I am a Jesus pusher!!! Peter pointedly confronted the Jews of the Dispersion with the crucifixion of Jesus. All their lives they had dreamed of the coming Messiah. The Hebrew word “Messiah” is the equivalent of the Greek word “Christ.” It literally means “the anointed One.” In this sense “the chosen One.” Their entire hope rested in the coming of this Deliverer. Every morning, the first words of the day would be “Could this be the day?” Every lamb offered on the sacrifice altar pointed to this hope. Christ would be a man; but a Man appointed by God to be the King of the Kingdom. Peter is crying out to them, “God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ,” (Acts 2:36).
Obviously they did not recognize Jesus as this Christ. They thought He was a fake and pretender. He was a bothersome human being deserving elimination. He was the brunt of their fun and mockery. They did not see anything worthwhile in Him. They crucified Him. How have you and I viewed Him? He has been the brunt of our profanity. His name is connected with every evil and bad thing that has happened to us. We stand before our crucifixion of Him and mock Him as surely as those of days gone by. He is the great Savior of the world; yet we refuse the personal salvation He offers us. He is love; yet we continue to hate. He is the revelation of eternal things; yet we are possessed with temporal things. He is the wisdom of God; yet we are dictated by our stupidity. We view Him as worthless. In the ancient days, He was at least worthy of crucifixion. We don’t even have time or interest in that; we simply ignore Him as if He does not matter. Wait! This Spirit-sourced Messiah has become both Lord and Christ. The nature of the Father is ours through Him. We have a second chance! I am a Jesus pusher!!!