“And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out ,…” (Acts 3:18)
The beggar that Peter had healed had been crippled probably due to a congenital malformation of his bones. That is why the people who saw him walking were so astonished, why the healing attracted such a great deal of attention. They just could not understand how such a wonderful thing was possible. They knew who the man was but had never seen him walking.
Peter was quick to turn the central focus of the event away from himself and John toward Jesus for it was the Lord who had performed this great miracle. This allowed Peter to preach a sermon centered on Jesus as he disclosed that this deed had been performed by faith in the name of Jesus. Peter and John were merely His instruments.
Peter took the opportunity to remind his audience of their responsibility for the death of Jesus. He told them exactly who it was they put to death. Jesus is the Christ, that is, the Messiah, the one who was promised and foretold by Moses and the prophets. He is a prophet Himself, a servant, the holy and righteous one and the creator and sustainer of life. From what Peter said, the people could see that they had been complicit in a very serious matter when they called for His death. While they may have acted in ignorance of who Jesus really was they still needed to repent of that sin and all their wickedness. Otherwise they faced exclusion from God’s kingdom. The same is true of us all. Our sins sent Jesus to the cross, whether we knew it or not. Yet He grants mercy to all who repent and come to Him.