The Apostle Peter has spread the blame for Christ’s death around to all the Jews.

Verse seventeen & eighteen: They and their spiritual leaders had killed their king because they did not associate Jesus of Nazareth with their promised Messiah. The did not understand what the Lord had said to the serpent in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:15), nor what Moses (Deut. 18), David (Ps. 22), Isaiah (52,53) and Daniel (9) had written about the suffering and death of their Messiah. The messages relative to their suffering Savior also included Samuel and all the prophets from his time forward (vs 24).

Verse nineteen: Though they killed Jesus in ignorance, they had to repent. True repentance would then lead to conversion which and the removal of their sins. Following this the Lord would from time to time send them “times of refreshing”–a special touch by Him. Notice that Peter did not tell them that if they repented and became converted they would be saved and born again. Conversion would place them on the path to eventual salvation provided they stayed on that path (Mat. 7:13,14).

Verses twenty through twenty-four: At this point Peter tells the people that God has, through the prophets, promised to send Jesus Christ back to earth where He will bring about “the restitution of all things, meaning that He would “restore the kingdom to Israel” (Acts 1:6). And every soul that refuses to hear Him would be put to death.

Verses twenty-five & twenty-six: Here Peter reminds the Jews that they are of the seed of Abraham and therefore are party to the covenant God made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, noting that from their seed He would raise up One who would be a blessing to people in every nation. Verse 26 is the most important of the afore-mentioned verses in that it proclaims the standard by which we must qualify for salvation. We must turn away (go the opposite direction–be converted) from sin. Note that Peter said they were to repent as the initial step on the path to salvation (vs. 19). Note that he does not mention repentance again. This is because, if they obey the Lord’s Words, they would turn away from their sins (vs. 26) and therefore not need to repent. This, Peter said, is the blessing Jesus came to give them. His blessing is the outcome of obeying Him–His Word. Only those who allow Him to bless them by delivering them from their sinfulness will enter the Kingdom of God. L.J.