Acts 3:18
But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.
God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets that Christ should suffer, and He has so fulfilled what was foretold.
After the healing of the lame man at the temple gate, Peter spoke to the amazed crowd with bold witness centered on Jesus' resurrection.
He charged them that they denied the Holy One and the Just, desired a murderer, and killed the Prince of Life whom God raised from the dead.
They and their rulers did this in ignorance, yet by it they carried out what God had foretold.
Peter joined this fulfillment to the call to repent and be converted for the blotting out of sins, mercifully given to keep them from despair, since there is no forgiveness except through faith in the mercy of the One they crucified.
Setting and Meaning
The healing of the lame man at the temple gate drew an amazed crowd, and Peter spoke to them in bold witness through the Holy Spirit with the resurrection of Jesus at the center. His charge was direct: the hearers had denied the Holy One and the Just, had desired a murderer to be granted to them, and had killed the Prince of Life, whom God raised from the dead. That killing was the rejection and crucifixion of Jesus in His suffering and death.
The people did this through ignorance, as did also their rulers. Yet even while acting in ignorance, those who rejected and killed Jesus carried out what God had foretold. Their actions in that suffering became the means by which God fulfilled what He had shown beforehand.
The verse means that God before had showed by the mouth of all His prophets that Christ should suffer. Those prophecies embraced His suffering and death as declared beforehand. And God hath so fulfilled them, bringing to fulfillment in Christ's suffering exactly what had been revealed through the prophets.
Prophecy Confirmed and Mercy
The suffering of Christ fulfilled what God had beforehand revealed through the mouth of all His prophets. The testimony of the disciples to the death and resurrection of Jesus confirmed the prophetic word. His rejection and crucifixion did not lie outside the prophetic purpose of God, but God so brought to fulfillment what had been foretold.
The prophets and patriarchs of the Old Testament spoke with the voice of Christ, and their testimony identifies Him as the Messiah. The Passover and the bronze serpent pointed to Christ, and without Him the religious ceremonies they represented had no value.
Peter set this fulfillment within his charge that his hearers had denied the Holy One and the Just, had desired a murderer, and had killed the Prince of Life whom God raised from the dead, doing so through ignorance as their rulers also did. He joined it to the call to repent and be converted for the blotting out of sins. Then the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord, and He shall send Jesus Christ, whom heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets since the world began.
He spoke this to keep his hearers from despair. The apostles' charge that the rulers had killed the Prince of Life was part of the further evidence that God in mercy gave them, and a call to repentance. There is no hope of salvation except through the mercy of the One they crucified, and only through faith in Him can sins be forgiven.