Pentecost is a week from now on the Western church calendar. Acts 2, of course, is the record of what happened during the Pentecost following Jesus' resurrection. I'm going to write a little bit about Acts 3, however, which describes a lame beggar being healed and Peter using the opportunity to preach a sermon.

The healing of a beggar who sat at a temple gate---which took place when Peter commanded him to rise up and walk---attracted a large crowd. Peter then preached a sermon that was similar in many ways to his Pentecost sermon. It began:

There was no beating around the bush with jokes or sentimental stories! Peter started off with full-blast preaching about their sin under the Law and the grace of God in the Gospel. The result: just as people were "cut to the heart" at Pentecost (Acts 2:37), so here they responded with either hostility or belief (Acts 4:1-4).

But, don't confuse the holy boldness of Peter with a "holier-than-thou" attitude. Note how he first disclaimed any personal power or piety in the healing of the beggar (v. 12). And, as he spoke about the people having "delivered up (Greek: paradidomi) and denied (Greek: arneomai)" Jesus (v. 13), he probably recalled how he and Judas had done the same things in their own ways. During the night before Jesus' crucifixion, Judas "betrayed" (Greek: paradidomi) Jesus to the Jewish leaders, and Peter denied (Greek: arneomai and aparneomai) Jesus three times even though he promised that he would never do so (Matthew 26). The only reason why Peter was alive and preaching, rather than dead from despair like Judas, was the grace of God (Luke 22:31-34); like the lepers of 2 Kings 7, he was sharing the good news of God's undeserved favor to people who also had nothing to boast about in themselves.

In vv. 13-15, as he does in Acts 2:22-23,36, Peter puts the responsibility of Jesus' death upon his hearers. No one deserves to be sinned against, and Jesus takes it personally when we sin against our neighbors---particularly those in the church (Matthew 25:31-46, Acts 9:1-5). But, the awfulness of sin was most magnified when Jesus---who never sinned, but perfectly loved God and every person---was put to death by the hands of sinful men in fulfillment of the Old Testament ("They hated me without a cause," Psalm 69:4, John 15:24-25).

Yet, God's grace has been magnified where our sin has been magnified (Romans 3:5, 5:20). Jesus' death and resurrection were the key to God's plan to bless the nations, as Peter says in vv. 17-26, and they are the ultimate fulfillment of Joseph's words "you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good" (Genesis 50:20). Christ was crucified by men "without a cause (Greek: dorea)," and through the crucifixion God justifies all men "by his grace as a gift (Greek: dorea)" (Romans 3:23-24); alternatively, one could say that we "gave" Christ his cross, something He did not earn, and through that cross God justifies us---not because we deserve to be justified, but because God is gracious.

During Pentecost, we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit having been poured out upon the church. This gift is part and parcel of our justification, adoption and redemption---a "guarantee" of our future inheritance (Acts 2:38, Romans 8:14-17, Ephesians 1:13-14). He teaches us, empowers us, encourages us and testifies to us about Jesus and about who we are in Him (John 14:16-17,26, 15:26, 16:7-15; Romans 8:16-17; 1 Corinthians 12:3-7). And, as with all of God's gifts through the Gospel, the Spirit has been given to us freely, not as a result of our works: without cost, without cause. Thanks be to God!