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Although the importance of Peter’s ministry in the eyes of the modern-day Christian is often eclipsed by the apostle Paul, this fisherman-turned-apostle offers believers keen insight and instruction about Yahuwah and His Messiah. Not only did Yahuwah give Peter an unambiguous revelation as to Yahushua’s identity, but he was also anointed with the Holy Spirit to preach the gospel at the Church’s inauguration. After that, he continued to play a key role in the direction and edification of the early Church.1
Not only did Yahuwah give Peter an unambiguous revelation as to Yahushua’s identity, but he was also anointed with the Holy Spirit to preach the gospel at the Church’s inauguration.
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It is critical, therefore, that we know who this disciple from Capernaum believed Yahushua to be. Was Yahushua a man, Yahuwah, or both? Peter’s sermons, as recorded by Luke in the Book of Acts, give us a clear picture of what he believed and taught about Yahushua. Let’s explore the second of Peter’s sermons to learn more about his Christology.
Sometime after the birth of the Church, Peter and John encountered a lame man at the temple gate that was called Beautiful:
Acts 3:3-10 When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he began asking to receive alms. 4 But Peter, along with John, fixed his gaze on him and said, “Look at us!” 5 And he began to give them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. 6 But Peter said, “I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Yahushua Christ the Nazarene—walk!” 7 And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened. 8 With a leap he stood upright and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising Yahuwah. 9And all the people saw him walking and praising Yahuwah 10 and they were taking note of him as being the one who used to sit at the Beautiful Gate of the temple to beg alms, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
If Yahushua is Yahuwah, we would reasonably expect Peter to communicate this vital truth by healing the lame man in the name of the God-Man enthroned in heaven. After all, the miracle was a vehicle to declare the reality of Yahushua. But what should stand out to the careful reader is that instead of saying he healed in the name of God the Son, or God, the second member of the Trinity, or some other post-Biblical appellation, we find that the miracle was performed in the name of the man from Nazareth who is the Christ.
Peter clearly identifies Yahuwah as the God of the patriarchs, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. On the other hand, Peter identifies Yahushua as the servant of this God.
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Peter’s next statement offers clarification for the reader who might claim that when the crowd began “praising Yahuwah” for the miracle, they were referring to Yahushua:
Acts 3:10-13 11 While he was clinging to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them at the so-called portico of Solomon, full of amazement. 12 But when Peter saw this, he replied to the people, “Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this, or why do you gaze at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk? 13 “The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Yahushua, the one whom you delivered and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him.
Peter clearly identifies Yahuwah as the God of the patriarchs, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This was the God the crowd was praising. On the other hand, Peter identifies Yahushua as the servant of this God. If ever there was a time to tell the monotheistic Jews who had gathered at the temple that their God was actually a triune being, or that Yahushua was also Yahuwah, this would have been it. But Peter can only offer the revelation that Yahuwah has given him,2 that this man from Nazareth is the Christ and the servant of Yahuwah.
Peter continues his sermon by recounting the tragedy-turned-triumph of the cross:
Acts 3:14-16 “But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 but put to death the Prince of life, the one whom Yahuwah raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses. 16 “And on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Yahushua which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.
Some might argue that the Prince of Life, or Author of Life as some translations render it, refers to the Trinitarian view that Yahushua is the Creator.3 However, this is not the case. The Greek word prince is archêgos, which means founder, leader, author, or prince. It appears four times in the New Testament, each concerning Yahushua, and it never means Creator.4 Rather, it is always a reference to the fact that Yahushua is the means by which we are saved, having been given the authority by Yahuwah to extend eternal life to those who believe and obey him as Christ.5 Yahushua said that this life was given to him by Yahuwah:
John 5:26 “For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself;
Yahushua testifies that he lives, not because he is inherently immortal as a deity, but because the Father has given him life.
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Yahushua further testifies that he lives, not because he is inherently immortal as a deity, but because the Father has given him life. A contradictory statement if you are the co-equal, co-eternal member of a triune being:
John 6:57 “As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me.
