Jesus’ Eulogy
Acts 2:22-24
April 16, 2017
If you are familiar with the text I just read, you know that it was part of the sermon that the apostle Peter preached at Pentecost.
• Pentecost coincided with the Jewish “Feast of Weeks” which was a celebratory feast 50 days after the Passover.
• And so it was the first big Jewish “get together” that occurred in Jerusalem since the Passover (which was of course the time when Jesus was crucified).
There has now been 50 days to reflect.
There has now been 50 days to process.
Jerusalem is once again packed with faithful Jews ready to celebrate.
However, on this day a miraculous phenomenon would occur.
(READ ACTS 2:1-4)
Now just to be clear,
• When we are talking about speaking with tongues, it was not some sort of mindless gibberish which was being spoken. Nor were they speaking “unknown” tongues, or even “angelic” or “heavenly” tongues.
The word “tongues” simply means languages.
• On this day, all of a sudden the 70 believers who had gathered together in the upper room were instantly filled with the Holy Spirit and they all began to speak other languages.
Verses 5-13 indicate to us that very thing.
(READ 5-13)
And so we learn that as the disciples spoke these other languages,
Some of the people actually accused them of simply being drunk.
And it was at this point that Peter stands up
To deliver something that had thus far been missing,
And that was The Eulogy of Jesus.
If you will remember,
• Jesus had died late on Friday,
• And in order to get Him buried before the Holy day (Saturday)
• He was buried in haste, in a borrowed tomb.
Of course by the time Sunday came around and the women went to go and properly care for His body, He wasn’t there.
Meaning, Jesus died, but they never got to have a funeral
And no one ever delivered a eulogy to remember Him.
Jesus’ Eulogy would in fact come 50 days later here at Pentecost.
And honestly, in part,
That is precisely what we do in church every Sunday morning.
We gather together to remember Christ.
• To proclaim all that He accomplished, and to pay our respects to Him.
• We gather to celebrate His life
• We gather to honor His death
• And unlike other funerals, we gather to glory in His resurrection.
What we do is very much like a eulogy.
• This gathering is not about you…
• This gathering is not about me…
• It is about Christ…
His eulogy continues to be proclaimed throughout the world,
Even to this very day.
Well, the first time Jesus’ Eulogy was ever given
Was here at this Feast of Weeks or Pentecost.
• The Jews have gathered,
• The disciples start speaking of Christ in other languages
• Immediately the skeptics accuse them of being drunk.
And this is where Peter stands to respond.
He first addresses the accusation of drunkenness.
(READ 14-21)
These men aren’t drunk, they are filled with God’s Spirit and are in fact a fulfillment of what the prophet Joel promised.
In short, what you are seeing is the fulfillment of God’s promise
To send His Holy Spirit.
And after that brief explanation,
Peter then addressed the audience to deliver that eulogy of Jesus.
One could break this eulogy down into 4 major points about Jesus.
#1 HIS HUMBLE BEGINNING
Acts 2:22a
“Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene,..”
It is quite common when delivering a eulogy or even when reading an obituary to begin with a person’s birth.
• Commonly we find when a person was born
• Where they were born
• Who their parents are
And you can actually tell quite a bit about a person
And the life they lived simply by knowing this.
• If we say a person was born in 1925 we instantly know quite a bit about what
their childhood was like, for they went through the depression.
You get the idea.
Well Peter here wastes no time
Reminding us of the humble beginnings of Christ.
• While He was born in Bethlehem,
• The Bible tells us that shortly after His birth His family was forced to flee to Egypt because Herod was trying to kill all the Hebrew babies.
After the death of Herod, Joseph and Mary and Jesus returned to Israel.
Matthew 2:19-23 “But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, and said, “Get up, take the Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel; for those who sought the Child’s life are dead.” So Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Then after being warned by God in a dream, he left for the regions of Galilee, and came and lived in a city called Nazareth. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets: “He shall be called a Nazarene.”
This is the first reference to Jesus being called “a Nazarene”
And it is a huge statement about His life.
Nazareth was not a popular city.
• In fact, it was a city of contempt.
• Because Nazareth housed a Roman Garrison, it was looked upon as a traitor city.
You may remember the response of Nathaniel when Philip first told him about Jesus.
John 1:43-46 “The next day He purposed to go into Galilee, and He found Philip. And Jesus said to him, “Follow Me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote — Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
To be labeled a Nazarene was a term of contempt and derision.
In fact, it was a label that carried over to those who followed Jesus,
As they were commonly referred to as “The Sect of the Nazarenes”
Peter reminds us of this humble beginning for our Lord.
• He didn’t live this life seated on a velvet cushion…
• He didn’t walk through life with the respect of the upper class…
• He didn’t enjoy delicacies and fancy greetings…
Jesus walked among the rejected and the scorned and the hated.
Philippians 2:5-8 “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
This was Jesus.
