“But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, but put to death the Prince of life, the one whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses.” (Acts 3:14–15).

Second sermons often build on the first sermons, and this one proves that true. In Peter’s first, he blasts his countrymen for their rejection of Christ:

“Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know— this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. (Acts 2:22–23)

Now, he further describes this “attested one” as “Holy,” “Righteous” and “Prince of life.” Given just one of these, their rejection of Christ was shocking. The last, our focus today, is additionally ironic: They put to death the Prince of life. How could they do such a thing? Further, how is such an action even possible?

The word translated “prince” comes from the root Greek word that carries the connotation of “primacy” and is related to the word in Revelation 1:5, where Jesus is the “ruler of kings.” Here the specific word refers to primacy by authorship. That is why many English versions render this as Jesus being the “Author of life.” So we have here the idea of someone writing a book, and then the very characters of that book he created conspiring to put him to death! Such things have the makings of a good sci-fi movie. But that is essentially the nature of humanity’s rejection of their Creator, the one who authored us all into existence, in the grand story of life. His rejection is the penultimate chapter of the book.

As the story unfolds, the Father of the Author of Life writes the final chapter, after the one about the Author’s death, where all the various threads of the story come to a perfect resolution: The Author is raised back to life! The story leaps, as it were, off the pages, a depressing, fatalistic ending being wonderfully transformed into the most fantastic story ever. The Author became part of his own novel, died in the story (a very real death) and was raised again. What an Author! What a story! He is the Prince, the Author of Life. We are His created characters in the story, created for a real life of communion with the One who Authored us into existence!

Lord, thank You for writing Your life into mine, that I might really live!