Scripture Daily

Context No. 1852 of 4322 · Acts

Context · Reflection

Acts 2:22-28: in context

22“Men of Israel, hear these words! Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved by God to you by mighty works and wonders and signs which God did by him among you, even as you yourselves know, 23him, being delivered up by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by the hand of lawless men, crucified and killed; 24whom God raised up, having freed him from the agony of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it. 25For David says concerning him, ‘I saw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved. 26Therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced. Moreover my flesh also will dwell in hope, 27because you will not leave my soul in Hades, neither will you allow your Holy One to see decay. 28You made known to me the ways of life. You will make me full of gladness with your presence.’

In his sermon at Pentecost, Peter proclaims Jesus of Nazareth, attested by God through the works God did through him, handed over by God's set plan and foreknowledge, and yet crucified and killed by lawless hands. But God raised him from the dead, Peter declares, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it. And he quotes David's psalm: you will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor let your Holy One see decay; you have made known to me the paths of life.

The phrase that rings out is Peter's word about the resurrection: it was not possible that he should be held by death. Death took hold of Jesus; he truly died, was truly buried. But death could not keep him; the grave had no power to hold the Lord of life. It was not possible, Peter says, for death to hold him; and so God raised him, freeing him from death's grip, which could not close upon him. This is the ground of the Christian's hope in the face of death. Death is the great enemy that holds all of us, the power before which every human strength fails, the grip none can break. And into that grip came Christ, and death could not hold him. He broke its hold, rose from the grave, and, in doing so, broke death's power for all who are his. Because it was not possible for death to hold him, it is no longer finally possible for death to hold those who belong to him; the grip that seemed unbreakable has been broken. Death is swallowed up in victory; its sting is drawn. This changes how the believer faces death, our own and that of those we love. Death is real, and its grief is real; Christ himself endured its agony. But it is no longer the final power it seemed. The one who could not be held by death has broken its hold, and promises that those who are his will share his resurrection, that death cannot finally keep them either. We face death, then, not as those without hope, but as those whose Lord death could not hold, and who has therefore broken its grip for us. It was not possible that he should be held by it; and because of that, death's hold on us is broken too.

As I face death, my own or that of those I love, do I regard it as the final, unbreakable power, or can I take hold of Peter's word that it was not possible for death to hold Christ, who broke its grip and rose, so that death is no longer the final power it seemed, and cannot finally keep those who are his?

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