Commentary - Acts 3:11-26

Bird's-eye view

Following the astounding miracle of the healing of the lame man at the Beautiful Gate, Peter seizes the opportunity presented by the amazed crowd. This passage contains the second great evangelistic sermon recorded in the book of Acts, and it is a master class in gospel proclamation. Peter begins by immediately deflecting all credit from himself and John, attributing the power for the miracle to the God of their fathers and His glorified Servant, Jesus. He then pivots directly into a bold, covenantal lawsuit, charging the men of Israel with delivering up and denying their own Messiah, the Author of life, in favor of a murderer. Having laid down the law and their guilt, he then graciously opens the door of the gospel, acknowledging their ignorance while simultaneously affirming God's sovereign fulfillment of prophecy. The sermon climaxes with a clear call to repentance, grounded in the promises of the Old Testament, demonstrating that Jesus is the long-awaited Prophet like Moses and the Seed of Abraham through whom all blessing comes. This is not a seeker-sensitive talk; it is a direct, scripturally saturated, and powerful confrontation with sin, followed by an equally powerful offer of grace.

The central thrust is that the God of Israel has acted decisively in history to fulfill His ancient promises through Jesus of Nazareth. The people's sin in rejecting Him was heinous, yet it was overruled by God to accomplish the prophesied suffering of the Christ. Now, the only appropriate response is to repent and turn to this same Jesus, so that they might receive the promised blessings of forgiveness and restoration that He alone can bring.

Outline

Context In Acts

This sermon in Acts 3 is a direct consequence of the miracle in Acts 3:1-10. It demonstrates a foundational pattern in the book of Acts: a mighty work of the Spirit is followed by a clear proclamation of the Word. The signs and wonders are not the main event; they are the dinner bell calling people to come and hear the gospel. This sermon follows the one Peter preached on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, and it shares many of the same themes: the guilt of the people in crucifying Jesus, the reality of the resurrection, the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, and the urgent call to repent. However, the setting is different. Pentecost was a massive, international festival. This takes place on a more ordinary day in the temple courts, showing that the apostles were proclaiming this message constantly. This sermon, and the subsequent arrest of Peter and John in chapter 4, sets the stage for the first major conflict between the nascent church and the Jewish authorities.

Key Issues

A Sermon with a Spine

We live in an age of soft-pedaled evangelism. The gospel is often presented as a helpful lifestyle enhancement or a therapeutic program for self-improvement. Peter's sermon in Solomon's Portico is a bracing corrective to all such flimsy presentations of the truth. This sermon has a spine. It stands up straight and looks the crowd squarely in the eye. It does not begin with an apology or a clever anecdote to warm up the audience. It begins with a miracle, and when the crowd is captivated, it delivers the unvarnished truth. It is a model of what true evangelism looks like: it is God-centered, Christ-exalting, sin-confronting, scripture-saturated, and grace-offering. Peter is not trying to win friends; he is trying to save souls. And the way to save souls is not by telling them what they want to hear, but by telling them what they desperately need to know.

Verse by Verse Commentary

11 And while he was clinging to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them at the portico called Solomon’s, full of wonder.

The man who was healed is not just walking; he is clinging to the apostles. He is an undeniable, walking, leaping, and praising exhibit of the power of God. This creates a spectacle, and a crowd gathers, "full of wonder." This is the divine setup. God performs a work of power to create a platform for a message of grace. Miracles in the Bible are never magic tricks for their own sake; they are authentications of the messenger and illustrations of the message. The healing of this man's body is a living picture of the spiritual healing being offered to all who will listen.

12 But when Peter saw this, he replied to the people, “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this, or why do you gaze at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk?

Peter's first instinct is crucial. He sees the crowd's gaze fixing on him and John, and he immediately deflects the attention. The great temptation in any successful ministry is to start taking the credit, to let people think that the power or the godliness resides in the instrument rather than in God. Peter will have none of it. He asks two sharp questions that redirect their focus. It was not "our own power," some magical ability we possess. Nor was it "our own piety," as if we were so holy that God was obligated to answer our prayers. This is a permanent warning against all forms of celebrity Christianity. The messenger is nothing; the message is everything.

13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him.

Having deflected the glory, Peter now directs it to its proper source. He starts not with a new God, but with their God: the covenant God of the patriarchs. This is a strategic and theological masterstroke. He is saying, "What you are seeing is not a new religion; it is the climax of our shared history." The God of our fathers has acted. And how has He acted? He has glorified His Servant Jesus. And then comes the charge, the first plank in the indictment. This Jesus, whom God glorified, is the very one "whom you delivered and denied." He even twists the knife by reminding them that the pagan governor, Pilate, wanted to release Him, but they insisted on His death. They were more unjust than the Romans.

14-15 But you denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, but put to death the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses.

The indictment intensifies through a series of devastating contrasts. They denied the Holy and Righteous One and in His place requested a murderer, Barabbas. This was not just a poor choice; it was a spiritual transaction that revealed the state of their hearts. They preferred murder to holiness. Then the ultimate paradox: they "put to death the Author of life." The Greek word for Author, archegos, means a pioneer, a founder, a prince. They murdered the very source of life itself. But their verdict was not the final one. God overturned their decision: "whom God raised from the dead." And to this central fact of history, the apostles are firsthand witnesses. The resurrection is not a theory; it is a testifiable fact.

