The Beginning of the Church
Peter Speaks about Jesus for the First Time Acts 2:36
Read Acts chapter 2.
1 – Introduction
The subject of these studies is the New Testament from Acts to Revelation. We will read about the work of the apostles, especially Paul.
We start when the church began. The church began when Peter spoke about Jesus for the first time. Some people say that this was the birthday of the church. Six weeks before this, men had crucified Jesus. After that, Jesus became alive again. He met the apostles several times. Luke tells us that Jesus taught them. He showed them that some of the Old Testament was about him (Luke 24:45). Jesus had died and now was alive again. God punished him instead of us. If we are sorry for our sins (the bad things that we do), he will forgive us. Jesus told the apostles to tell everyone in the world about this.
45 Then he helped them to understand God's message in the Bible. 46 He told them, ‘This is what it says there: The Messiah had to die. Then, after three days, he had to rise up and become alive again. 47 People in every country of the world must hear God's message. They must stop doing wrong things and change how they live. When they do this, God will forgive them. He will forgive all the bad things that they have done. People need to tell this message about the Messiah in Jerusalem first, then tell people in other countries. 48 You are the people who have seen what has happened here. You must tell other people about it. 49 Now listen! I will send to you the gift that God my Father has promised to give to you. You must stay here in the city until this happens. Then the power of God will come from heaven and it will cover you.’
Luke 24:45-49 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)
After this, Jesus told them again that God would send the Holy Spirit.
4 One time, when Jesus and his apostles were together, he said to them, ‘Do not leave Jerusalem yet. You must wait there until you receive my Father's gift. My Father promised to give it to you. I have already told you about it. 5 John baptized people with water, but after a few days God will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.’
Acts 1:4-5 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)
8 But the Holy Spirit will come to you, and he will give you power. The Holy Spirit will make your spirit strong. Then you will tell other people everywhere in the world about me. You will do that in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria and in places far away.’
Acts 1:8 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)
The apostles were witnesses to what Jesus did. They heard what he taught. They were there when he died. They were there when he came alive again. Jesus had told them to spread the gospel through the world. They needed new power, new strength and new courage. Jesus promised that they would soon have it.
When Jesus died, the apostles had been very frightened. When men arrested Jesus, the apostles ran away. They needed to change. God had to give them power for this important work. Jesus, the Son of God, promised them this power. God the Father gave them the Holy Spirit. The three members of the Trinity were there at the birth of the church.
Jesus was with the apostles for 40 days. These appearances proved that he was alive. They had no doubt about that. Then Jesus left them. They saw him go up to heaven. Two men dressed in white appeared by them.
11 The men said to the apostles, ‘You men from Galilee, you should not still be standing here and looking up into the sky. God has taken Jesus into heaven. You saw the way that Jesus went up to heaven. One day, he himself will return in the same way.’
Acts 1:11 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)
The ascension of Jesus is as important as the crucifixion and the resurrection. It teaches us where Christ is now and for ever. Jesus went to heaven in a cloud. A ‘cloud’ in Scripture often means that God is present. So, here, the Lord is returning to the Father. He suffered on the cross. He defeated death and came alive again. Now Jesus has taken his place next to God the Father. He shares God’s rule and authority. The words that follow are about this.
19 You will also know how very powerful God is. He uses that power to help us now, as we trust in Christ.
God's power is greater than anything we could ever know. 20 He used that power to raise Christ, so that he became alive again after his death. Then he gave Christ a place to sit at his right side in heaven. 21 There, Christ rules over every other ruler and leader. He rules over everything else that has authority. He is greater than any power which people respect. That is true for the rulers of this world now, and also the rulers of the world that will come. 22 God has put all things under Christ's authority. He has made Christ the ruler over all things. He has done this to help his people, the church. 23 The church is like Christ's body and he is its head. Christ fills all things everywhere and he causes the church to become complete.
1:20The right side is the most important place.
Ephesians 1:19-23 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)
8 And when he lived as a man,
he made himself even less important.
He obeyed God completely, so that he died.
He even died on a cross!
2:8People were fixed to a cross to die when they were guilty of doing a very bad thing. Christ agreed to die like that, but he had not done any wrong thing.
9 Because of that, God then raised Jesus Christ to the most important place.
God gave him the name that is greater than every other name.
10 As a result, when people hear Jesus' name, they must worship him.
Everyone will have to go down on their knees in front of him.
That includes everything that is in heaven,
everything on the earth and everything under the earth.
11 Everyone will have to agree that Jesus Christ is Lord.
When they say that aloud, they will show that God the Father is very great.
2:11Verses 6-11 may have been a song that Paul knew.
