Acts 2:14, 22-33

Then Peter stood up with the Eleven,
raised his voice, and proclaimed:
“You who are Jews, indeed all of you staying in Jerusalem.
Let this be known to you, and listen to my words.
You who are Israelites, hear these words.
Jesus the Nazarene was a man commended to you by God
with mighty deeds, wonders, and signs,
which God worked through him in your midst, as you yourselves
know.
This man, delivered up by the set plan and foreknowledge of
God,
you killed, using lawless men to crucify him.
But God raised him up, releasing him from the throes of death,
because it was impossible for him to be held by it.
For David says of him:
I saw the Lord ever before me,
with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.
Therefore my heart has been glad and my tongue has exulted;
my flesh, too, will dwell in hope,
because you will not abandon my soul to the netherworld,
nor will you suffer your holy one to see corruption.
You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence.
“My brothers, one can confidently say to you
about the patriarch David that he died and was buried,
and his tomb is in our midst to this day.

But since he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn an
oath to him
that he would set one of his descendants upon his throne,
he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ,
that neither was he abandoned to the netherworld
nor did his flesh see corruption.
God raised this Jesus;
of this we are all witnesses.
Exalted at the right hand of God,
he received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father
and poured him forth, as you see and hear.”

SERIES: STARTING FROM JERUSALEM

Jesus died on the cross and rose from dead. This is the pivotal
moment in all of human history, it changes the whole cosmos, it
changes lives, it can change your life. How can your life be
transformed by receiving this gospel, this news? Jesus asks the
Father to pour out the Holy Spirit, the third person of God, on all
who hear the word.
Starting from Jerusalem, the first Christians were sent out by
Jesus to tell others about the hope of salvation, and the
invitation to eternal life. They themselves were empowered by
the Holy Spirit. And they were starting from Jerusalem, because
Jerusalem was the city of David, the centre of the kingdom of
Israel.
Jesus is the new David, the Messiah, the Anointed of God, the
Christ, because he himself was baptized by the Holy Spirit when
he began his ministry three years before. The first Christians
received the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, and then began
the journey outward to all nations.
When Peter begins to speak, we hear the first Christian message,
given to the city of Jerusalem, just a few weeks after the
crucifixion of Jesus. That’s why we hear Peter preaching about
Jesus, died and risen from the dead, we hear him talk about
David, who is dead and buried. But Jesus, the new David, is alive,
and he has fulfilled David’s own prophecies.
So Peter concludes, “God raised this Jesus; of this we are all
witnesses. Exalted at the right hand of God, he received the
promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father and poured him forth,
as you see and hear.”
The risen Lord Jesus, the new and eternal king, asks for a
specific gift from the Father: the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Why? So that the disciples would become his witnesses. And
with the gift of the same Holy Spirit. so can we.