16 And on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which is through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.

Peter now circles back to the miracle and explains the mechanism. The power is in the "name of Jesus." In Hebrew thought, a name represents the person's character and authority. The power is in Jesus Himself. But how is that power accessed? "On the basis of faith in His name." And lest anyone think this faith was something they manufactured themselves, he adds that it is "the faith which is through Him." Jesus is both the object of faith and the source of faith. He grants the very faith that receives His power. Peter makes it clear that this man's healing is complete, "perfect health," and it happened publicly, "in the presence of you all," so there can be no dispute.

17-18 “And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers did also. But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled.

After the sharp indictment, the tone shifts to one of gracious invitation. Peter calls them "brothers," re-establishing a point of connection. He offers a merciful concession: "you acted in ignorance." This does not remove their guilt, but it does make it possible for them to be forgiven (cf. Luke 23:34). But then he immediately places their ignorant, sinful act within the framework of God's absolute sovereignty. Their sin was simultaneously a fulfillment of God's predetermined plan. God had announced through all the prophets that His Messiah would suffer. By their wickedness, they inadvertently fulfilled God's righteous plan. This is the mystery of divine providence, where human responsibility and God's sovereignty work in perfect, though inscrutable, harmony.

19 Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;

Here is the logical conclusion and the central command of the sermon. "Therefore," because Christ was crucified and raised according to God's plan, and because forgiveness is possible, you must repent and return. Repentance is a change of mind that leads to a change of direction. It is turning away from your sin and your self-righteousness. The results are twofold. First, personal forgiveness: "that your sins may be wiped away." The image is of a scribe wiping an inscription clean from a wax tablet. Second, cosmic restoration: "that times of refreshing may come." This refers to the blessings of the messianic age, the era of the Spirit's outpouring that began at Pentecost and will continue as the gospel advances through the world.

20-21 and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.

The "times of refreshing" are connected to the sending of Jesus. This is not just about the Second Coming at the end of history, but about the spiritual presence and power of Christ coming to His people now, through the Holy Spirit. Christ is currently in heaven, but His reign is not passive. He is reigning from on high "until the period of restoration of all things." This is a key phrase. This restoration is not a single event at the end of time, but the entire process of the gospel's work in this age, renewing all things under the Lordship of Christ. It is the fulfillment of everything the prophets spoke about, the progressive victory of the kingdom of God in history.

22-23 Moses said, ‘THE LORD GOD WILL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR BROTHERS; TO HIM YOU SHALL LISTEN to everything He says to you. AND IT WILL BE THAT EVERY SOUL THAT DOES NOT HEED THAT PROPHET SHALL BE UTTERLY DESTROYED FROM AMONG THE PEOPLE.’

To prove his point, Peter goes to the Scriptures, starting with Moses, the foundational lawgiver. He quotes from Deuteronomy 18, a central messianic prophecy. Moses predicted that God would raise up a final Prophet, like himself, whom the people must listen to. Peter's argument is simple: Jesus is that Prophet. Therefore, listening to Jesus is not optional. The prophecy came with a stark warning: anyone who does not heed this Prophet will be "utterly destroyed from among the people," cut off from the covenant community. This was a prophetic warning of the judgment that would fall on that generation in A.D. 70 for their rejection of the Messiah.

24-25 And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors onward, also proclaimed these days. It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘AND IN YOUR SEED ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH SHALL BE BLESSED.’

Peter broadens his argument. It was not just Moses. All the prophets, from Samuel onward, pointed to this very moment, "these days" of messianic fulfillment. He then reminds his audience of their privileged position. "It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant." They are the direct heirs of this incredible heritage. He quotes the foundational promise to Abraham from Genesis 22:18, that in his seed, all nations would be blessed. The entire Old Testament, from the Law to the Prophets to the promises, converges on this moment and on the person of Jesus Christ.

26 For you first, God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”

The sermon concludes with a direct, personal, and urgent offer. Because of their covenant heritage, the gospel came to them "first." The Jewish people were given the first opportunity to receive their Messiah. And what is the nature of the blessing He brings? It is not political power or material wealth. The supreme blessing of the Messiah is a moral and spiritual transformation: "to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways." The ultimate gift of the gospel is not just forgiveness for past sins, but deliverance from the power of present sin. It is repentance itself. This is the blessing they are being offered, and it is the blessing we are all offered in Christ.

Application

Peter's sermon is a timeless blueprint for the church's proclamation. First, we must be bold. We cannot be ashamed of the gospel's hard edges, particularly the indictment of human sin. To offer a cure, we must first provide an accurate diagnosis. Second, our message must be saturated with Scripture. Peter did not offer his opinions; he demonstrated how Christ is the fulfillment of God's entire redemptive story. Our preaching and witnessing must be likewise grounded in the Word. Third, we must always point away from ourselves and to Christ. Ministry is not about building our own platform, but about magnifying the name of Jesus.

Finally, we must understand the nature of the blessing we offer. The gospel is not primarily about making your life easier or solving all your temporal problems. The central blessing of the gospel is reconciliation with God, which is accomplished by turning us away from our wickedness. It is a call to be transformed. When we present the gospel, we must, like Peter, call people to repent of their sins and trust in the Author of life, who alone can wipe those sins away and grant the true refreshing that comes only from the presence of the Lord.