Acts 2:22 (KJV)
Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:
Peter held nothing back in his Pentecostal sermon but gave clear evidence that,
The men of Israel knew Jesus of Nazareth.
He was not a mythical personality. He is not historical fiction. Jesus of Nazareth truly lived. The people of Israel knew that to be a fact. Jesus had lived among them.
The men of Israel knew of Jesus' miracles, wonders, and signs.
Jesus had not done them in darkness. He had openly shown Himself to be alive, a man, and yet more than a man. Jesus had preached that He was the Messiah and had supported His message with miracles, wonders, and signs. Furthermore, He had done all of this publicly so that no one in Peter's audience was in the dark about them. The men of Israel had, up to this point, rejected the evidence Jesus had given them, but no one there denied the fact of the evidence.
The men of Israel knew all of this to be true.
So that there was no argument. No one challenged Peter's facts. They were true and incontrovertible. Jesus of Nazareth had lived and walked among them. Jesus of Nazareth had done miracles and wonders and signs in their midst. And, in the verses following this, Jesus of Nazareth had been crucified and slain by them, but God had raised Him from the dead.
Two thousand years later, we have this document. That we did not live in the days when Jesus of Nazareth walked among them, or in the land where Jesus of Nazareth had walked, does not alter or in any way diminish the fact of the event. One can deny, question, and challenge the evidence, just as some do with the evidence of the Jewish Holocaust in the 1940s, but the fact that we did not see it firsthand in no way means those who were eyewitnesses were liars or wrong. We can ignore the evidence or mock it. But on the day of Pentecost, three thousand of those who had witnessed it cried out "What should we do?" and in obedience to the preaching of God's Word, were saved, baptized, and added to the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That, I suggest, is still the appropriate response.
#JesusOfNazareth #MiraclesWondersSigns #IncontrovertibleEvidence #EyewitnessTestimony #PentecostSermon
Echoes of Evidence: Jesus' Life and Miracles Among His Contemporaries
To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.
For this and, more than 6300 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.
If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.
For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.
My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org
Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/
Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more
Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give.
No comments:
Post a Comment