Acts 2:23-28

In this sometimes crazy, upside down world that we live in it is tempting to dwell in the negative. In Christ we have access to the rest that only God can give. In Him we have an abundant life filled with peace that is beyond our human understanding. 

Joy in the Lord is our strength. 

Psalm 16:9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will rest in hope.

Psalm 16:11 You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Have you ever had anyone stand up for you? The answer is yes. Jesus stands at this very moment, offering intercession on your behalf. Jesus says to you what he said to the Apostle Peter. Knowing the apostle was about to be severely tested by Satan, Jesus assured him, “But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail” (Luke 22:32 NKJV).

Jesus promises to pray and stand up for you. Max Lucado

Acts 2:23-28

23 Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; 24 whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. 25 For David says concerning Him: ‘I foresaw the Lord always before my face, For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. 26 Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope. 27 For You will not leave my soul in Hades, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. 28 You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in Your presence.’ The New King James Version

Although the Jews and Romans violently rejected Jesus and His claims, Peter asserts that God’s saving purposes in Jesus’ crucifixion were planned and could not be overthrown. Peter shows the triumph of God, who raised Jesus from the dead—demonstrating how the evil intended by the Jewish mob was used by God for the ultimate good. 

Since He is life and the only righteous one who did not deserve the wages of sin, Jesus could not be defeated by death.

Peter cites Psalm 16:8–11, a psalm of David, stating that the reference to the Holy One in Psalm 16:10 speaks of the Messiah’s resurrection. Peter understands David’s trust in Yahweh to be rooted in his belief that God will ultimately overcome death through the Messiah. The psalm shows that David had confidence in his ultimate safety in Yahweh. For Peter, this hints at a confidence in the resurrection of Jesus. The idea of a resurrection from death is where Peter finds the ultimate significance of David’s words. Faithlife Study Bible

Jesus Christ was God’s provision for the judgment of sin; yet it was our sinfulness that made His death necessary. In other words, it was both the sinfulness of humanity and God’s plan to save humanity that put Jesus to death on the Cross. 

God exercises sovereign control over all events—even the death of His Son. 

Yet at the same time, people are still responsible for their own sinful actions. Joel prophesied that the Spirit would come; Jesus fulfilled that promise when He sent the Spirit. If Jesus was dead, He could not have sent the Spirit. Therefore, He must be alive. Furthermore, Jesus could not have sent the Spirit unless He had ascended as Lord to heaven. Therefore, Jesus is both our Master and our Savior. The NKJV Study Bible

From this gift of the Holy Ghost, Peter preaches unto them Jesus: and here is the history of Christ. Here is an account of his death and sufferings, which they witnessed but a few weeks before. His death is considered as God’s act; and of wonderful grace and wisdom. Thus Divine justice must be satisfied, God and man brought together again, and Christ himself glorified, according to an eternal counsel, which could not be altered.

And as the people’s act; in them it was an act of awful sin and folly. Christ’s resurrection did away the reproach of his death; Peter speaks largely upon this. Christ was God’s Holy One, sanctified and set apart to his service in the work of redemption. His death and sufferings should be, not to him only, but to all his, the entrance to a blessed life for evermore. This event had taken place as foretold, and the apostles were witnesses. Nor did the resurrection rest upon this alone; Christ had poured upon his disciples the miraculous gifts and Divine influences, of which they witnessed the effects. 

Through the Saviour, the ways of life are made known; and we are encouraged to expect God’s presence, and his favour for evermore. All this springs from assured belief that Jesus is the Lord, and the anointed Saviour. Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

Psalm 16:8 I have set the LORD always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.

Psalm 16:10 For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.