¹⁴But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: “Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words.”

Peter is the prominent member of the company of believers now sharing the gospel in the various languages. Scholars wrestle with the details—whether everyone went quiet while he spoke, or whether the other eleven kept on speaking the languages while Peter’s is the only actual wording recorded. They also wrestle with whether this is an exact quotation (which would make for quite a short sermon!) or whether Luke, under the inspired guidance of the Holy Spirit, was recording just the salient thrust of the message, condensing it for space. In contrast to the lengthy recorded sermons of our Lord (think Sermon on the Mount and the Olivet Discourse, for example), we might wonder this too (although we do notice in Acts chapters 21–28, Paul’s intercourses are recorded in much greater length, which probably reflects that Luke is there writing about events more recent to his time of writing and therefore including more details).

Peter’s prominence is not supremacy; this must be noted. There is nothing here that suggests he has greater authority than the other apostles. In fact, in Acts 15—the last place in the book where Peter is mentioned—we find Jesus’ half-brother James, a non-apostle, taking a more prominent role than Peter. After chapter 15, the prominence transfers to the apostle Paul (who wasn’t even named among the twelve!)

Having said all that, Peter does have a prominent role on the day of Pentecost, as recorded by Luke. And he speaks to his audience with authority. But note he is not speaking with authority to the other eleven. The twelve are standing together in unity. And when the thousands came to faith and began meeting as a church, “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching . . .” (Acts 2:42). Not Peter’s teaching, but “the apostles’ teaching”! Collectively they carried the authority as Jesus’ official representatives.

This truth was so well entrenched in the Christian movement that the next generation of Christians (after the apostles died) used “apostolic authority” as the primary criterion for determining whether a writing that was circulating among the churches was authoritative, and ultimately to be included in the canon of Scripture.

And with authority, Peter and the eleven preached. They “declared,” they admonished (“let this be known to you and give heed to my words”). In other words, “Listen up, I am speaking to you!”

Lord, help me speak boldly with “power and love and discipline” (2 Tim. 1:7)