Acts 2:14a, 36-47

“God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” (Acts 2:36)

The reading picks up Peter's Pentecost sermon at its conclusion and then follows what the sermon produced. Verse 36 is the climax of the argument: the one the crowd handed over has been made both Lord and Christ, and the pronoun is direct, whom you crucified. The hearers are cut to the heart and ask what they should do, and the answer is repentance and baptism in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, with the gift of the Holy Spirit promised to them, to their children, and to all who are far off. From verse 41 the narrative widens from a sermon to a way of life. Three thousand are added, and Luke summarises what they devoted themselves to: the apostles' teaching, the fellowship, the breaking of bread and the prayers. They held things in common, selling possessions to distribute to any who had need, and they were daily in the temple and in one another's houses. The summary is description rather than programme, and it closes with the line Luke repeats through Acts, that the Lord added to their number day by day.

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