Acts 3:1  “…the ninth hour”
As the day began around six o’clock in the morning, the ninth hour would be three o’clock in the afternoon, the time of the evening sacrifice.

10  “…they knew that it was he who sat begging…”
The people recognized the man who was healed.  He wasn’t some unknown person.  They knew he had been lame, so what happened was a definite miracle.

11  “…held on to Peter and John…”
He didn’t run off, he stayed with them lest they might leave.  He wanted all to know what had happened to him.

12  “…Peter…responded to the people…”
Peter takes a second chance to preach that is offered to him.  Such a change from the person he was before the resurrection and arrival of the Holy Spirit.

14-15  “…you denied the Holy One and the Just…and killed the Prince of life…”
As he did in his first sermon, he told the crowd the truth.  The Jewish leaders may have been the instigators of the death of Jesus, but the crowd followed along.  They condemned Christ who had fed and healed them and asked for a murderer to be released in His place.

15  “…God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses”
No hearsay or third party witnessing.  Peter and John were witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus, and they boldly proclaimed the fact.

16  “…His name…”
The name of Jesus.  Where all believers’ power comes.  Peter is giving Jesus the glory for what happened, but I wonder if he also meant to make a connection between Christ and God the people would see by referring to the name.  Jesus isn’t just some great prophet endowed by God with power to perform miracles, He is God Himself.  His name has the power to do this just as God, which would make Him God.

17  “…I know that you did it in ignorance…”
He lets them off the hook just a bit to show them hope.  Yes, they did it, but they did it because they were sinful and didn’t know better.  The hope is that Christ forgives when we recognize our sinfulness.  Once we see our need for a Savior, all we need do is believe that Christ has become that Savior by dying for our sins and rising from the dead, and ask Him to save us.

18  “…God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer…”
Now Peter understands what he has been taught.  The Christ wasn’t only going to be an earthly king, but had to suffer for the sins of the world.

20  “…He may send Jesus Christ…”
Jesus is the Messiah.  He has come the first time to save the world from their sin.  Repent and believe on Him to receive the times of refreshing and to hasten His return as lord and master of all.

21  “…until the times of restoration of all things…”
One day all will be set right.  People and the planet.  The attempts of man to take credit for the demise of the earth and to think that he has the power to correct it are so arrogant and delusional.  Yes, our sin is responsible for the curse of the ground, but God is still in control over it.  It will endure until He says otherwise regardless of what we do.

22  “…a Prophet like me…”
The reference from the Old Testament which some people thought Jesus had fulfilled.  They were correct in a sense, but didn’t understand the true meaning.  The One who would come to tell them all things would not be like other prophets whom God spoke to in dreams and visions.  Nor would He be completely like Moses whom God spoke to face to face.  This One would be the Son of God, God Himself.  The writer of Hebrews does a good job of explaining this in Hebrews 1.

25  “…the covenant which God made with our fathers…in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed”
The fulfillment of the promise God gave to Abraham, the arrival of the Messiah, Jesus.

26  “To you first…”
The people are descendants of Abraham so to them the promise has been fulfilled first.  Jesus has been sent to them to redeem them from their sins and then to the rest of the world.

I hope you enjoy reading and studying His word.  May it accomplish what He desires.  Please feel free to comment or post questions.  Thanks for reading!

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.