Acts 3:11-26
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. 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? The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus, the one whom you delivered and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him. But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, but put to death the Prince of life, the one whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses. And on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus 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.
“And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers did also. But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. 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; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time. Moses said, ‘THE LORD 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. And it will be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors onward, also announced these days. It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘AND IN YOUR SEED ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH SHALL BE BLESSED.’ For you first, God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”
Years ago I had a conversation with a good friend and faithful Lutheran. He mentioned that his friend said that we Lutherans talk more about Martin Luther than we do about Jesus. I hope that wasn’t an accurate assessment of our esteem of Jesus, or Martin Luther for that matter. Only Jesus saves. Luther points us to Jesus.
I notice here that Peter mentions Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as well as Moses in these few verses. The focus of Peter’s message is Jesus. His desire is to point people to Jesus. His message is about how these Old Testament heroes of the faith point us toward Jesus. Theirs is a legacy of faith that witnesses to Jesus’ fulfillment of all that God had spoken and promised from the earliest days of God’s revelation.
Each of these men of faith tell us a story. Abraham tells us the story of great faith. He went at God’s command to a land which he did not know and which God would show him. He was willing to offer his son as a sacrifice on Mount Moriah – when God intervened and provided a sacrifice. Abraham, “believed the LORD and he counted it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6).
Isaac was the son of the promise. The laughing boy (his name means he laughs) is the son God promised to old and past childbearing years Sarah and Abraham. He is the reminder that all things are possible with God.
Jacob is the deceiver whom God somehow God manages to use for his kingdom’s ends. His name was changed to Israel, for he fought with God, and was left with a limp. He is the father of the 12 tribes of the nation of Israel. God works through all kinds and sorts of people.
Moses recorded all these things. He rescued God’s people from Egypt and led them through the Red Sea. He received the 10 Commandments from God, as well as the design of the Tabernacle, and the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament. He led God’s people to the edge of the Promised Land.
These are all great men of faith. They are examples for us, and object lessons of God’s grace, providence, faithfulness, and love. And they all point us to Jesus. For Jesus is the perfect fulfillment of all that God intended for us to be. He is our salvation and life.
Just as these men have a legacy of faith that points to Jesus, I hope to leave a legacy of faith that points people to Jesus.
David Bahn - Reflections 
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