Daily Worship

Transformed

Katy Emslie-Smith April 26, 2017 0 0

Acts 2: 14-36

Acts 2: 14a and 22-36

Peter Addresses the Crowd

14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say.

 

22 “Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23 This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. 25 David said about him:

“‘I saw the Lord always before me.
    Because he is at my right hand,
    I will not be shaken.
26 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
    my body also will rest in hope,
27 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
    you will not let your holy one see decay.
28 You have made known to me the paths of life;
    you will fill me with joy in your presence.’

29 “Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. 30 But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. 31 Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay. 32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. 33 Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. 34 For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,

“‘The Lord said to my Lord:
    “Sit at my right hand
35 until I make your enemies
    a footstool for your feet.”’

36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

Did his brain hurt?

Peter, the rough man of few words, 

So often  at the wrong end of the stick,

More used to the language of fishing,

The capricious sea,

And the slippery silver sides of fish,

Here, on this day,

With the transformed eloquence of a scholar,

Now proclaiming in public

The great arc of the narrative of Jesus Christ, 

Reaching back into his hearers’ heritage,

Speaking forward into a new hope.

 

Did he know his boyhood hours

Spent listening to the psalms and the prophets

In parochial synagogues

Were for this day,

When the Spirit came?

 

Three thousand were convinced.

Could Peter even count that high?

 

Lord, thank you that when the Spirit comes,

We become more of who we are,

Our words, in Your name,

Take on the fullness and depth 

Of the one great story

Which carries and makes sense of our own:

“That God has made this Jesus,

Whom you crucified,

Lord and Christ.”