that God has fulfilled this to us their children, having raised up Jesus; as it is also written in the second psalm, *Thou* art my Son this day have *I* begotten thee.
Paul is preaching in the synagogue at Antioch in Pisidia, and he tells his listeners that God has kept His promise to their ancestors. He proves it from the second Psalm, which raises two questions: what does "raising Jesus" mean, and how can an eternal Son be begotten on one particular day?
God's promise to Israel was not left hanging. He kept it by giving a Person.
The coming of Christ fulfilled the promise made to the fathers. Their children now had the good news of it in His person here below. The raising up of Jesus in verse 33 does not therefore go beyond the Child thus born, the Son thus given. This agrees with Psalm 2:7, which refers not to His resurrection from the dead, as many have supposed, but to His birth, as the words simply say. He, the Messiah, born of a woman, born under law, was the object, accomplisher, and heir of the promises.
The ESV reads "by raising Jesus." Older versions have "raised up again," which points the reader to the resurrection. But the same verb appears elsewhere in Acts for God bringing a man onto the stage of history.
The word "raised up" here has a wider meaning than where it is repeated just after. It means that God ordained Christ and, as it were, brought Him into the light by His own hand, so that He might fulfil the office of Messiah. Scripture also shows us kings and prophets raised up by the Lord. Acts 3:22, 26 and Acts 7:37 are clear cases of this use of "raised up" in the same book... "Raised up" is correct. "Raised again" would fit only if the text certainly pointed to the resurrection, and it does not at all. But "raised up again" is unjustifiable.
So the next verse goes further. There God raises Him from the dead.
The word "begotten" is where readers stumble. It sounds like the Son had a starting date.
The eternal Son was never begotten. Even if He is called the only-begotten Son, the sense is not any begetting. It means "unique and the only one of its kind." But here we have the begetting: the creation of a being who has not been there before in this way — a man in this world... This wonder, "today I have begotten you," comes true; this miracle of the incarnation of the eternal Son of God. And the angel answered her [Mary], "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you." That is "today I have begotten you" in Psalm 2:7. And therefore the holy thing, this little child, this unique child, which shall be born, shall be called Son of God.
The rest of Psalm 2 settles the question. Its own words belong to earth.
This passage is quoted in Acts 13:33, Hebrews 1:5 and Hebrews 5:5. This however presents no difficulty. It refers plainly to Christ as a man, Jehovah's Anointed and Jehovah's King, in connection with this world. The expressions used — "the hill of Zion," "the uttermost parts of the earth," and "this day" — clearly belong to the earth and to time. This confirms the view.
Commentators differ here. Some tie the words to the incarnation alone, others also to the resurrection — while holding that neither one makes Him Son.
This psalm shows the royal glory and world-wide rule of Christ, the One whom Israel and the nations reject... The title here refers to His incarnation, and secondarily to His resurrection from the dead (Acts 13:33-34). So this statement is not about the fact of His eternal Sonship. It speaks of Him as Son of God in time. The eternal Son of God became incarnate, but this did not lower His eternal Sonship... "But for the truth, and for His own personal dignity, it is of the highest importance to remember this: His Sonship when incarnate, and in resurrection too, rests on His eternal relationship as Son. Without that, the other could not be."
Paul does not stop at who this Man is. He turns the argument into an offer his hearers can take home that day.
"Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this Man" (Jesus Christ, crucified, risen, and glorified) "forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you" — not promised for the future, but proclaimed now, announced as a present reality — "and by Him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses."
- Promise — God kept His word to the ancestors, and He kept it by giving a Person: the Child born, the Son given.
- Raised up — God brought Jesus forward as Messiah, as He once raised up kings and prophets. Resurrection comes next, in verse 34.
- Begotten — not the start of an eternal relationship, but the miracle of incarnation: the holy child born of Mary is called Son of God.
- Today — Zion, the ends of the earth, "this day": the psalm's own words tie the verse to earth and time. Commentators differ over whether resurrection is also in view.
