NOTES for Act 2:22-36

Speaking to the assembled crowd about Christ and His resurrection, Peter reproaches them for His execution. Presumably, not everyone present was directly responsible for the killing, but by tacitly consenting or showing indifference, they all became complicit in rejecting the Messiah for whom the people had waited so long. Yet Peter says this not to accuse those assembled and thereby assert himself at their expense, but to call them to repentance, just as he himself repented of his own weakness, and to atone for their rejection by accepting Christ.

Peter once again reveals the meaning of the Old Testament prophecies and again leads his listeners toward the realization that Jesus is the Messiah. This time he relies on David's prophetic insights, and we see how unexpectedly their meaning unfolds after the Resurrection, which provided the key to understanding many passages of Scripture that had previously remained obscure.