But the Lord says: "I will pour out of My Spirit… before the great day of the Lord comes." Say to the Jew: "If the Godhead has one person and one name, and if God speaks of Himself, then why did He not say: 'before My day comes'?" If, says Peter, you sin now with impunity, do not place your hope in this, because this is only the beginning of that great and difficult day. Having moved and frightened their hearts by this, he calms them and allows them to nourish good hopes. "And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." But not simply calls, because it is said: "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord!'" (Matt. 7:21), no, but whoever calls with sincerity and with a good life. Having now included in his speech a word about faith (about the necessity of faith), because salvation depends on calling upon, he makes his speech easy to understand. The name of the Lord, according to Paul's explanation, is called upon in the name of Christ, but Peter on this occasion did not venture to reveal this to his listeners.
Acts 2:22–24. Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested to you by God with powers and wonders and signs, which God worked through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know — Him, being delivered by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken, and by the hands of lawless men have crucified and put to death; but God raised Him up, having loosed the bonds of death.
This word is not flattery; but since Peter had strongly rebuked them, he now condescends to them and reminds them of the forefathers, persuading them to recall their faith, and begins again from the beginning so as not to upset them, since he intended to remind them about Jesus. Previously, listening to the prophet, they could not be upset. And see how he says nothing about lofty truths, but begins from aspects that speak of the great humility of Jesus. "The Nazarene," he says, calling Jesus by His homeland, which seemed very insignificant. Just as in those cases when Christ is called the Power of God and the Wisdom of God, we refer these names to His Divinity, so in those cases when He is called a man and one who died for our sins, we refer these names to His flesh. And He Himself once said: "You seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth" (John 8:40), and another time said: "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30). From this, on the basis of the first text, arose the Samosatian heresy, which held that Jesus was a mere man.
"By powers and wonders and signs." This same thought is also expressed by the words of the Apostle Paul, that He "was declared to be the Son of God with power" (Rom. 1:4), that is, the Son whose deeds and miracles proved that He is truly the Son of the Father, because there is no difference between the statement "to declare the Son of God with power" and the statement "to attest to Him by powers and wonders and signs, which God performed through Him." Truly God acts as if through the Son, because through Him He also "made the ages" (Heb. 1:2). And by the expression "among you" he calls them as witnesses of what he says; "among you" means not secretly, not in a corner. Then, having attacked their lawlessness, he tries to relieve them of responsibility for it and says: "by the determined counsel," showing by this that they did not do what they dared by their own power, but because He Himself consented to it and because it was determined from above.
Furthermore, lest it should seem that they were innocent — since although this was determined, yet they were the murderers — lest it should seem so, he adds: "by the hands of lawless men," that is, either through the traitor Judas, or through the soldiers who crucified Christ. Although it is known that those who nailed Him to the cross committed lawlessness, nevertheless Peter first speaks of this unclearly, so as not to drive them to despair.
"God raised Him." How did he dare to say among the murderers that Christ was risen? And if it is said that the Father raised Him, this is because of the weakness of the listeners, for through whom does the Father act? Through His power, and the power of the Father is Christ. Therefore, He raised Himself, even though it is said that the Father raised Him.
"Having loosed the pains of death." He shows that death too was in travail and suffered terribly when it took hold of Him, because the Old Testament calls the pangs of death in travail a danger and calamity for it. A woman in travail does not retain what is within her, and does not act, but suffers and hastens to be delivered. Peter beautifully called the resurrection a loosing of the pains (bonds) of death, so that one may say: having burst open the pregnant and travailing womb, Christ the Savior appears and comes forth as if from some birthing womb, that is, from the bonds of death and from the midst of Hades. Therefore He is also called the firstborn from the dead.
Acts 2:24–28. Because it was not possible for it to hold Him. For David says concerning Him: "I saw the Lord always before me; for He is at my right hand, that I should not be shaken. Therefore my heart rejoiced and my tongue was glad; moreover my flesh also will rest in hope; for You will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence" (Ps. 15:8–11).
The anointed wrestlers were elusive to their opponents, and the anointed snake charmers were safeguarded and protected from the teeth of the serpent. When Christ, mystically anointed by His Spirit, entered into combat with death and submitted to this destroyer, then the adversary who appeared was crushed, because it was "not possible for death to hold Him." It was not possible because it was found that He was born of God, and that all manner of change or alteration was foreign to Him, and that He rose again so as to die no more.
Next he brings forward David, who surpasses all human reason, because this kind of thing is prophecy, and says: "For David says concerning Him," and not concerning himself; and again he begins from the side of humility. Although this has been accomplished now, it was foreordained from of old: God consented to this from the beginning and foreordained it from the beginning.
