Who Do You Say Jesus Is?
A Sermon on Acts 3:12-18
Originally preached May 16, 1965
Scripture
12¶ And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk? 13The God of Abraham, …
Sermon Description
Why did Jesus die on the cross? Who is He? The answer to these questions is of the utmost importance. Here in Acts 3:12–18 Dr. Lloyd-Jones looks at the two ways people view Christ. One can view Him as man views Him, believing that Christ was only a man and a moral teacher. Or one can view Him as God views Him: as God’s lamb, the Son of God, fully God and fully man, the fulfillment of the words of the prophets, the resurrected Lord. Dr. Lloyd-Jones points out the importance of understanding Christ in the context of the whole Bible. Christ is the fulfillment of the words of the prophets. Dr. Lloyd-Jones also stresses the importance of the resurrection of Christ. The cross was not the end of Christ. He came back to life and appeared to many and after His ascension, He left His people with the power of the Holy Spirit. It was that power that enabled Peter and John to heal the man at Beautiful Gate. It was power that is meant to point back to God, the one who gave the power and who truly heals and works miracles. Dr. Lloyd-Jones encourages Christians to look to the resurrected Christ in whose name there is power and salvation.
Sermon Breakdown
- Peter is preaching to Jews who rejected and crucified Jesus. He reminds them of the prophecies of the Messiah's suffering and how Jesus fulfilled them.
- Peter says they denied and killed the "Holy One" and the "Author of life" but God raised Him from the dead.
- The resurrection of Jesus proves His claims to be the Son of God. Jesus is both God and man.
- Jesus had to suffer and die to pay the penalty for our sins. His death is the only way our sins can be forgiven.
- There are only two views of Jesus: man's view that rejects Him or God's view that glorifies Him.
- Both man and God "delivered up" Jesus to death but for different reasons. Man rejected Jesus but God sacrificed Him for our salvation.
- We must decide whether to accept man's view of Jesus or God's view of Him. Our choice has eternal consequences.
Sermon Q&A
What Was Peter's Message in Acts 3 According to Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones?
According to Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones' sermon on Acts 3:12-18, Peter's message contained several key elements that reveal the essence of Christianity:
What was the main point of Peter's sermon after healing the lame man?
Peter's main message was that people should not focus on the miracle or the apostles who performed it, but rather on Jesus Christ himself. Lloyd-Jones emphasized that Peter redirected attention from the phenomenon to the person: "Why are you looking at this? Or why are you looking at us, for that matter? The thing you must concentrate on is not the phenomenon, even is not the miracle, nor us. What you must concentrate on is that to which this miracle and we ourselves point."
How did Peter describe the relationship between Jesus and God?
Peter described Jesus as "the holy one and the just" and "the prince of life" whom God had glorified. Lloyd-Jones explained: "The God of Abraham, Isaac and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his son Jesus." Peter presented Jesus not merely as a man, but as the Son of God who had a unique relationship with the Father.
What does Lloyd-Jones say about the paradox in Peter's sermon?
Lloyd-Jones highlights the dramatic paradox in Peter's sermon where he contrasts what humans did to Jesus versus what God did: - "You delivered up and denied him" vs. "God glorified him" - "You killed the prince of life" vs. "God raised him from the dead" - "You denied the holy one" vs. "God exalted him"
This paradox underscores the fundamental tension between human rejection and divine affirmation of Jesus.
How should we approach understanding Jesus according to the sermon?
Lloyd-Jones emphasizes that we must understand Jesus through: 1. Prophecy - "If you want to understand Jesus of Nazareth, you've got to know your whole Bible" 2. Resurrection - "Would there ever have been a christian church at all if it had not been for the literal fact of the resurrection?" 3. Pentecost - "What enables them to do it isn't our power or our own holiness... We've been baptized with the Holy Ghost"
What does Lloyd-Jones say is the purpose of Christ's death?
According to Lloyd-Jones, Jesus died to address humanity's sin problem: "Why did this have to happen? Peter tells them, 'Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out.' That's why he died on that cross." He emphasizes that "God was laying on him the iniquity of us all. God was taking your sins and punishing them in him, his blood was shed that your sins might be blotted out."
What is the essential question everyone must answer according to Lloyd-Jones?
The fundamental question is: "What think ye of Christ? What is our attitude to him? What is our relationship to him?" Lloyd-Jones states that we must choose between "man's view" and "God's view" of Jesus. This question is unavoidable because "you'll never get rid of him" and "he'll be confronting you on your deathbed... he'll be confronting you beyond death, in the judgment eternal."
The Book of Acts
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.