Acts 3:26
A plain-spoken deep dive on this verse. Read the chapter →
When God raised up His Servant, He sent Him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
God, having raised up--not from the dead, but having provided, prepared, and given. his Son Jesus--"His Servant Jesus" (see on Act 3:13). sent him to bless you--literally, "sent Him blessing you," as if laden with blessing. in turning away every one of you from his iniquities--that is, "Hitherto we have all been looking too much for a Messiah who should shed outward blessings upon the nation generally, and through it upon the world. But we have learned other things, and now announce to you that the great blessing with which Messiah has come laden is the turning away of every one of you from his iniquities." With what divine skill does the apostle, founding on resistless facts, here drive home to the conscience of his auditors their guilt in crucifying the Lord of Glory; then soothe their awakened minds by assurances of forgiveness on turning to the Lord, and a glorious future as soon as this shall come to pass, to terminate with the Personal Return of Christ from the heavens whither He has ascended; ending all with warnings, from their own Scriptures, to submit to Him if they would not perish, and calls to receive from Him the blessings of salvation. Next: Acts Chapter 4
Open source ↗In this chapter we have a miracle and a sermon: the miracle wrought to make way for the sermon, to confirm the doctrine that was to be preached, and to make way for it into the minds of the people; and then the sermon to explain the miracle, and to sow the ground which by it was broken up. I. The miracle was the healing of a man that was lame from his birth, with a word speaking (Act 3:1-8), and the impression which this made upon the people (Act 3:9-11). II. The scope of the sermon which was preached hereupon was to bring people to Christ, to repent of their sin in crucifying him (Act 3:12-19), to believe in him now that he was glorified, and to comply with the Father's design in glorifying him (Act 3:20-26). The former part of the discourse opens the wound, the latter applies the remedy.
Open source ↗Cross-references
Other passages the community most often connects to this one. Tap to read.
She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”
For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to Him in everything He tells you.
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you unblemished in His glorious presence, with great joy—
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Greek.
And you are sons of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers when He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all the families of the earth will be blessed.’
But God raised Him from the dead, releasing Him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for Him to be held in its clutches.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
You killed the Author of life, but God raised Him from the dead, and we are witnesses of the fact.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.