- Therefore — the identity of this Son is the ground of the offer: forgiveness preached now, and freedom the law of Moses could never give.
But that he raised him from among [the] dead, no more to return to corruption, he spoke thus I will give to you the faithful mercies of David.
Paul is speaking in the synagogue at Antioch in Pisidia. Here he reaches the heart of his sermon. God raised Jesus out of death, and so made good an ancient promise to David. Two questions follow. What makes these blessings "sure"? And why does resurrection have anything to do with them? (Several writers quoted below follow an older wording, "the sure mercies of David".)
The sermon has already said that God "raised up Jesus" in verse 33. Is this verse a repeat of that, or something new?
The raising up of Jesus in verse 33 does not go beyond the Child born, the Son given. God raised up the Messiah according to promise and the prophecy of the second psalm. To that, verse 34 adds another and still more important truth: God raised Him up "from the dead". This is as certain as it is plain. It is no mere reasoning on the verse before, and no explanatory note. It is further teaching of the highest value. That is why the words come in this way: "But that He raised Him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, He has spoken thus…"
Scripture records others who came back from death and later died. The phrase "no more to return to corruption" marks the difference.
He is risen, not like Lazarus, Jairus' daughter, and others, to return to corruption, but never again to die (Acts 13:34). Death has no more dominion over Him (Rom. 6:9). He is alive, then, for ever — the living One (Rev. 1:18).
One word in this verse repays a closer look. It comes back one verse later, as a title for Christ Himself.
The proper sense of the word is pious, compassionate, that which is not profane. Scripture applies it to Christ, who sums up all the goodness of God towards men, as well as perfect piety… In Acts 13:34 the word translated "the sure mercies of David" is the same word translated "your Holy One" in verse 35 of the same chapter, and in Acts 2:27. The resurrection of Jesus, the Holy One who was not to see corruption, makes these holy things, or mercies, sure. They are the same mercies set out in Psalm 89.
The promises to David were earthly blessings for Israel. Why would a resurrection be needed to secure blessings on earth?
We must have Christ's resurrection even to get the earthly blessings of Israel. So in Acts 13 Paul says that God raised Christ "up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption"; and "I will give you the sure mercies of David," Isaiah 55. Israel could not have them without death and resurrection. So the sure mercies of David are proof of resurrection. There was nothing sure till that. If they trusted in a living man, all failed.
Paul is quoting Isaiah 55, a chapter that opens with an invitation to anyone who is thirsty.
Only the death and resurrection of the Messiah could make the covenant everlasting. Only so could the promised holy or merciful blessings of David stand unbreakable… Only so could the soul even of the Jew live. Only so could the door of grace open wide enough to take in a Gentile. So notice how the chapter in Isaiah begins: with God's call to "everyone who thirsts". He who was lifted up on the cross will draw all, not Jews only. A risen Messiah gives the utmost sureness to Israel's promises, yet He cannot be bounded in His grace any more than in His glory.
Paul does not stop at prophecy proved. The same sermon turns the risen Christ into an offer made to the people who had killed Him.
The resurrection, then, was God's answering act to the guilt of those who killed the Fulfiller of His promise. By raising the Lord Jesus, God secured to them "the sure mercies of David". So the apostle applies the further Scriptures quoted from Isaiah and Psalm 16 to the raised One, who is "no more to return to corruption"… And "through this Man" the apostle preached the good news of the forgiveness of sins, and of justification from all things for all who believe.
- Promised. God pledged lasting blessings to David. Verse 33 speaks of the Christ born and given; verse 34 speaks of the Christ raised from the dead.
- Broken. Men put the Fulfiller of that promise to death. Nothing was sure while the promise rested on a living man who could die.
- Secured. Resurrection makes the blessings sure. He rose no more to return to corruption, and death has no more dominion over Him.
- Named. The word for these "mercies" is the word for God's "Holy One" in the next verse. The blessings rest in a Person, not a policy.
- Offered. The risen Christ cannot be bounded in His grace. So the door opens wide: forgiveness of sins and justification from all things for everyone who believes.