Philippians 2:8-11 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)
This same Jesus will return, with great power and glory. Before he comes, there is a task to complete. This is the task that he left for the disciples, to spread the gospel through the world. As this story continues, we shall see how this work started.
Soon, the day that Jesus had talked about came. Thousands of people from all over the world were in Jerusalem. Many were Jews. Also, other people were there who believed in the God of the Jews. They had all come to Jerusalem for an important festival. The Holy Spirit came on the disciples as they met together. Luke tells us what happened:
The Holy Spirit comes
1 Then the day of the Pentecost festival arrived. All the believers were meeting together in one place. 2 Suddenly, as they were sitting together, they heard a noise. The noise came from the sky and it filled the whole house. It was like the sound of a strong wind. 3 Then they saw something that looked like many small fires. The separate fires moved and went to sit on each person there. 4 All the believers became full with the Holy Spirit. They began to speak in languages that they had not learned. They spoke whatever language the Holy Spirit helped them to speak.
2:1The Jewish Day of Pentecost was 50 days after the Passover meal.
Acts 2:1-4 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)
The apostles began to talk about the wonderful works of God in all kinds of languages. A crowd gathered round them. Everyone in the crowd heard the message. Each person heard it in his own language. The Scriptures say that they heard about the ‘works of God’. We can be quite sure what the disciples spoke about. They would tell about what Jesus had done to save men from sin. They would tell how he died on the cross and then became alive again.
2 – This astonished the crowd
Several things astonished the crowd. They did not understand what was happening.
How could these ordinary men do this? They had no education, but they could speak about God’s wonderful works. They spoke in many languages, in Latin, Cyrenian, Arkadian, and in other languages. What power did they have? This was a miracle!
Many people would know that Jesus’ disciples had run away from him at the cross. People would have talked about that. In those days, they did not have the modern ways to spread news that we have. However, they did know how to pass on messages from one to another. It would astonish the crowd to see the disciples now. They were close to the place of the crucifixion, but they spoke about Jesus with great courage.
The Jews heard men praising God in gentile languages. This would upset them very much. (A Gentile is a person who is not a Jew.) Jews thought that they were much better people than Gentiles. They said that Gentiles were ‘animals without God’s law’. The story of Jonah shows us this. God had told him to go to Nineveh. He was to prophesy there. He was to say that God would destroy Nineveh. At first Jonah refused to go. Then he did go and preach. The people of Nineveh repented. God did not judge them as he had promised. This made Jonah very angry. He did not want God to be kind to Nineveh. Also, when Jesus spoke about the Old Testament prophet Elijah, he made people very angry. He said that a gentile woman had looked after Elijah. The same thing happened to Paul. When men arrested him in the Temple (Acts chapters 21 and 22) he made a speech. The crowd were quiet. Paul even mentioned that Christ is alive. He called him Lord. Then Paul said, ‘I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’ That was when the crowd shouted out against him. They said that it was not right for such a man to live. The disciples were praising God in gentile languages. This would be a great shock to the Jews.
When the apostles spoke like this, a very great crowd soon gathered. This gave Peter the opportunity to preach his sermon. Luke describes this and writes down part of it in Acts chapter 2.
3 – Who Jesus is
The apostle Peter concentrates on a very basic question. Who is Jesus, who is our Lord and Saviour? Peter reminds people about the Scriptures that they would have known. This is our Old Testament. He talks about Jesus’ death and resurrection. He does not say much about the life of Jesus or what Jesus taught. He does not say much about his miracles. He reminds people about what the prophets said. What they said would happen did happen. This is a most important question for us too, whether we are Christians or not. Who is Jesus? Peter finishes his speech like this, in Acts 2:36.
36 So all you people of Israel must be sure to know this: It is this same Jesus that God has chosen to be the Messiah. God has made him to be our Lord. But you fixed him to a cross and you killed him.’
Acts 2:36 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)
This is what Peter wanted to show. He preached with strong feeling. He did not only want to argue well, or to discuss something. He wanted people to change. He wanted them to be sorry for the wrong things in their lives. He wanted them to trust Jesus. He had to tell them the truth about Jesus. He had to tell them what Jesus has done.
The apostles stood up and spoke in other languages. Some in the crowd thought that they were drunk. Peter explains that this was not possible. It was too early in the day. He told the crowd that the prophet Joel had said that the Holy Spirit would come. This is what the crowd had just seen.
