Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles,
wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know.
Acts 2:22
Fifty days after Christ was crucified, the Apostle Peter preached a powerful sermon to a huge crowd right on the temple grounds. On the Jewish religious calendar, Pentecost was the next holiday after the Passover where attendance was required. So basically, all the same people were there for both. Certainly most were witnesses to the life, ministry, and death of Jesus of Nazareth.
The old fisherman made it clear that everyone knew who Jesus of Nazareth was, because He was a Man Attested by God. The Father put Christ to the test and Jesus aced the exam. Peter brought out the three major ways that Christ clearly demonstrated the power of God that declared the divine approval: Miracles, wonders, and signs.
Thousands of people experienced Christ’s miracles of healing. The lame walked, the blind could see, the dead were raised to life, and the demon-possessed were set free. Many waited for hours to touch the hem of His garment or to be touched by Him. No one had ever done the miracles that this man had done.
But Christ’s power went to a much higher level than mere miracles. He altered the laws of physics and routinely defied nature. Jesus could feed 5,000 men with a small boy’s lunch and have a dozen baskets of leftovers for later. He walked on water, calmed the waves of the sea, and made a tree dry up and wither in a matter of minutes. When people saw these, they were filled with wonder.
Supernatural signs go beyond just planet Earth. When Christ was born at Bethlehem, the sky shone bright at midnight. The last hours of the Savior’s life, the blackness of midnight filled the early afternoon, and the exact moment of Christ’s death triggered an earthquake. On top of this, that very night there was a blood moon. The Roman centurion, seeing these signs, admitted that He was the Son of God. Coincidences? Nobody thought so. Christ Jesus was the Man Attested by God.
February 7