• Letting go of His status…
• Relinquishing His glory…
• Taking on servant hood and slavery…
• Embracing suffering and shame…
Jesus was not born to privilege and a life of ease.
He was a “Nazarene”
And, not to stray too far off point, we know why.
He was born into difficulty and shame
So that He might identify with those who suffer
And might be a more sympathetic High Priest.
Hebrews 2:17-18 “Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.”
Hebrews 4:15 “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.”
Hebrews 5:8-9 “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation,”
All of Jesus’ suffering and difficulty
Was so that He might be a better Savior for us.
But in giving Jesus’ Eulogy, Peter begins with His Humble Beginning.
Jesus was a “Nazarene”
#2 HIS HOLY LIFE
Acts 2:22b
“Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know”
You are also aware that in an obituary, or eulogy it is customary to talk about what this person did in life.
• What they did…
• How they did it…
And while it is typical to hear about someone being a “good person”
Or a “loyal person” or a “God-fearing” person.
The truth is that I don’t know that anyone ever totally lives up to what is said about them at their funeral.
But Jesus most certainly did.
JESUS WAS HOLY.
JESUS WAS PERFECT.
We just read about it in Hebrews.
That Jesus was “tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.”
What you should also know is that this claim to be perfect
Was validated by many people at many different times.
Do you recall the man who betrayed Jesus?
Matthew 27:3-4 “Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? See to that yourself!”
Do you recall the man who sentenced Jesus to death?
John 19:4-6 “Pilate came out again and said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you so that you may know that I find no guilt in Him.” Jesus then came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold, the Man!” So when the chief priests and the officers saw Him, they cried out saying, “Crucify, crucify!” Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves and crucify Him, for I find no guilt in Him.”
Do you recall the man who died beside Jesus?
Luke 23:41 “And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.”
The perfection of Jesus was obvious to everyone,
Even those who had a hand in crucifying Him.
But those testimonies run a distant second to God’s testimony of Him.
John 5:36 “But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish — the very works that I do — testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me.”
The reality is that Jesus was validated in life by God.
He always did the things that were pleasing to God,
And God made it evident.
• We have the voice of God at Jesus’ baptism saying, “This is My beloved Son”
• And we have that voice again saying the same thing on the mountain where He was transfigured.
God audibly testified to the perfection of Christ.
But God also “attested” Him “with miracles and wonders and signs”
God gave Christ these miracles to perform
In order that it might demonstrate exactly who He was
And how acceptable He was to God.
The blind man figured it out pretty quickly.
John 9:30-33 “The man answered and said to them, “Well, here is an amazing thing, that you do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes. “We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him. “Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. “If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.”
Typically at a funeral stories are told about the good things a person has done, and these are meant to give a sort of validation that the deceased was in fact a good person and one who would be missed.
Well we don’t have near enough time to tell all the stories on Jesus.
• Feeding 5,000 with five loaves and two fish
• Healing withered leprosy, withered hands, paralysis, bleeding, blindness, etc.
• Casting out demons
• Calming the storm
• Raising the dead
Or how about if we opened the floor to loved ones who wanted to share what Jesus meant to them?
• We’d be here indefinitely.
I mean, it is blatantly obvious that God was in this man,
And God was for this man,
And that reminds us of His perfection.
We say all sorts of people live good lives, but Jesus really did;
And God attested to the fact.
Jesus was a man acquainted with scorn and grief
And yet He was in fact the holiest man who ever lived.
His Humble Beginning, His Holy Life
#3 HIS HORRIFIC DEATH
Acts 2:23
Many times while listening to a eulogy or an obituary, it will also speak to the person’s death.
• Sometimes we just read the date, but other times we find out what actually caused the death.
• Cancer, or old age, or a tragic accident.
Well Peter is no different, he makes sure this audience knows about
The horrific death of Christ.
And first we read that Christ’s death was all part of the plan.
“this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God”
We are reminded that Christ’s death was all part of the plan.
In fact, even Christ knew that this is why He came.
John 12:27 “Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour.”
John 13:1 “Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.”
Many time Jesus sought to drive this fact into the mind of His followers who just couldn’t imagine it.
Luke 9:43-44 “But while everyone was marveling at all that He was doing, He said to His disciples, “Let these words sink into your ears; for the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men.”
And I suppose men could wonder that if Jesus was so holy and righteous,
Why God would plan for Him to die.
Well that answer is spelled out clearly in Scripture.
2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
It was all about redemption.
Only a righteous man could actually pay the penalty for sinful men.
If Jesus had been a sinner, He could have only paid His own debt.
God’s plan was for a righteous man to die in the stead of sinners.
He was treated as though He were a sinner
Even though He was righteous,
So that we could be treated as though we are righteous
Even though we are sinners.
This cross was all a part of God’s plan.
But while the cross was Sovereign in Design, it was Sinister in Delivery.
For Peter says “you nailed [Jesus] to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.”
