Peter’s Planned Presentation
In a previous post, I suggested that Peter’s sermon in Acts 2:14-36 (along with many other biblical sermons) shows evidence of careful planning. A brother asked me to provide more explanation in the case of Peter’s presentation. The evidence lies in the very careful rhetorical structure of the presentation. Here are the details.
The sermon has two major parts. 2:14-21 are addressed to “ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem,” while 2:22-36 are addressed more broadly to “ye men of Israel” (reemphasized in his closing address in v. 36 to “all the house of Israel”). The first part explains the immediate events that were attracting so much attention, the Spirit-empowered proclamation of the apostles, and it’s addressed to the immediate audience, those in Judaea and in particular in Jerusalem. The second part goes beyond answering local questions. It makes a succinct but powerful claim that demands the attention of all Israel, even those who were not there on that day and who did not witness the multilingual proclamation. Peter thus begins where his audience is (amazed at the behavior they are observing), and once he has their attention, carries them to a far deeper message that they would never have invited directly.
Both parts of Peter’s presentation are carefully supported by Scripture. The introduction, addressed to the local people, rests on Joel 2:28-32a. The broader address to all Israel rests on Ps 16:8-11 and Ps 110:1.
Consider first the quotation from Joel. Peter stops at 32a, “whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21), because that leads most naturally into his second section, in which he shows the entire nation why it needs to seek salvation. But after he finishes his structured remarks, and is engaging the questions of the people, he picks up part of Joel 2:32b in his exhortation in Acts 2:29. This return to Joel shows how deeply he has been engaged with this OT passage. Where does Peter come up with this verse? Did he just remember it on the spot from a synagogue reading? Or have he and his brethren been pondering the Lord’s promise that “the Holy Spirit” will “come upon” them (Acts 1:8) and thinking through their Scriptures for relevant passages that might explain his meaning? We can’t know for sure, but the selective quotation of Joel 2:32a, maximizing its introductory force to the second section, is a careful rhetorical move that shows a deep familiarity with the Old Testament text, and the Lord’s recent promise of the Spirit might very well motivate them to devote thought and discussion to passages such as Joel.
The move from Judaeans to all Israelites is deliberate, and perhaps reflects another facet of Acts 1:8, the expanding circle of “witness” that the Lord commanded the disciples to bear. They are to start in “Jerusalem and all Judaea” (cf. 2:14!), then move out. Peter summarizes his message for all Israel in v. 36. For reasons that will shortly become clear, I rearrange the verse to match the order of the Greek text:
Both Lord and Christ has God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified.
The summary has three points.
- He claims that God has made Jesus “Lord.”
- He claims that God has made Jesus “Christ.”
- He accuses them of crucifying this one whom God has exalted.
This is not just a summary of vv. 22-35. It is an outline of its structure, in inverse (“chiastic”) order. Let’s look at the details.
The last point in the summary concerns the first paragraph of his comments to all Israel, 2:22-24. This is the only one of the three points for which he does not give a Scriptural proof, but such a proof would be redundant. They all acknowledge that Jesus was renowned for doing miracles. They understand the animosity of the priests, the nation’s official representatives, in crucifying him (cf. John 7:25). They may well have heard rumors of the resurrection (2:24, which also serves as a transition to the second section). They may not recognize the sovereign hand of God in these recent events, but that will become clear in the second and third points.
The second point of the sermon develops the second point of the summary: God has made Jesus to be Christ, or Messiah. Building on the claim of the resurrection in 2:24, Peter turns to the first Scriptural foundation of the second section, Ps 16:8-11. In vv. 25-28, he quotes David, whom he claims to be speaking “concerning him,” that is, concerning Jesus. In the Psalm, David prays to God (2:27, Ps 16:10),
thou wilt not abandon my soul to hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
Having presented this text, Peter makes a very pointed observation: David cannot be speaking of himself in this passage, for his tomb on the Western Hill of Jerusalem was well known. If David is not speaking of himself, of whom can he be speaking? David is widely recognized in first century Judaism as the ancestor of the Messiah, and many of his Psalms are understood to refer to Messiah, so Peter can naturally suggest that the Psalm describes the Messiah, or “Christ” (the Greek translation of “Messiah”), 2:30, 31. David foretold that the Christ would rise from the dead. But Jesus rose from the dead, a rumor that the crowd has heard and that Peter and his brethren substantiate with their own testimony (v. 32). By raising Jesus from the dead, God shows that he is the Christ of whom David prophesied. In the words of the summary (v. 36), “God hath made that same Jesus … Christ.”
The third point of the universal paragraph (2:33-35) develops the first phrase of the summary: God has made Jesus to be Lord. Peter resorts to another Davidic psalm, 110, which describes how Israel’s Lord raises the one whom David calls Lord to his own right hand in heaven. Again, Peter notes that the one described in the psalm cannot be David, so it must be the Messiah.
The previous point established that the Messiah is not in the grave. Neither can he be found anywhere around Jerusalem. Peter claims that he has ascended to heaven, fulfilling the Psalm. The gift of the Spirit is evidence of the honored and powerful position that the Father has given him. It shows that he is the one whom David called “my Lord” in Ps. 110. Or, returning again to the summary in v. 36, “God hath made that same Jesus … Lord.”
Acts 2:24-36 is one of the clearest examples of a chiastic summary and exposition in the Bible. It is not the kind of thing we expect an unlettered fisherman to make up as he goes along, particularly not one who throughout the gospels is remarkable for his verbal gaffes. His punch line is succinct, and gets to the heart of the confrontation between God and Israel. They crucified Jesus; God has declared him to be Messiah and Lord. God has clearly overcome their sin, and they must call upon him for salvation. For each of the two titles he assigns to Jesus, Peter has selected an appropriate Scriptural proof, using the same argument in both cases: David wrote it, David cannot be writing of himself, therefore David must be describing the messiah.
Let’s return for a moment to the relation between the two halves of the message. The first half grabs the attention of the audience by explaining the events that they are witnessing, and sets them up with the interrupted quotation from Joel 2:32a, the need to call on the name of the Lord to be saved. The second half explains the sin from which they need to be saved. The final point of the second half returns to the phenomenon of the Spirit, which was the focus of the first half. Note the development of thought:
- You think this multilingual preaching is the result of intoxication.
- No, it is what Joel promised, the gift of the Spirit from on high.
- And that Spirit’s coming is evidence that the one you crucified has ascended to heaven.
The artistry and rhetorical integration of the message are impressive. That’s why I don’t think it is extemporaneous. The argument’s careful organization shows that Peter thought it through in advance. It’s not clear when Peter formulated it, but we can speculate.
In the ten days between the ascension and Pentecost, the disciples were together, praying (1:14). Their appointment of a replacement for Judas, motivated by the Psalms (1:20), shows that they were reflecting on the mission that the Lord had given them and how the Scriptures would direct their execution of it. They know that they are to be witnesses to Jesus, starting in Jerusalem (1:8). They know that the Spirit will come to empower them, and that they are not to begin their testimony until that happens (Luke 24:49). It would be strange if they were not praying about these instructions and searching the Scriptures to prepare for their work. How will they present the message? They cannot count on having peoples’ attention for long. They need a focused statement with strong but concise support. It would be very natural for them to think through the form that this message will take in advance, just as street evangelists today prayerfully prepare tracts before they go out into public. When the Spirit comes upon the apostles in Acts 2, they are ready. In that moment the newly fallen Spirit empowers them and directs Peter to speak, but the words that Peter speaks are the result of his meditation on the Scriptures that the same eternal Spirit had given through Joel and David centuries before.