Peter then speaks about his most important subject. He speaks about who Jesus is. He reminds the people of what they knew about Jesus. Many of the people who were there must have heard and seen Jesus. They had listened to what he taught them. They had seen some of his miracles. They knew that he had made sick people better. He had made blind people see. And he had made lame people walk. They knew that he had given dead people life again, three times. When Jesus had taught them, he had spoken with authority. His authority had impressed those who heard him. One soldier had listened and said, ‘No man ever spoke like this man’. The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) impresses everyone. It shows that Jesus was aiming at very good standards of behaviour. No one else has ever spoken like this.
Probably the crowd had also heard about Jesus’ other miracles. Jesus fed 5,000 people. He walked on the water. He made the storm stop. Peter says something about this, but perhaps he said more in his sermon. We have the most important parts of his sermon. He must have said more than what we have in Acts. He said:
22 Peter then said, ‘People of Israel, listen to what I am saying! Jesus, the man from Nazareth, came with God's authority to do his work. God did many powerful and special things through him. These miracles showed you clearly that God had sent him. You know about all this. These things happened here, and you saw them.
Acts 2:22 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)
This is all that Peter says about the life and work of Jesus. This is all that was necessary. People could not deny these things. Everybody knew about them. There was no need to speak about them again and again. Many people in the crowd would have known about the wonderful things that Jesus had done. For three years, Jesus had lived and worked in public among them. When Jesus taught people, many of them had praised God. When they saw his miracles, many people had praised God. Now many people would remember this. Peter was speaking to them about something that they would remember.
But Peter’s audience knew more than that. In these modern days, many people think that Jesus was the most wonderful man to have lived. That is all that they think about him. The people who listened to Peter could not only think that. That would be impossible for them. They knew more. Jesus had said that he was God. This is why men crucified him.
Through the gospels, we read of hundreds of times when Jesus spoke about himself. He showed very clearly that he was far more than a man. He showed that he was God with us. John tells us that once the crowd wanted to throw stones at him. They wanted to kill him like that because of what he said. He said that he was God.
31 Then the Jewish leaders picked up stones again to throw at Jesus so that they could kill him. 32 Jesus said to them, ‘I have done many good things. The Father sent me to do them, and I have shown them to you. Which of those good things make you want to kill me with stones?’ 33 The Jewish leaders answered, ‘We do not want to kill you because of any good things that you have done. We want to kill you because you are speaking against God. You are only a man, but you are saying that you are God.’
John 10:31-33 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)
The crowd who stood in front of Peter knew that this was important. The apostle did not need to say it again and again. The people knew it. What he did was to speak about proofs. He wanted to prove who Jesus is. Jesus is who he said he was. Peter spoke to the people from the Bible, and from prophecy.
4 – Prophecy
Peter reminds the crowd that the prophets spoke about our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 2:17-18, 25-28). This is very interesting. It is also very exciting. What the prophets said is evidence for Christianity. Many prophets wrote in detail about the Messiah. They said what would happen in the life of Jesus. These prophets lived hundreds of years before the time of Jesus. All that they said came true in his life. This is very important evidence, and there is a great deal of it.
But Peter is able to give even more proof. There are two other facts that the prophets also write about.
5 – The crucifixion and resurrection
Much of the next part of Peter’s sermon is about the cross and the resurrection. The cross and the resurrection were very important to the early church. We shall see this as we read the book of Acts. Calvary and the empty grave were very important to these early Christians. The Gospels, which men wrote years later, show us this. A large part of each of the Gospels is about the last weeks of Jesus’ life. More than a third of each Gospel (almost half of each) is about those weeks. His crucifixion and his resurrection are the most important parts of the work of Jesus when he was on earth.
The apostle Peter also says that the resurrection was very important. Jesus had come alive again. There is very much evidence about this. When we think about the resurrection, we must also think about these facts.
- No one could show the body of Jesus. The Jewish rulers even made up a story about this, (Matthew 28:11-15). If they could have shown his body, they would have done it. That would have stopped this ‘new religion’ very quickly. The authorities were afraid that they would lose the respect of the people.
- The apostles changed so much. They had been very frightened when Jesus died. They left him and ran away. Now they were bold men. They spoke about Jesus without fear, although they were in danger. Men might kill them. (Only one of the apostles died an ordinary death.)
- Many people became Christians very quickly, in the early days. Soon there were too many for the Jewish authorities to control.
- The apostles preached about the resurrection in public. Many people who had seen the resurrection were there. These people could immediately say that the message was true or false.
The Jews who listened to Peter knew this too. False statements from the Jewish authorities made sure of that. Some people now not only say that the resurrection is a fact. They say that it is one of the most certain facts of ancient history.
