This Jesus has God raised up, whereof all *we* are witnesses.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
Having therefore been exalted by the right hand of God, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which *ye* behold and hear.
Peter's sermon has moved from the cross to the empty tomb, and now it climbs one step higher — to a Man seated in heaven. The crowd had asked what the noise and the strange languages meant. Peter answers by pointing away from the scene in front of them, up to the place it came from.
Peter's word for Christ's exaltation is not a new one. Scripture already uses it for His lifting up to die.
In Acts 2:33 Peter speaks of Jesus, "being by the right hand of God exalted," and in Acts 5:29-31 the "other apostles" join in the same blessed theme — "Him has God exalted." Peter uses the word "exalted" to describe the Lord's present position. It is the same word used in John chapters 3, 8 and 12 for the "lifting up" of the Son of Man! That truly touches our affections, and touches them deeply. He who endured the cross with all its shame has been "highly exalted" by God.
(Where older translations read "by the right hand of God exalted," the ESV has "at the right hand of God.") That place carries meaning drawn from across Scripture:
The "right hand" speaks of authority, power, and eminence. According to Exodus 15:6, delivering and subduing power belong to the right hand. In Genesis 48:14 the right hand gives blessing that is sovereign and cannot be taken back. Acts 2:32-36 hails His exaltation as God's approval of Him, and at the same time as a reversal of man's judgment.
Jesus had already received the Holy Spirit once, at His baptism. Commentators draw a careful line between that occasion and this one.
As the exalted Man, Jesus had received the promised Holy Spirit from the Father, and had poured Him out on His disciples. At His baptism He received the Holy Spirit for Himself, as the dependent Man. Now He receives the same Holy Spirit on behalf of others, as their Representative. By pouring out the Spirit these others were baptized into one body and became His members.
God had put His Spirit on prophets before. Something different is happening here.
It was not simply God putting His Spirit into the prophets and others. It was a man exalted to glory, who received it to give it to others. So Psalm 68 says, "Received in respect of man," or as Acts explains it, "for men." But He received it as man, for them.
Peter appeals to their eyes and ears. Yet the outward signs and the Spirit Himself are not the same thing.
There were clear signs in front of them, and shown through them, that the Father's promise had been fulfilled. The promised Holy Spirit was not in Himself something the senses could take in. Still, outward power came with Him. This distinction matters greatly. Otherwise, when these outward signs are absent, men are in danger of overlooking and denying that incomparable gift, which was always above its effects.
What that evidence proved reaches further than the resurrection alone:
Peter points to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit as proof of a glorious fact. The risen Jesus had "been exalted by the right hand of God," and had "received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit." The Spirit's presence on earth was and is unanswerable proof. It shows not only the resurrection, but also that the risen Jesus has left this world and gone to the Father.
Peter goes on to quote David, who never ascended, to show who the Psalm must be describing.
David himself had not ascended to the heavens, any more than he had risen from the dead. The One David spoke of was to sit in the seat of administration and power until His foes were made His footstool. So here is the conclusion of the whole matter. The pouring out of the Spirit, which they had seen and heard, proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that God had made the crucified Jesus both Lord and Christ.
Because Christ received the promise and then poured it out, the security of the gift rests on Him.
But when Christ went up on high, He received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit. What amazing comfort, confidence, and rest this should give us! Suppose the Holy Spirit had been given straight to us. We might well think that if we did not behave as we should, the gift could be taken back.
- Lifted up, twice. The word for His exaltation is the word for His lifting up on the cross. The same Man, the same movement, now ending at God's right hand.
- Received as Man. At His baptism He received the Spirit for Himself. From the throne He received Him as Representative, for others.
- Poured out for men. Psalm 68 said He would receive "in respect of man." He takes as man, to give to men.
- Seen and heard. What the crowd saw and heard was the outward sign, not the gift itself. The gift was always greater than its visible effects.
- Therefore, Lord and Christ. The Spirit's presence proves the crucified Jesus is risen, gone to the Father, and enthroned. And the gift rests on His worth, not ours.