A Sermon of Overstatements?

2nd Sunday of Easter, 4/23/17
Acts 2:14a, 22-32


A Sermon of Overstatements?
I. You nailed Jesus to the cross?
II. David, a prophet?
III. God raised Jesus from the dead?


You’ve heard enough sermons in person to know that sermon delivery styles can vary widely. Some preachers are flamboyant and energetic in the pulpit, immediately grabbing your attention. Other preachers are much more subdued, but, if you listen carefully, the truths that they share with you hit home. Some preachers prefer to remain behind a pulpit; others are more comfortable moving about. Some preachers develop a cadence when they preach—a predictable rising and falling of their voice. Some listeners find it appealing; others not so much. I’d like to think that when it comes to listening to a sermon, you’re fairly open minded regarding the style variations that we just mentioned.

But there are some things you won’t tolerate in a sermon. You won’t tolerate anything inappropriate. Your pastor dare never use the pulpit as an audition to be a stand-up comedian or a radio shock jock. Some subject matters and the various ways of expressing them are not fit for pulpit preachers. I’ve never run across a list of such subjects and ways of expressing them, but we don’t need one. When you hear something inappropriate, you know it.

But even more so, this pulpit is no place for sharing any false teaching. You rightly demand that you hear nothing but the truth and the whole truth of God. You want to hear, “Thus says the Lord,” because, in the final analysis, his word is the only word that matters.

But what about exaggeration? What about a preacher overstating the truth in order to call attention to it, in order to get people to listen and take to heart the point that he’s trying to make? Would that be OK with you? Again, probably not.

But did you get the feeling that Peter was doing that very thing with some of the things he was saying in his Pentecost sermon which is before us this morning? As far as we know, this was Peter’s first attempt at a sermon. Was it a sermon of overstatements? Let’s keep that question before us this morning as we examine and take to heart what Peter says about our risen Lord Jesus.

Part I.

There’s an old saying that you’ll attract more flies with honey than vinegar. That’s a way of saying that you’re more likely to accomplish what you want if you are nice to other people, if you say things that please them.

At first, it appears Peter had never heard that statement or considered that methodology. He levels some rather raw charges against his Jewish listeners. First, he tells them that God sent Jesus as the Savior into this world and he revealed that Jesus was the Savior “by miracles, signs and wonders which God did among you through him.” You might mistake Peter for Mr. Obvious here. Jesus performed miracles. No one could deny that. He even raised people from the dead. Everyone knew it. But did you catch Peter’s silent indictment with these words? “You acted against better knowledge.” God had told you the Messiah would come performing miraculous signs. Jesus did that very thing but you refused to believe Jesus was the Messiah.

And yes, what happened to Jesus was all part of God’s plan of salvation. He had foretold that the Messiah would sacrifice himself for the sins of the world. Every Old Testament sacrifice pointed forward to the sacrifice of the Lamb of God.

But that didn’t excuse these people for what they did. Peter unloads this on them, “You, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.” I truly doubt that any of his listeners on this day had a hand in driving the nails into Jesus on Good Friday. The Roman soldiers took care of that gruesome responsibility. I’m not even sure that any of Peter’s listeners on this day were in Pilate’s courtyard on Good Friday screaming, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Is Peter overstating the case when he charges them with nailing Jesus to the cross?

Not at all. First, Peter is actually speaking to the entire nation of Jews. Collectively they had rejected Jesus. Most Jews wanted nothing to do with him because he wasn’t the Messiah they were looking for. And not one of them came to his defense. They nailed him to the cross.

And so did we. Yes, we’re separated by nearly 2,000 years from the event, but we were still there, spiritually speaking. The crucifixion of Jesus was God’s plan of salvation, a plan to rescue sinners from the punishment their sins deserve. My sins. Your sins. Yes, the harsh truth is that my sins made the death of Jesus necessary. Your sins made it necessary. Like these Pentecost parishioners, we so often sin against our better knowledge of what God tells us in his word, and yet Jesus died for those sins, too. We nailed him to the cross and Jesus prays, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). And he does forgive us for Jesus’ sake. That’s what the death of Jesus was all about—your full and free forgiveness.

Part II.

In his inaugural sermon, Peter spends a good deal of time referring to David. What do you recall about this Old Testament hero of faith? Well I’m fairly sure every one of you recalls that David served as Israel’s king. In fact, Jews regarded him as the greatest king in Jewish history. He extended Israel’s influence in the Middle East further than any other Jewish ruler. He was second to none in battle.

But he was also Israel’s spiritual leader. Under his influence, Jewish worship life experienced a long-awaited renaissance. He led his people back to the Lord by encouraging them in their worship life. He established a regular rotation of priestly duties and enhanced the role that music played in Jewish worship life. Again, he was second to none in that regard.

But Peter doesn’t mention any of that. Instead, he states, “David was a prophet.” A prophet? Is Peter overstating David’s role in God’s kingdom? Prophets proclaimed God’s word. Some of them wrote books of the Old Testament under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Yes, David wrote some of the psalms—Peter quotes from Psalm 16 written by David. But we don’t usually consider David to be a prophet. And yet that’s what Peter calls him. In what sense was David a prophet? First, in that he was proclaiming his own resurrection from the dead. It’s clear that God’s people in the Old Testament believed in the resurrection of the body on the Last Day. In that sense, David was not abandoned to the grave. We won’t be either.

But in a greater way David was a prophet concerning the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. It’s clear that David had in mind the Messiah when he wrote these words. He foretold that God would “not let your Holy One see decay.” There’s no greater message any prophet of God could proclaim. By God’s power David’s prophecy about the Savior was fulfilled.

A sermon of overstatements? Not in the case of David being a prophet.

King David was a man of war. As such, he had seen countless deaths. As far as we know, he never witnessed a dead person coming back to life. But he believed he would. By the power of God’s word working in his heart, he believed in his own resurrection.

Same with us. You don’t live long before you’re faced with the death of a loved one or acquaintance. The daily obituary is a reminder that death marches on unabated. And yet by the power of the word of God working in you and me, we believe that we will rise from the dead on the Last Day. How can we be sure of such an amazing truth? Because the grave couldn’t hold the Lord of Life for a second longer than the three days he foretold. The same resurrection of Jesus which assures us of our forgiveness and eternal life makes our own resurrection a certainty. And throughout our lives, it drives away doubt and despair. If our God could even conquer death for us, he can surely do whatever else he deems good and necessary for our lives here on earth until he calls us home to heaven.

Part III.

Peter concluded this portion of his sermon with the words, “God has raised this Jesus to life and we are all witnesses of the fact.” Millions of people either deny that Jesus rose from the dead or at least doubt it. Was Peter overstating the case? Did Jesus really rise from the dead?

There is no doubt. The men and women standing there with Peter that day had all laid eyes on the risen Jesus. They touched him. They spoke with him. They ate meals with him.

In fact, at some point between the 40 days he was here on earth after Easter he showed himself alive to 500 Christians at the same time. These people were so sure that Jesus was alive that later they would suffer persecution and death for him. There is no doubt that Jesus rose from the dead and is alive!

A sermon of overstatements? God raised Jesus from the dead? Absolutely he did!

So believe it! Christ’s resurrection is the foundation of the Christian faith. He is the only founder of a religion to still be alive. All others are dead and no one disputes that. God raised Jesus from the dead! Believe it! It’s the certainty of your forgiveness. It’s the guarantee of your eternal life. It’s the power for your daily living as a child of God. You don’t have a dead savior; you have a living Savior who lives with you. That’ no overstatement. That’s God’s resurrection truth! Believe it! Amen.