27 For you will not let my soul be in hell and you will not give up your Holy One to destruction.
He, having knowledge of the future, was talking of the coming again of Christ from the dead, that he was not kept in hell and his body did not see destruction.
And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and Hell gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged every man by his works.
And the angel in answer said to her, The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will come to rest on you, and so that which will come to birth will be named holy, Son of God.
Then your voice came to your holy one in a vision, saying, I have put the crown on a strong one, lifting up one taken from among the people.
But God will get back my soul; for he will take me from the power of death. (Selah.)
In a second, in the shutting of an eye, at the sound of the last horn: for at that sound the dead will come again, free for ever from the power of death, and we will be changed.
And you have the Spirit from the Holy One and you all have knowledge.
O death, where is your power? O death, where are your pains?
For the men of Jerusalem and their rulers, having no knowledge of him, or of the sayings of the prophets which come to their ears every Sabbath day, gave effect to them by judging him. And though no cause of death was seen in him, they made a request to Pilate that he might be put to death. And when they had done all the things said in the Writings about him, they took him down from the tree, and put him in the place of the dead. But God gave him back from the dead: And for a number of days he was seen by those who came with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses before the people. And we are giving you the good news of the undertaking made to the fathers, Which God has now put into effect for our children, by sending Jesus; as it says in the second Psalm, You are my Son; this day I have given you being. And about his coming back from the dead, never again to go to destruction, he has said these words, I will give you the holy and certain mercies of David. Because he says in another Psalm, You will not let your Holy One see destruction. Now David, having done God's work for his generation, went to sleep, and was put with his fathers, and his body came to destruction: But he, who was lifted up by God, did not see destruction.
For, truly, in this town, against your holy servant, Jesus, who was marked out by you as Christ, Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, came together,
Jesus said, Take away the stone. Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said, Lord, by this time the body will be smelling, for he has been dead four days.
And in hell, being in great pain, lifting up his eyes he saw Abraham, far away, and Lazarus on his breast.
Saying, What have we to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? have you come to put an end to us? I see well who you are, the Holy One of God.
And you, Capernaum, were you not to be lifted up to heaven? you will go down into hell: for if the works of power which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have been here to this day.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Acts 2
Commentary on Acts 2 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 2
Between the promise of the Messiah (even the latest of those promises) and his coming many ages intervened; but between the promise of the Spirit and his coming there were but a few days; and during those days the apostles, though they had received orders to preach the gospel to every creature, and to begin at Jerusalem, yet lay perfectly wind-bound, incognito-concealed, and not offering to preach. But in this chapter the north wind and the south wind awake, and then they awake, and we have them in the pulpit presently. Here is,
Act 2:1-4
We have here an account of the descent of the Holy Ghost upon the disciples of Christ. Observe,
Act 2:5-13
We have here an account of the public notice that was taken of this extraordinary gift with which the disciples were all on a sudden endued. Observe,
Act 2:14-36
We have here the first-fruits of the Spirit in the sermon which Peter preached immediately, directed, not to those of other nations in a strange language (we are not told what answer he gave to those that were amazed, and said, What meaneth this?) but to the Jews in the vulgar language, even to those that mocked; for he begins with the notice of that (v. 15), and addresses his discourse (v. 14) to the men of Judea and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; but we have reason enough to think that the other disciples continued to speak to those who understood them (and therefore flocked about them), in the languages of their respective countries, the wonderful works of God. And it was not by Peter's preaching only, but that of all, or most, of the rest of the hundred and twenty, that three thousand souls were that day converted, and added to the church; but Peter's sermon only is recorded, to be an evidence for him that he was thoroughly recovered from his fall, and thoroughly restored to the divine favour. He that had sneakingly denied Christ now as courageously confesses him. Observe,
Act 2:37-41
We have seen the wonderful effect of the pouring out of the Spirit, in its influence upon the preachers of the gospel. Peter, in all his life, never spoke at the rate that he had done now, with such fulness, perspicuity, and power. We are now to see another blessed fruit of the pouring out of the Spirit in its influence upon the hearers of the gospel. From the first delivery of that divine message, it appeared that there was a divine power going along with it, and it was mighty, through God, to do wonders: thousands were immediately brought by it to the obedience of faith; it was the rod of God's strength sent out of Zion, Ps. 110:2, 3. We have here the first-fruits of that vast harvest of souls which by it were gathered in to Jesus Christ. Come and see, in these verses, the exalted Redeemer riding forth, in these chariots of salvation, conquering and to conquer, Rev. 6:2.
In these verses we find the word of God the means of beginning and carrying on a good work of grace in the hearts of many, the Spirit of the Lord working by it. Let us see the method of it.
Act 2:42-47
We often speak of the primitive church, and appeal to it, and to the history of it; in these verses we have the history of the truly primitive church, of the first days of it, its state of infancy indeed, but, like that, the state of its greatest innocence.
But the Lord's giving them power to work miracles was not all he did for them; he added to the church daily. The word in their mouths did wonders, and God blessed their endeavours for the increase of the number of believers. Note, It is God's work to add souls to the church; and it is a great comfort both to ministers and Christians to see it.