Bible Study - Acts 2: 14-41

Surely you can't mean me?

This would surely have been Peter's reaction if Jesus had told him (the disciple who ran away at Gethsemane and denied his Lord three times) that he would be addressing the crowds in Jerusalem.

Read Acts chapter 2 verses 14-41

Not only were the crowds surprised to hear the disciples speaking in different languages, but they were also treated to a scriptural seminar by a man from Galilee (cf v7), an intellectual backwater. Just consider how much Peter was changed by the power of the Spirit. Having initially run away, fearful for his own life, he was now telling the people who had bayed for Jesus' blood that they has killed the Son of God.

There is a modern hymn I find particularly moving, where the second verse begins "Behold the man upon a cross, my sins upon his shoulders. Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice, call out among the scoffers." We may read Peter's words dispassionately - we were not there, we did not crucify Jesus - yet nonetheless, we still deny Jesus at times by our actions or inactions, even though it was for us that he saw it through to the end. As the hymn's next line continues, "It was my sin that held him there, until it was accomplished". In the light of this, do we feel "cut to the heart"? v37

Peter's transformation through repentance and the pouring out of the Spirit is available for us too. It is a promise from Jesus, but we have to choose to accept it.

Questions

How can the transformation in Peter help you to speak out for the Lord?

What in your life could stop you?

Prayer

Lord, thank you for dying for me and for the promise of your transforming power to live the life you would have me live.

Norbury Parish Church, Hazel Grove, Stockport, Cheshire. Telephone: 0161-483 8640