²²”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— ²³this 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.”

Peter begins to proclaim just as authoritatively as the quote from Joel. This is not just his own “opinion,” for as he wrote in his later years, “But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (2 Peter 1:20–21). Peter is speaking on the day of Pentecost as the mouthpiece of the Holy Spirit with as much authority as the prophecies of the OT. And he does not hold back!

Addressing Israel directly, he charges them with executing Jesus Christ. He doesn’t devolve into a defense of Jesus’ divinity or even proof that He is the Messiah. The evidence speaks for itself; the miracles of Christ proved it (see Luke 4:18–19, Matt. 11:4–6). Peter is beyond apologetics, and his audience knows it! Peter’s goal is to drive home the significance of what they had done.

Speaking like the prophets of old, he goes for the jugular. One can imagine Peter’s long finger sweeping across the crowd, into each heart. “This Man” they “nailed to a cross.” They may have claimed to be acting in righteous indignation, defending God in their own minds, and even maintaining superficial piety—remember they had the body of Jesus removed from the cross out of feigned adherence to the Sabbath Day religious restrictions (John 19:31). But Peter calls them out as godless, as much so as the men who actually did the nailing! Peter goes even further by describing it as an agonizing death (vs. 24). There is no soft-pedaling this. Israel is abjectly and completely guilty! As one writer puts it, this was a spectacular sin. It is doesn’t get any worse than killing the One whom God sent.

However, like a chess player who plays into the superior skill of a grandmaster, the Jews played into God’s hand. We can see the reflection of the patriarch Joseph’s prescient comment in referring to his brothers’ treachery, “[Y]ou meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive” (Gen. 50:20). God had a plan to bring about salvation through the crucifixion of His Son. In their rejection of Christ, the Jews played into God’s plan, but by their own choice, they are guilty. Our minds must bend to the revelation of our Sovereign God holding humans responsible for their sin, and yet His still being in undeterred control.

Lord, I confess to sometimes blaming You for the choices I make.