This same life is now available to all who believe in Yahushua, the Prince or leader of this new life. This is the point Peter develops in his sermon.
Peter now connects Yahushua, who was crucified and raised from the dead to Old Testament prophecies that the Messiah would suffer:
Acts 3:17-18 “And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers did also. 18 “But the things which Yahuwah announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled.
Note that Peter distinguishes, yet again, between Yahuwah and Yahushua by saying that Yahushua is His Christ, that is, the Christ of Yahuwah that was destined to suffer. Indeed, Isaiah, in his famous prophecy, identifies the Messiah not as the suffering God but as the suffering servant of Yahuwah.
Isaiah 53:11 As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities.
In addition to being the servant of Yahuwah, Peter identifies Yahushua as the promised prophet of Yahuwah:
"Moses said, ‘YAHUWAH YOUR GOD WILL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR BRETHREN; TO HIM YOU SHALL GIVE HEED to everything He says to you." (Acts 3:22)
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Acts 3:19-22 “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; 20 and that He [Yahuwah] may send Yahushua, the Christ appointed for you, 21 whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which Yahuwah spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time. 22 “Moses said, ‘YAHUWAH YOUR GOD WILL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR BRETHREN; TO HIM YOU SHALL GIVE HEED to everything He says to you.
Yahuwah called and anointed a prophet to speak a message on His behalf.6 Peter declares that raised up His servant Yahushua and appointed him to be His spokesman, just like He did with Moses. If Yahushua is Yahuwah, he cannot be his own prophet. To say that he is both is to defy the meaning of the terms. Peter did not preach that Yahushua is Yahuwah, but he did preach that Yahushua is Yahuwah’s prophet.Peter uses Yahushua’s calling as Yahuwah’s prophet to motivate his audience to repent and return to Yahuwah so that their sins may be forgiven and the presence of the Lord restored. This admonition comes with a heavy warning: those who refuse to listen to Yahuwah’s prophet will be destroyed.
Acts 3:23-25 ‘And it will be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ 24 “And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors onward, also announced these days. 25 “It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which Yahuwah made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘AND IN YOUR SEED ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH SHALL BE BLESSED.’ 26 “For you first, Yahuwah raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”
Yahushua, the man from Nazareth, is Yahuwah’s servant, the Messiah (Christ), and the promised prophet.
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This is the second time in this short sermon that Peter refers to Yahushua as the servant of Yahuwah. Strong’s Concordance explains that servant in Greek is pais, and in this context, it means “a male slave, servant; thus: a servant of God, especially as a title of the Messiah.“7 Indeed, Yahushua, the man from Nazareth, is Yahuwah’s servant, the Messiah (Christ), and the promised prophet. is how Peter identified Yahushua when he preached at the Beautiful Gate. Contrary to what many Christians assume, Peter did not preach that Yahushua was Yahuwah. It is time for the Church to preach the same message that the apostle Peter preached.
Acts 2:42 They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
1 Matthew 16:15-20; Acts 2:1-47; 15:6-12.
2 Matthew 16:15-20 (Mark 8:29-30; Luke 9:20).
3 Colossians 1:15-18; Hebrews 1:1-2.
4 Acts 3:15; 5;31; Hebrews 2:10; 12:2.
5 John 5:25-26; 11:25; 17:1-3; 20:31; Acts 4:12; Hebrews 5:9.
6 Merrill F. Unger, “Prophet,” in Unger’s Bible Dictionary, (Chicago: Moody Press, 1975), p. 890.
7 Strongs #3816, pais, https://biblehub.com/greek/3816.htm
8 https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ee/21/59/ee2159e40ed0e2d953f0c19b1d42f20a .png cover image
This is a non-WLC article. Source: https://onegodworship.com/peters-christology-at-the-beautiful-gate/
We have taken out from the original article all pagan names and titles of the Father and Son, and have replaced them with the original given names. Furthermore, we have restored in the Scriptures quoted the names of the Father and Son, as they were originally written by the inspired authors of the Bible. -WLC Team
