“The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead—whom you had killed…”

We hear a lot these days about some people who just don’t “get it.”  Whatever “it” is, and whatever audience is in view, they’re clueless.  It could be husbands, politicians, rednecks, the media elite, teenagers, telemarketers, whoever.  The disconnect couldn’t be greater or wider.  Perhaps the best example of this came to me (again) at a Bible study on the campus of a major university recently.  A mathematics professor from Bulgaria asked me why the Jews didn’t accept Jesus as their messiah.  I told her that the Jewish religious establishment not only rejected his claim, they also killed him for it!  And in keeping with the party line, every generation of Jewish religious leaders continued that stance from that day to this.  As Paul said, “Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts (2 Cor. 3:15).   Simply reviewing the early chapters of Acts proves the point.  And in the review, we see God’s attempt through the Apostles, specifically Peter, himself the “apostle to the Jews” (Galatians 2:8), to pull off their spiritual blinders.

First, let’s remember the deceit and treachery those Jewish religious leaders exhibited when dealing with Christ.  Trumped up charges of lying and deception began the proceedings (Matthew 26:57-63a) at an illegal trial (conducted at night) after an illegal arrest (also at night).  After failing to provide adequate (i.e., honest) witnesses, the charge quickly shifted to blasphemy, catching Jesus making a true confession as to his identity (Matthew 26:63b-68).

Next, the “good ole boys” fired up the commoners to call for Barabbas, a murderer and “notorious prisoner,” to be released instead of Jesus (27:15-24).  This was a rank injustice to everyone: the Jewish people, Roman rule, Barabbas and Jesus.  Then, while on the cross, as if to rub salt in his already excruciating wounds, they mocked him, saying, “He saved others, but he can’t save himself!  He’s the King of Israel!  Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.  He trusts in God.  Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God’” (27:42-43).  Their actions indicate a consistent, resolute and passionate rejection.  People like that rarely get it.  And they do it to themselves.

In the book of Acts, Peter wants to make sure the obvious doesn’t escape the Jewish leaders.  Remember, they’re sitting pretty, thinking they finally wiped out this embryonic Son of God heresy.  So after Peter and John had been preaching at the temple, they healed “a man crippled from birth” (Acts 3:2) through the power of this supposedly dead Christ, in whom 5,000 men believed (4:4).  This was after the 3,000 believed on Pentecost.  At their hearing, Peter is extremely blunt in holding the religious council responsible.  It was they who “crucified” Jesus (v. 10).  Did they get it?  Nope.  Rejecting the evidence of a miracle they could not deny and thousands of new believers, they sternly warned them because, after all, they were “unschooled, ordinary men.”  They also couldn’t help but recognize that they “had been with Jesus” (v. 13).  That right there says it all.  Even with their eyes seeing the truth, they still didn’t get it.

The apostles went right back to the temple and “performed many miraculous signs and wonders” (5:12).  Now it was getting out of hand.  The good ole boys had them arrested and “put in the public jail” (v. 18).  However, an angel miraculously freed them that night and they returned to the temple the next morning to preach.  Fearing for their lives (v. 26), the guards respectfully brought them back to the court, where the temperature began rising.  “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” the high priest said (v. 27).  Peter’s reply is even more blunt than the first go-round: “The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead—whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree” (v. 30).  Note this word “killed.”  It is used only twice in the entire New Testament.  It’s meaning is precise.  Paul used it in Acts 26:21 in describing the time he was nearly hand-dragged from the temple of those wanting to kill him (see 21:27-31).  That is the precise meaning of the word.  It shows the direct hands-on intention to murder.  Peter went beyond merely blaming them for his crucifixion to their being individually responsible for maliciously wanting and causing his death.  And like before, they didn’t get it.  They never did.

From this situation we can observe several things.  First, how well do we “get” what God is showing us, even when it’s right before our eyes?  Second, how much do we realize our sinfulness, even now?  And third, can others say about us what they said of the disciples, “They had been with Jesus”?