Just because God ordained the cross as the means of salvation
Does not mean those who did it aren’t still guilty.
Remember Judas?
Matthew 26:24 “The Son of Man is to go, just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.”
In fact, earlier in the book of Acts, when the disciples are finding Judas’ replacement, they make it clear that Judas suffered for his sin.
Acts 1:24-25 “And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two You have chosen to occupy this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.”
The fact is that those who crucified Christ were guilty for it before God.
They condemned an innocent man and put Him to death.
Incidentally, all who still crucify Christ are guilty.
Hebrews 6:4-6 “For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.”
Those who crucify Christ.
Even those who crucify Him to themselves, are in fact guilty before God.
And Peter wants his crowd to know that.
JESUS DIED LIKE A SINNER, FOR SINNERS, BY SINNERS.
And we are told why.
(we read it earlier in our Scripture reading)
Isaiah 53:4-6 “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”
It was a horrific death to say the least,
But it was a death with a sovereign purpose.
THAT PURPOSE WAS TO SAVE SINNERS.
His Humble Beginning, His Holy Life, His Horrific Death
#4 HIS HEROIC RESURRECTION
Acts 2:24
Well this is obviously foreign to the obituaries we are accustomed to.
We may speak of a future resurrection, Peter here speaks of a past one.
He wasn’t speaking about how someday Jesus would rise,
He said that Jesus had already risen.
“But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death”
That is to say that God would not allow this man to stay dead.
And then Peter explains that.
“since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.”
Why is that?
• We certainly haven’t seen that problem with anyone else.
• Peter said it was impossible for death to hold Jesus.
We hate death, because it is impossible for us to get death to let go.
We hate death because it seems so final.
But speaking of Jesus, Peter says it is the other way around.
It was impossible for death to hold Jesus.
WHY?
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death”
The only way death holds anyone is because of sin.
Jesus had none, and death couldn’t hold Him.
AND THIS IS WHY THE RESURRECTION IS SO IMPORTANT.
THE RESURRECTION VALIDATES THE CROSS.
So Jesus claims to sinless and claims to die in the place of sinners.
• How do you know it worked?
• How do you know He really was sinless?
• How do you know He wasn’t just good at hiding it?
• How do you know He didn’t have some secret?
I’ll tell you how you know:
HE ROSE
Death had no grounds to hold Him.
He really was sinless and therefore His death really was for others.
He is our hero, who bore our sin, took our wrath, paid our debt,
And proved it by rising from the dead.
Now, IF YOU WANT PROOF of the event, that is what Peter gives next.
First is FULFILLED PROPHECY
(Read 25-31)
• Peter reveals that David prophesied that this would happen and it did.
Second is EYE WITNESS TESTIMONY
(Read 32)
• There are several who are willing to stake their lives on the fact that they saw Him die and then saw Him alive.
Third is THE ARRIVAL OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
(Read 33-36)
• Remember all those weird thing going on today?
• The speaking of languages and such?
Well that is because the Holy Spirit is here.
And the Holy Spirit is here because Christ has ascended to heaven
And taken His seat at the right hand of God.
And Peter says:
(36) “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ – this Jesus whom you crucified.”
Want to know Peter’s point?
YOU BLEW IT!
• You just killed the Son of God.
• You just killed the Messiah.
• You just killed the Lord of Lords.
And God has made that evident.
This funeral turned out a little harsher than the people expected didn’t it?
• When is the last time you went to a funeral and found out that God was holding you responsible for the person’s death?
Well that is what Israel just learned.
The response then is fitting:
(37-40) “Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!”
When you realize that Christ died because of you,
There is only one fitting response.
That response is to repent of your sin
And submit your life to Jesus Christ.
Peter called for baptism because this was a public demonstration of loyalty to Christ. It was a fitting symbol of true remorse and contrition.
And you will notice that on this day, PEOPLE RESPONDED.
(41-42) “So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
And I guess that brings us here today as well.
My only objective here today
Was to make sure that you attended the funeral of Jesus.
I wanted you to see HIS HUMBLE BEGINNING.
Isaiah 53:1-3 “Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”
I wanted you to see HIS HOLY LIFE and HIS HORRIFIC DEATH
Isaiah 53:4-9 “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due? His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.”
And I wanted you to see His Heroic Resurrection
Isaiah 53:10-12 “But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand. As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.”
And I want you to understand that He died because of you;
And He died because of me.
(It certainly wasn’t because of His own sin)
And as such, He deserves that we each repent of our sins
And submit our lives totally to Him.
Anything less is sure and certain condemnation
As His death is the only means of salvation.
But submitting to the reality is the pathway to life indeed.
It is the funeral message of Jesus,
And throughout the ages more people have been brought to life
From this eulogy than from any other.
This morning, I would invite you to submit your life to Christ as well.
And know that HE IS AN ABLE SAVIOR
As evidenced by His resurrection from the dead.
