1. Synagogues
    1. “First churches”
    2. Beit = house of assembly = synagogue
      1. Ekklesia = assembly rather than church
      2. Greek term “kyriake” meaning “belonging to the Lord” — we got the name church
    3. Prayers in synagogue
      1. Lord’s Prayer added to their prayers
    4. Tomb of David
      1. Peter referred to this tomb in his sermon in (Acts 2:29)
      2. Destroyed during the burning of Jerusalem 70 A.D.
        1. All Jewish people expelled during second revolt 132 – 135 A.D.
      3. Gentile believers could return but not Jewish believers
    5. Bombing of Jerusalem during the War of 1967
      1. Synagogue discovered by tomb of David
      2. Dismissed as it does not point to temple
        1. This dismissed because temple does not exist at the time of building
      3. Grafitti on walls
        1. (NCBI) conquer, savior, mercy
        2. O Jesus that I may live — O Lord of the autocrat

  2. The Sermon (Acts 3:12 – 26)
    1. Man healed who was lame since birth
    2. Jesus walked by this person many times
      1. (John 5:19) Jesus could only do what he saw his father doing
      2. There was a timing to the miracle that God wanted
      3. Peter seized this timing and began to speak to the people in the temple
    3. Peter denies any power of his own did this (Vs 11 – 13)
      1. He claims Jesus did the healing not the Holy Spirit.. This stopped any confusion on their part.
    4. Peter retells the story of the crucifixion (Vs 14 – 16)
      1. This time he is more direct at pointing out those who killed Jesus
    5. Peter’s five names for Jesus
      1. The Servant (Vs 13)
        1. (Isaiah 52:13) Behold my servant will prosper he will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted
      2. Holy One (Vs 14)
        1. Holy one often spoken as a title for God
      3. Righteous One (Vs 14)
        1. Righteous one is one who is sinless
      4. Prince of Life (Vs 15)
        1. Close to Prince of peace from Isaiah 9:5, but life showing he is over the grave
      5. Anointed One (Vs 18)
        1. (Psalm 2:2) The Lord and his anointed One
    6. He must suffer (Vs 17, 18)
      1. Again they did it in ignorance, but it fulfilled the prophecies of the suffering Messiah
    7. Repentance and Messianic — era. 19 – 21
      1. Repentance will result in the return of messiah
      2. Doubtful many of these people were in the crowd to crucify Jesus, but we are all guilty of this crime
    8. Jesus is fulfillment of prophet like Moses in vs 22, 23 (Deuteronomy 18: 18, 19)
    9. Promise to Abraham and confirmed through all the prophets (Vs 24 – 26)
      1. Don’t know if Peter understood this verse meant Gentiles until it unfolded in front of him later in Acts
      2. Not a lot of love lost for the Gentiles

  3. The Opposition
    1. Believers grew 40% as they went from 3,000 to 5,000 believers (Vs 1 – 4)
    2. While this is happening, temple guards come out and arrest Peter and John
    3. Members of the Sanhedrin wanted to see the apostles and the man that was healed (Vs 4 – 6)
      1. Annas political appointment by Rome
        1. Family monopolized the priesthood until the year 66
      2. Caiaphas son in law to Annas
        1. Served until 36 and tomb was discovered in the 1990’s
      3. John and Alexander who we don’t know anything about, but they were the people who crucified Jesus
      4. They were Sadducees (Acts 5:17) who’re probably bringing them in for preaching about the resurrection
    4. The inquiry had to be about the resurrection because they were not guilty of breaking any law (Vs 7 – 10)
      1. They probably did not fear because Jesus warned them this would happen and the Holy Spirit would give them the words to say (Matthew 10:19, 20)
      2. Peter points out the trial is because they did a good deed to a man (Vs 8, 9)
      3. Proclaims resurrection in front of those who do not believe in the resurrection (Vs 10)
      4. The rejected stone
        1. Jesus claimed that he was a stone that they were rejecting (Matthew 21:42.)
        2. Now Peter is claiming that the stone they rejected is the cornerstone
        3. Theory of the cornerstone
      5. Jesus name means salvation (Vs 12)
        1. Jesus was a common name then so the thought here is that the person of Jesus is the Messiah.
      6. The education of these men astounded the Sanhedrin (Vs 13)
      7. Damage control (14 – 18)
        1. Stop  speaking because you are speaking of the resurrection
        2. You are making our control slip
        3. You are charging us with the murder of this holy man
        4. They did not try to stop their view of the resurrection because they already tried that and it did not work
      8. Peter defies the Sanhedrin (Vs 19, 20)
        1. They are willing to submit to any punishment they might receive for doing this, but they are not going to stop speaking
      9. They are released and ordered not to speak in Jesus name again
        1. Must have recognized something supernatural was attached to this name
        2. They recognized all the signs, but refused to change their hearts

  4. The Prayer Meeting (23 – 31)
    1. They realize that what is happening is prophecies by Psalm 2
    2. The place they are meeting is filled with the Holy Ghost a second time (Vs 31)
    3. They spoke the word of God with boldness