.

Peter then applies this whole teaching about Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension. First, it explains the amazing outpouring of the Spirit in those special gifts. Some in the crowd had asked, “What does this mean?” (Acts 2:12). Peter answers that question. Jesus has been exalted to the right hand of God, that is, placed in the highest place of authority, and by the right hand of God, meaning by God’s power and authority, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what they now see and hear (Psalm 68:18). The Holy Spirit was to be given when Jesus was glorified, not before (John 7:39).

The crowd could see and hear the disciples speaking in tongues they had never learned. There was likely also a visible change in their appearance that people could notice. All of this came from the Holy Spirit. His coming showed that Jesus had been exalted and had received this gift from the Father to give to the church. This clearly marks Jesus as the Mediator, the middle person between God and the church. The gift of the Holy Spirit was, first, the fulfillment of promises God had already made. It is called “the promise of the Holy Spirit” because it is the chief promise, the one that includes the rest. So when God gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask him (Luke 11:13), he is giving them all good things (Matthew 7:11). Christ received the promised gift of the Holy Spirit and has given it to us, because all God’s promises are “yes” and “amen” in him.

Second, this gift is a pledge of more blessings still to come. What they now saw and heard was only a beginning, a sure sign of greater things ahead.

Finally, this proves what all of them must believe, that Jesus Christ is the true Messiah and Savior of the world. Peter ends his sermon with this as the main point, the truth that has now been fully shown and fully authorized to be preached (Acts 2:36): “Let all the house of Israel know for sure that God has made this same Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” They had been told not to tell anyone that he was Jesus the Christ until after the resurrection.