Chapter two verses twenty-one and twenty-three: In verse 22 the Apostle Peter speaks 9 Words that the entirety of professing Christendom has refused to believe for nearly 2000 years: “Ye men of Israel” and “Jesus of Nazareth, a man ….” Two Biblical facts concerning those 9 Words must be made clear.

That the thousands of Jews assembled in Jerusalem to celebrate the Day of Pentecost were all Israelites is made clear by Peter when he addressed them as, “Ye men of Israel ….” It is important for God-seekers to understand that ALL JEWS ARE ISRAELITES, BUT NOT ALL IRAELITES ARE JEWS. Many so-called Bible “scholars” refute this, claiming that those people known today as Jews constitute all of the Israelites alive today. Actually, the Jews are only three of the 13 tribes of Israel (the tribe of Joseph was split into two tribes–Gen. 48 [note vs 16]) and number approximately 20 million people world-wide, approximately 1/4 of whom live in the nation of Judea, misnamed “Israel.” The other 10 tribes are scattered throughout the world and number in the hundreds of millions. Ironically, they do not know they are Israelites. See White Fields.

The statement: “Jesus of Nazareth, a man ….” tells us that when the Word (Jn. 1:1-4,14) came to earth and walked among men, HE WALKED (LIVED) AS A MAN. He was neither totally nor partially a god, HE WAS 100% MAN. This becomes vitally important when we consider that He said through John that if we call ourselves His brethren we must “walk as He walked” (1 Jn. 2:6), we must “purify ourselves even as He is pure” (1 Jn. 3:3) and “… overcome (Satan and sin) even as I (Jesus) overcame” (Rev. 3:21). This would be impossible if He had held an advantage over us. He did not, which makes Him our perfect example to emulate. In the spiritual Revelation 3:21 sense, to “overcome” means to break the power of Satan over oneself. It does not mean to submit to him and expect Jesus to overlook the resultant sin.

In verse 22 Peter tells us that God showed His approval of Jesus by working signs and miracles through Him. God’s ministers, who are men as Jesus was, have the same power He had as a man. This is brought out in John 14:12: “He who believes on me the works I do he shall do also, and greater works than these shall he do …..” This verse, along with those noted above, prove that there was no innate difference between the man Jesus and those men among whom He lived while on earth. Jesus is called “the last Adam” (1 Cor. 15:45). If the first Adam was not a god, then neither was the last One. Let us seek God’s Truth (Word-Jn. 17:17), believe it and obey it. Only those who are “doers of the Word (Law) and not hearers only” (Rom. 2:13/Jam. 1:22) will rule and reign with Him in His kingdom. Few, Jesus said, would do so (Mat. 7:13,14). Let’s be among that chosen few. L.J.