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Peter continues this “first sermon” by telling the story of Jesus with power and authority. He tells of his crucifixion and his resurrection. And in verse 36 with a new assurance and power he says, “Let all Israel be assured of this; God has made this Jesus…
This Jesus who was also a half breed, a mix breed… this Jesus who was also from Galilee, who was both God and man, whose great grandmother was a prostitute and great grandfather a king… not just any king but King David himself… he was part Moabite… and part Jew. This seemingly imperfect vessel was indeed the Lamb of God. And you, Peter says, crucified him.
When the people heard that message… they were cut to the heart. Why? I believe they recognized that they had been so narrow minded and had boxed the image of the Messiah in so neat and tidy that they missed it completely. Not only that, but they were so threatened by this Jesus who ate and drank with sinners, that they had shut him down completely. They decided that this Galilean who claimed to be the son of God was so blasphemous that they killed them. In that moment painful recognition, they cried out and said, what then are we to do?
Peter says with a great deal of mercy and grace that only the spirit can give, “Repent, be Baptized and Be filled with the Spirit.” What does that mean for us today?
Repent: We need to be sorry about our past mistakes and sins; allow ourselves to acknowledge where we have fallen short. We need to be sorry about a critical spirit, or putting God in a box, or the times we tried to put a lid on what God was doing because it scared us or made us feel uneasy. But feeling sorry is not enough; we also need to consciously choose to take another direction with our hearts, minds and lives toward God.
Be Baptized: Perhaps most of us have experienced baptism, but we can realign ourselves with this new vision of the kingdom that is being formed… we can commit ourselves fully to the new movements of God in our lives for the good of his kingdom.
And be filled: Be filled with the promised Holy Spirit that enables ordinary people like us to do extraordinary things for God’s kingdom. Let us proclaim together with our lives and our words with conviction and certainty as God’s children: We can, we will, we are, the future. Thanks be to God.