Articles
The Resurrection of Jesus
On the Pentecost following Jesus’ crucifixion, the apostles were in Jerusalem as Jesus had commanded them (Acts 1:4). There the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles (Acts 2:1-4 & 14) fulfilling the promise of Jesus to them (John 14-16). Peter explains that the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles was the fulfillment of prophesy (Acts 2:17-21; Joel 2:28-32).
The purpose of the sermon in Acts 2 is to prove to the Jews that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah (Acts 2:22-36). Peter applies Psalm 16 to Jesus as the Messiah who would be raised from the dead (read Acts 2:25-28). Later, the apostle Paul will also quote from Psalm 16 to a Jewish audience (Acts 13:35) and make the same application to the resurrection of the Messiah.
The argument Peter is making in Acts 2:22-30 is that David is dead, and still in his grave. This could be verified by a journey to David’s tomb. The Jews did not think that David’s tomb was empty. The question is, “Could Jesus be abandoned in the grave and His body see corruption?” Peter’s point in these verses is to declare that Jesus fulfilled what David had written concerning Him.
Peter here declares that Jesus fulfilled David’s prophecy, but not in the way the Jews expected. Peter explains that the Messiah would die and be raised from the dead three days later. In His resurrection Jesus proved Himself to be the Messiah in a most unexpected way by fulfilling David’s prophecy. The Jews were applying the words of Psalm 16 to David when he was alive andthen to the coming Messiah.
Peter is teaching that the Jews needed to apply the words of Psalm 16 to Jesus because He is the long awaited Messiah. The proof of this contention is the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Death could not hold Jesus the Son of God, the Messiah.
Brent Kercheville cites Jewish writings concerning the significance of the need for three days before Jesus’ resurrection. “People give testimony to the identity of a corpse only through the features of the face… and one may give testimony only within three days of death, beyond which point the face is disfigured” (Yeb. 16:3 of the Mishnah). According to the Jerusalem Talmud, “For all of the three days the soul hovers above the body, thinking that it will be able to return to it. When it sees that the face of the body has changed with decomposition it gives up and leaves.” To the Jews, after three days the process of death (the separation of the spirit from the body, James 2:26) is complete. This is the significance for Jesus to be in the tomb for three days. Jesus’ resurrection the third day was, to the Jews, the ultimate proof that that He had conquered death.
The empty tomb declares that Jesus is alive and has fulfilled the prophecy of Psalm 16. The resurrection proves Jesus to be the Son of God.
