And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers.
Peter spoke these words in his sermon after the healing of the man crippled from birth at the temple gate, when having boldly charged his hearers with denying the Holy One and killing the Prince of life whom God raised and in whose name the cripple was made sound, he called them brethren and acknowledged that they and their rulers had done it without fully understanding what they were doing. Their ignorance was a failure to discern Jesus as the Redeemer, yet it was culpable because they had been given strong evidence and chose not to know and rejected it. That ignorance lessened the atrocity of their guilt without excusing the deed, erasing guilt, or making it right, and it did not undo what they had done. What they did in ignorance fulfilled what God had shown by all His prophets that Christ should suffer. Peter names their ignorance to keep them from despair and to leave them hope, pressing with undiminished force the call to repent and be converted that sins may be blotted out through faith in the mercy of the very One they crucified, while continued resistance to that light deepens blindness and cuts off from salvation.
Context and Ignorance Explained
Peter's word belongs to his sermon after he and John healed a man crippled from birth at the temple gate. He spoke it standing boldly in the midst of unbelieving priests and Pharisees to answer for his Lord with decided testimony that did not hesitate although the truth would bring him into disfavor. Before it he had plainly charged his hearers with denying the Holy One and the Just, desiring a murderer to be granted unto them, and killing the Prince of life whom God raised from the dead. In whose name and merits and through faith in His name the cripple they saw and knew was made strong and perfectly sound.
Then he called those same hearers brethren and acknowledged that both the people and their rulers had rejected and killed Jesus without fully understanding what they were doing. They had acted against Him through ignorance when they rejected and crucified Him. Their ignorance was failure to discern Him as the world's Redeemer. Because they were not in harmony with His manner of teaching, the scribes and Pharisees framed excuses to criticize Him and to make Him appear a pretender.
That ignorance was culpable because they had been given strong evidence and were responsible to accept it. They failed to recognize Jesus because they chose not to know, had no interest in searching and studying, and rejected the evidence. Their unbelief made them guilty of His death.
Guilt, Prophecy and Repentance
Acting without full understanding lessened the atrocity of the guilt of the people and their rulers in rejecting and killing Jesus, but it did not excuse the deed, erase guilt, remove the need to repent, or make the deed right. It was still a grave wrong, for they had been given strong evidence and were responsible to accept it, yet chose not to know, had no interest in searching and studying, and rejected the evidence, so their unbelief made them guilty of His death. Their ignorance did not change or undo what they had done in rejecting Him.
What they did in ignorance fulfilled what God had shown by the mouth of all His prophets that Christ should suffer, whom God raised from the dead. Their deed did not prevent God from fulfilling what He had foretold, but by this God fulfilled it. Peter acknowledged their ignorance in a way that did not leave them in despair, but to keep them from despair over that great sin and to leave them hope rather than abandon them in despair.
With striking force the ignorance leaves standing the command to repent and be converted that sins may be blotted out when times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord and God sends Jesus Christ, whom heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things spoken by all holy prophets since the world began. The Holy Spirit called them to repent and be converted and to turn from sin, and their sins could be canceled by His blood. God mercifully gave them further evidence through the apostles and another call to repent. There is no salvation except through the mercy of the One they crucified, and only through faith in Him can sins be forgiven and salvation received.
Ignorance does not make continued rejection harmless, for resisting the Spirit's conviction and the light given, and opposing God's messengers, deepens blindness and rebellion and cuts off from salvation. Peter's Spirit-inspired testimony also shows his own restoration from the denial he himself had committed. The same testimony calls those who falsely judge and threaten God's messenger to correct what is not after the order of the Lord.
Peter spoke these words in his sermon after the healing of the man crippled from birth at the temple gate, when having boldly charged his hearers with denying the Holy One and killing the Prince of life whom God raised and in whose name the cripple was made sound, he called them brethren and acknowledged that they and their rulers had done it without fully understanding what they were doing. Their ignorance was a failure to discern Jesus as the Redeemer, yet it was culpable because they had been given strong evidence and chose not to know and rejected it. That ignorance lessened the atrocity of their guilt without excusing the deed, erasing guilt, or making it right, and it did not undo what they had done. What they did in ignorance fulfilled what God had shown by all His prophets that Christ should suffer. Peter names their ignorance to keep them from despair and to leave them hope, pressing with undiminished force the call to repent and be converted that sins may be blotted out through faith in the mercy of the very One they crucified, while continued resistance to that light deepens blindness and cuts off from salvation.
Context and Ignorance Explained
Peter's word belongs to his sermon after he and John healed a man crippled from birth at the temple gate. He spoke it standing boldly in the midst of unbelieving priests and Pharisees to answer for his Lord with decided testimony that did not hesitate although the truth would bring him into disfavor. Before it he had plainly charged his hearers with denying the Holy One and the Just, desiring a murderer to be granted unto them, and killing the Prince of life whom God raised from the dead. In whose name and merits and through faith in His name the cripple they saw and knew was made strong and perfectly sound.
Then he called those same hearers brethren and acknowledged that both the people and their rulers had rejected and killed Jesus without fully understanding what they were doing. They had acted against Him through ignorance when they rejected and crucified Him. Their ignorance was failure to discern Him as the world's Redeemer. Because they were not in harmony with His manner of teaching, the scribes and Pharisees framed excuses to criticize Him and to make Him appear a pretender.
That ignorance was culpable because they had been given strong evidence and were responsible to accept it. They failed to recognize Jesus because they chose not to know, had no interest in searching and studying, and rejected the evidence. Their unbelief made them guilty of His death.
Guilt, Prophecy and Repentance
Acting without full understanding lessened the atrocity of the guilt of the people and their rulers in rejecting and killing Jesus, but it did not excuse the deed, erase guilt, remove the need to repent, or make the deed right. It was still a grave wrong, for they had been given strong evidence and were responsible to accept it, yet chose not to know, had no interest in searching and studying, and rejected the evidence, so their unbelief made them guilty of His death. Their ignorance did not change or undo what they had done in rejecting Him.
What they did in ignorance fulfilled what God had shown by the mouth of all His prophets that Christ should suffer, whom God raised from the dead. Their deed did not prevent God from fulfilling what He had foretold, but by this God fulfilled it. Peter acknowledged their ignorance in a way that did not leave them in despair, but to keep them from despair over that great sin and to leave them hope rather than abandon them in despair.
With striking force the ignorance leaves standing the command to repent and be converted that sins may be blotted out when times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord and God sends Jesus Christ, whom heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things spoken by all holy prophets since the world began. The Holy Spirit called them to repent and be converted and to turn from sin, and their sins could be canceled by His blood. God mercifully gave them further evidence through the apostles and another call to repent. There is no salvation except through the mercy of the One they crucified, and only through faith in Him can sins be forgiven and salvation received.
Ignorance does not make continued rejection harmless, for resisting the Spirit's conviction and the light given, and opposing God's messengers, deepens blindness and rebellion and cuts off from salvation. Peter's Spirit-inspired testimony also shows his own restoration from the denial he himself had committed. The same testimony calls those who falsely judge and threaten God's messenger to correct what is not after the order of the Lord.