"When the people heard this,
they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, 'Brothers,
what shall we do?'" — Acts 2:37
Through the preaching of God's
Word by Peter, people realized that Jesus was the Messiah, Son of God and they
had crucified him. The word of God pierced their hearts, opened them up, and
showed them the dark reality of what was going on inside themselves. They
really saw who Jesus was, they saw who they were, and they saw how they had
turned away from God. They had to feel fear and gross.
Seeing how evil they were, they
said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"
(Acts 2:37). Peter told them to repent. They must turn back, they must repent.
The first requirement to become a Christian is to have the courage to repent
and open oneself to the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit leads people
to realize about themselves and see who they are before God. "When he
comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness
and judgment" (John 16:8, NIV). I
believe, the Holy Spirit accompanied Peter in his preaching so that people were
moved and saw their sinful selves. Peter convinced them of their sin for
crucifying Jesus who was Lord. This made them sad. Grief over sin is the
beginning of a repentance.
They asked, "What should we
do?". This is a reaction that must exist when a person is aware of his
sins. He must want to do something to end that sin! Have you ever experienced
grief caused by your sin? What's your reaction after being aware of your
sin? Let us follow the Spirit as he uses
the Word to expose and convict us of our sin, and call us to turn to
Christ.
Reflection on Acts 2:37-41 by Fr. Fransiskus Diaz, SVD.
(Listen to the Podcast here)
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