29 “Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, 31 he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses.
In verses 29-32, Peter asserted to Israel that his quotation of the psalm of David in Acts 2:25-28 pointed to Jesus and not David. Also, Peter argued that the words he had just quoted from Psalm 16 did not refer to David because the Psalmist had died and his body had undergone corruption.
2:29
“Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David,
The patriarch David died but was not resurrected.
that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
David’s tomb was evident to Israelites living in Peter’s day; David remained in the grave, as they could visit his tomb. Probably most of Peter’s audience had visited David’s tomb in Jerusalem. Since David had died and his body had undergone corruption, he could not be the Messiah.
2:30
Therefore, being a prophet,
David was a prophet, not the Messiah. He did not speak of himself in his prophecy but spoke of the coming Messiah, to His Resurrection.
and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him
An “oath” guarantees the truthfulness of a statement; it is assurance that the promise cannot be broken. The oath was that God would place a descendant of David on his throne (Ps 132:11-12; Lu 1:32-33). Jesus was a descendant of David (Mt 1:1).
that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne,
God swore to David that one of his descendants (“fruit of his body”) would become king of Israel. It would be “Christ,” the Messiah, who would sit on his throne. The Davidic Covenant promised that an heir of David would reign over the earth (2 Sam 7:14-15; Lu 1:32-33).
Peter did not claim that Jesus presently sat on David’s throne. His point was that David prophesied that God has sworn to seat a descendent of his on his throne, a throne on earth. Jesus will sit on David’s throne when He comes again in His second advent.
2:31
he, [David] foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ,
David’s identity as a prophet (Acts 2:3) links him to the prophetic Word (Acts 2:27). David’s “foreseeing this”—that is, the Resurrection—indicates his role as a prophet.
that His soul was not left in Hades,
Again, Peter quoted Psalm 16:10, speaking of the fact that the body of Jesus would not remain in the grave.
nor did His flesh see corruption.
Peter changed the pronouns in this verse from “you” to “he” and “my” to “his” to show that David’s prophecy referred to Jesus as the Messiah. Peter equated Jesus with the Messiah (the Christ).
2:32
This Jesus
Peter identified Jesus with the coming Messiah addressed in the prophecies of Joel and David. Three times Peter referred to our Lord as “this Jesus” (Acts 2:23, 32, 36), the Jesus of Nazareth (Acts 2:22).
God has raised up,
This verse concluded that the Davidic prophecy was about Jesus, not David himself. The Resurrection and Ascension were witnessed by some in the crowd.
of which we are all witnesses.
The “we are all witnesses” here are the 12 apostles standing before the crowd.
PRINCIPLE:
The Resurrection of Christ was central to the message of the early church.
APPLICATION:
The emphasis of the early church was on the Resurrection of Christ from the dead. (Acts 2:24; 13:30, 33-34, 37; 17:31).