The other fact that the crowd who stood in front of the apostle saw was the result of the gift of the Holy Spirit. They saw these men. Suddenly they had the gift of languages. Also, they were not afraid any more. They were bold as they spoke about Christ. They were not afraid of danger. They were not afraid of the authorities. The apostles also seemed to have wisdom and knowledge of the scriptures. All this impressed the people there very much. When people became Christians, they changed the way that they lived greatly.
All this evidence showed one thing. Jesus was really the person that he said he was. God had sent the Messiah and the Jews had not believed in him. There is so much evidence to show who Jesus is. Peter’s sermon ends like this:
36 So all you people of Israel must be sure to know this: It is this same Jesus that God has chosen to be the Messiah. God has made him to be our Lord. But you fixed him to a cross and you killed him.’
Acts 2:36 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)
There is no other answer. Jesus is Lord. He has all the power, in heaven and on earth.
6 – Christ is Lord
This how Peter’s sermon ended, ‘You crucified this Jesus, but God has made him both Lord and Christ.’
Now we can read in many places in the Bible, ‘Jesus is Lord of all’, ‘I have all authority in heaven and on earth’… What does ‘Jesus is Lord’ mean?
God created the world. This tells us very much about Jesus as Lord. The apostle Paul tells us that all things exist in Christ. They exist because of Jesus. We have this again in the book of Hebrews.
2 But in these last days, he has spoken to us in his Son. In the beginning, God worked through his Son to make the whole universe. He decided that everything should belong to his Son. 3 The Son shows us completely what God is like. He shines with God's great glory. His nature is the same as God's nature. The Son's powerful word causes everything to continue. He himself made it possible for us to be clean from our sins. After he had done that, he returned to heaven. He went and he sat at the right side of God, who rules with all authority.
1:1Before Jesus came, God sent his prophets to speak his messages to his people, the Israelites.
1:2Jesus was much greater than any of the prophets. He did not just bring a message from God. He clearly showed God himself. He could do this because he is God's Son, not just a servant.
1:3After Jesus died on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins, he rose up and went to sit ‘at the right side of God’. The right side is the most important place. This means that Jesus rules with the same power and authority as God himself.
Hebrews 1:2-3 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)
We can all get some impression of the greatness of God’s world. We can look at the stars at night. Here the Bible tells us that Jesus Christ made these things. They exist because Jesus exists. What a great power the skies show! We seem to have no importance or power. But the Bible says more than this.
10 The Bible also says this:
‘Lord, in the beginning you made the earth.
With your own power, you also made everything above the earth.
11 All these things will come to an end.
But as for you, you will continue for ever.
Like clothes, those things will all become old.
12 Then you will put them away like an old coat.
You will change them, like people change clothes.
But you will always continue to be the same.
Your life will never come to an end.’
Hebrews 1:10-12 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)
Peter tells us, in his letter, that the skies and earth will one day melt in great heat (2 Peter 3:10). But although all things disappear, Jesus is still the same. The Bible tells us this:
The Bible also tells us in many places that this same Jesus will one day return to earth with power and great glory. The angels had already said this in Acts 1:11. Paul promises us that one day every person will give Christ honour.
9 Because of that, God then raised Jesus Christ to the most important place.
God gave him the name that is greater than every other name.
10 As a result, when people hear Jesus' name, they must worship him.
Everyone will have to go down on their knees in front of him.
That includes everything that is in heaven,
everything on the earth and everything under the earth.
11 Everyone will have to agree that Jesus Christ is Lord.
When they say that aloud, they will show that God the Father is very great.
2:11Verses 6-11 may have been a song that Paul knew.
Philippians 2:9-11 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)
10 Because all of us must go and stand in front of Christ as our judge. He will decide about the things that we have done during our lives here on earth. Whether we have done good things or bad things, we will receive what is right for us.
2 Corinthians 5:10 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)
This is very important. It is not just an idea, that Jesus Christ is
Lord. Peter’s
sermon makes this quite clear. Jesus must be our personal
Lord. Let us read what the Bible says:
34 Then Jesus asked the crowd and his disciples to come to him. He said to them, ‘A person who wants to come with me must not think about himself. He must decide that his own life is not important. He must be like someone who carries his own cross to go and die. Then he may come with me as my disciple.
Mark 8:34 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)
38 People who are living today do not obey God. They are very bad. But you must not be ashamed of me or of my words. If you are, then the Son of Man will be ashamed of you. One day he will return and God's holy angels will be with him. He will have the bright glory of his Father. He will be ashamed of you on that day if you are ashamed of him now.’
