This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore, being exalted to the right hand of God…Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.
Acts 2:32-33, 36

All four Gospels record the time when Peter cowered before a young servant girl who challenged him about being a follower of Christ. Peter denied the accusation and thereby denied the Lord Jesus. This was just a short time before Peter stood up on the day of Pentecost and boldly preached Christ! Peter preached what we might call a Christ-centered and Christ-filled message. He brought out Christ’s incarnation (v. 22), Christ’s humiliation (v. 22), Christ’s crucifixion (v. 23), Christ’s resurrection (vv. 23–32), Christ’s exaltation (v. 33), and Christ’s glorification (vv. 33–36).

How did Peter go from being a coward, not even able to stand before a young servant girl, to being able to stand before a council of religious men and make the bold statements found in our verses and preach the gospel of Christ as he did? I would suggest that the answer is found in Peter’s gospel message itself.

The bulk of Peter’s proclamation of Christ focuses on the resurrection (vv. 23–32). Peter uses Scripture to show that the resurrection of Christ was not a new idea, but one that had been prophesied in Psalm 16 by David. So, Peter’s message was both a Christ-centered and a Scripture-based sermon!

Both of these elements gave Peter the courage to stand and proclaim what he knew to be true. Earlier in chapter one, we read of the Lord Jesus presenting “Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3). He had instructed them to go up to Jerusalem and wait for the Promise of the Father—the coming of the Holy Spirit, who would come upon them and empower them to be witnesses, first in Jerusalem, then in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:4–8). This is exactly what happened as they were praying (1:14; 2:1–4).

Anchor For Today:
It was seeing the resurrected Christ, being empowered by the Holy Spirit, and using the Word of God that transformed Peter—and it is the same that can give us the courage to live for Christ in a world that has rejected Him!