"I saw the Lord before me always." He calls the Father the Lord of Jesus, because Jesus took on the form of a servant. If it is said here that the Father is "at the right hand" of the Son, while in other places it is said that the Son is "at the right hand" of the Father, this signifies their equality.
"Even my flesh shall rest in hope."
Since Jesus, having accepted death, put off that flesh which He had assumed according to the plan of the economy, in order to raise it again from death, it is fitting that His flesh nourished itself with hope in expectation of the resurrection.
Although the words "You will not leave my soul in Hades" are accepted by some as words spoken in the person of David, without, however, having the ability to prove their thought, nevertheless they rightly and piously say that the body rose to be incorruptible and spiritual, since the risen flesh after the resurrection is a spiritual and incorruptible body. "The path of life," that is, that path which the souls of the righteous traversed together with the Redeemer, coming out from the nethermost places. In the words "You will fill me with joy before Your face," by "face" one should understand the manifestation of the Lord in the Divine image and His regard toward us, by which He more closely regarded us.
Acts 2:29–31. Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore, being a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that from the fruit of his loins He would raise up Christ in the flesh and seat Him on his throne (2 Sam. 7:12; Ps. 131:11), he spoke beforehand about the resurrection of Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption (Ps. 15:10).
Having set forth the testimony of David, he adds "men and brethren." When he intends to say something great, he preliminarily employs this expression to encourage and conciliate them. But where there was nothing that could be harmful, he speaks with great moderation. If he had simply said: "This was said by David," he would have appeared harsh and would have aroused their anger rather than made them obedient. But by showing great honor to the blessed David, he achieves the result that the idea that this prophecy was spoken about Christ becomes readily acceptable. His entire speech is constructed in this same spirit.
Thus, having said that David "both died and was buried," he did not say "and did not rise," but: "and his tomb is with us to this day." This is equivalent to the expression "and did not rise." Further, he does not pass directly to Christ, but again glorifies David, and through these praises of David the purpose of the discourse is achieved, because this is said so that the Jews, for the sake of the honor they show to David and for the sake of his lineage, would accept the word about the resurrection of Christ, so that if this were not the case (that is, if they did not accept the word about the resurrection), they would both show disregard for the prophecy and undermine respect for themselves.
"God promised with an oath." He did not say "promised," but "promised with an oath," indicating by this the immutability of the promise.
"To set on the throne." Throne is used in place of Kingdom in many places of Divine Scripture; for example: "Thy throne, O God, is forever" (Ps. 44:7).
"To raise up Christ in the flesh." He says this because according to His Divinity He has from eternity and always sat together with the Father; and he ascribes everything to the Father, so that the listeners might more easily accept what is being said.
But in what way does He sit on the throne of David? In that He is King both of the Jews, and all the more of those who crucified Him.
Acts 2:32–36. This Jesus God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being exalted by the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear. For David did not ascend into the heavens; but he himself says: "The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet" (Ps. 109:1). "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made both Lord and Christ this Jesus, whom you crucified."
Again he points to the Father, although the previous indication was sufficient. But he knew how beneficial this was for the listeners in their acceptance of what was especially necessary. By the expression "having been exalted," David indicated the ascension and that He (Jesus) is in the heavens, but even this was not clear at first. Look: at the beginning of his speech, when he also brought the prophet Joel as a witness, he did not say that Christ sent the Holy Spirit, but said that the Father sent Him. But when he had reminded them both of the signs of Christ and of what had been done against Christ, and when he had boldly declared the truth about His resurrection, then at last he says that Christ poured out the Holy Spirit, that consequently the prophet spoke of Him: "And it shall come to pass in the last days" (v. 17). By "promise" he means either the one He Himself promised to the apostles, or the one which the Father promised to Jesus before the cross and sufferings. And since Peter was about to declare a great and lofty truth—that Christ poured out the Holy Spirit—he obscures it by saying that the Father gave Him this promise, because no matter what anyone says, if he concludes his word without benefit, he speaks in vain and to no purpose. Peter also shows that the cross not only did not humble Jesus, but gave Him even more splendor. If then, according to the voice of John: "He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire" (Matt. 3:11), the Father gave Him the promise, then now He has fulfilled the promise.
"He himself says: 'The Lord said to my Lord…'" Here Peter speaks already without fear, since what was said above emboldened him. But what is the meaning of the words "The Lord said to my Lord!"? If David himself calls Him (Jesus) Lord, then all the more the Jews should not deny this.
By David's words "until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet," Peter instilled fear in them as a means of conquering them. And so as not to undermine their faith in him, he ascribes everything to the Father. After having spoken of great matters, he brings his discourse back again to the deeds of Jesus' humility.