Mark 8:38 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)
21 Some people say to me, “Master, Master!” But not all of them will come into the kingdom of heaven. Only the people who obey God, my Father in heaven, will come in. They do what he wants them to do. 22 On the day when God judges people, many of them will say, “Master, Master! We used your authority and we spoke a message from you. We used your authority and we sent bad spirits out of people. We used your authority to do many powerful things.” 23 But I will say to these people, “I never knew you. You do not obey God. You are bad. So go away from me.” ’
Matthew 7:21-23 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)
9 God is the one that I serve with all my spirit. I tell people the message about his Son, which is good news. God himself knows that I pray for you all the time.
Romans 1:9 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)
One person has explained it like this: ‘Jesus Christ is Lord in such a complete way that we must answer to him. We should ask what he wants for every detail of our lives. We should choose what he wants, not what we want. We should give ourselves to him.’
This is not just a matter of what you believe about something that happened 2000 years ago. It is a matter of how you live your lives here and now.
7 – The finish of Peter’s sermon
The crowd in front of Peter and the apostles could easily understand what he was saying. As Peter spoke, the Holy Spirit also spoke. He spoke to people’s hearts and minds and souls. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit is ‘the Spirit of truth’. ‘I will send the Counsellor to you from the Father. He is the Spirit of truth. He goes out from the Father. He will speak about me. And you also must speak about me, because you have been with me from the beginning (John 15:26-27). Notice what Jesus says about the Holy Spirit. He promises that the Holy Spirit will tell about Jesus. The disciples will do this also.
This is so important for any Christian to remember. When there is an opportunity to speak to other people about Jesus, the Holy Spirit helps us. It is even more important for anyone who preaches to other people in the name of Jesus. This will encourage them. The Holy Spirit will be like a witness that is deep inside a person. He will witness to the truth. Jesus also promised that the Holy Spirit would work in other ways. Part of John 16 explains this.
7 But what I tell you is true. It will be better for you if I go away. Because, if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I do go away, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will show the people of this world what they are like. He will show clearly that they are wrong. They are wrong about what sin really is. They are wrong about who is right with God. They are wrong about how God judges people. 9 They are wrong about sin, because they do not believe in me. 10 They are wrong about who is right with God, because I will go to the Father. Then you will not see me again. 11 They are wrong about how God judges people, because God has already judged Satan, the ruler of this world.
John 16:7-11 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)
As Peter preached, the Holy Spirit spoke to people about truth. They understood that there was sin in their lives. They understood that Jesus was completely good. They knew that one day God would certainly judge them.
37 The people heard what Peter said to them. They were very upset. So they said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Friends, tell us what we should do.’
38 Peter said to them, ‘Each of you must stop doing wrong things. You must change how you live. If you believe in Jesus Christ, then we will baptize you. God will forgive you for the wrong things that you have done. Then you will receive the Holy Spirit, who is God's gift to you.
Acts 2:37-38 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)
This is a question now for each one of us to ask. What will be our reaction? Will we accept Jesus? One day, when many people were leaving him, Jesus asked his disciples, ‘Will you also go away?’ They answered, ‘To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life’.
And remember this. He loves us so much that he died for us. Let us turn to him and accept him as our Saviour, and our Lord.
8 – The result
The Holy Spirit really had given the apostles power. This event really did show a great change in the apostles. The result of Peter’s bold sermon was that 3000 people believed in Jesus.
The Christian church began with these new Christians. They met together for prayer and worship. Peter and the apostles taught them. They began to share their possessions with each other, as each person needed something. The way that they lived had changed. Soon the people of Jerusalem noticed their behaviour and appreciated it. Many other people believed in Jesus. There is one important sign that a person is following Jesus. His or her life changes. It shows in what people do. It shows in what people say. It shows in the kind of people that they are. This is the result of the work of the Holy Spirit in the person’s heart, mind and soul.
Most of the people in this first church were, of course, Jews. There were also many other people who had been abroad. Their natural language was Greek. God had promised the Jews that he would send them a Messiah. The Jewish members of the early church now believed that Jesus was the Messiah. Some of them had lived in other countries. In many countries, people spoke Greek. This made it easier to tell the good news of Jesus.
Later evidence tells us that many of these new Christians returned to their homes. There they spread the gospel. So, from the very beginning, the church was world-wide, although those at Jerusalem were the leaders. But Jesus had commanded the apostles and given them authority to spread the gospel through all of the world. We shall see how God acted, so that this began to happen. It is our responsibility to continue this work. The command that Jesus gave to the disciples is now for us.
19 So you must go to people in every country of the world. Teach them how to become my disciples. Baptize them by the authority of God the Father, his Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach them to obey everything that I have taught you. You can be sure that I will be with you always. I will be with you until the end of time.’
Matthew 28:19-20 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)