Albert Barnes Commentary Acts 3:20

"and that he may send the Christ who hath been appointed for you, [even] Jesus:" — Acts 3:20 (ASV)

And he shall send, and so on (Acts 1:11). Under this economy of things, he shall send Jesus Christ, that is, the Messiah, to teach people, to redeem them, to save them, to judge the world, to gather his people to himself, and to condemn the wicked. They were then under this economy. This, therefore, was an argument why they should repent and turn to God, so that they might escape in the day of judgment.

Which before was preached, and so on. This means who has been proclaimed as the Messiah. The name Jesus Christ is equivalent here to the Messiah. The Messiah had been proclaimed to the Jews as about to come. The period of refreshing was to be in his time. He had come, and they were under the economy in which the blessings of the Messiah were to be enjoyed. This does not refer to his personal ministry or to the preaching of the apostles, but to the fact that the Messiah had long been announced to them by the prophets as about to come. All the prophets had preached him as the hope of the nation.

It may be noted, however, that there is a difference here in the manuscripts. A large majority of them read prokeceirismenon—meaning who was designated or appointed—instead of "who was preached." This reading is approved by Griesbach, Knapp, Bengel, and others. It was followed in the ancient Syriac, the Arabic, and other versions, and is undoubtedly the true reading.

Verse 21: Whom the heaven must receive. The common belief of the Jews was that the Messiah would reign on the earth forever (John 12:34). For this reason, they would object that Jesus could not be the Messiah. Therefore, it became very important for the apostles to establish the fact that he had ascended to heaven.

The evidence they presented was the fact that they saw him ascend (Acts 1:9). The meaning of the expression, "whom the heaven MUST receive," is that it was fit or proper (Greek: dei) that he should ascend. One reason for that fitness or propriety he himself stated in John 16:7 .

It was also fit or expedient that he should do it to direct the affairs of the universe for the welfare of the church (Ephesians 1:20–22), and that he should exercise there his office as a Priest in interceding for his people (1 John 2:1–2; Hebrews 7:25; Romans 9:24; Romans 8:34, and so on). It is remarkable that Peter did not cite any passage of Scripture on this subject; it was one of the points on which there was no clear revelation. Obscure intimations of it might be found in Psalm 110:16, and so on, but the fact that he should ascend to heaven was not made prominent in the Old Testament.

The words, "whom the heaven must receive," also convey the idea of exaltation and power. Peter doubtless intended to say that he was clothed with power and exalted to honor in the presence of God (compare 1 Peter 3:22: Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him).

Until. This word implies that he would then return to the earth, but it does not imply that he would not again ascend to heaven.

The times of restitution of all things. The noun rendered "restitution"—Greek apokatastasewv—does not occur elsewhere in the New Testament. The verb from which it is derived occurs eight times.

It means, properly, to restore a thing to its former situation, as restoring a sprained or dislocated limb to its former soundness. Hence, it is used to restore, or to heal, in the New Testament (Matthew 12:13: And it (the hand) was restored whole, like as the other; Mark 3:5; Luke 6:10).

And so it is applied to the preparation or fitness for the coming of the Messiah which was to accompany the preaching of John in the character of Elijah (Matthew 17:11; Mark 9:12). Thus in Josephus (Antiquities 2.3.8), the word is used to denote the return of the Jews from the Babylonian captivity and their restoration to their former state and privileges.

The word also has the idea of consummation, completion, or filling up. Thus it is used in Philo, Hesychius, Phavorinus, and by the Greek classics (see Lightfoot and Kuinoel). It is used this way here by the Syriac: "Until the complement or filling up of the times; that is, of all the events foretold by the prophets, and so on."

Similarly, the Arabic translates: "Until the times which shall establish the perfection or completion of all the predictions of the prophets, and so on." In this sense, the passage means that the heavens must receive the Lord Jesus until all things spoken by the prophets concerning his work, his reign, the spread of the gospel, the triumph of religion, and so on, shall have been fulfilled.

It also conveys the idea of the predicted recovery of the world from sin and the restoration of peace and order: the consummation of the work of the Messiah, now begun but not yet complete; slow it may be in its advances, but triumphant and certain in its progress and its close.

All things. This refers to all things which have been foretold by the prophets. The expression is limited by the context to this; and, of course, it does not mean that all people shall be saved, or that all the evils of sin can be repaired or remedied. This can never be, for the mischief is done and cannot be undone; but everything which the prophets have foretold shall receive its completion and fulfillment.

Which God has spoken. This means which have been revealed and are recorded in the Old Testament. Of all his holy prophets. This does not mean that each one of the prophets had spoken of these things, but that all which had been spoken should be fulfilled. Since the world began. This is an expression meaning the same as "from the beginning," intending to affirm with emphasis that all the prophecies should be fulfilled. The apostles were eager to show that they, like the Jews, held entirely to the prophets and taught no doctrine which the prophets had not taught before them.

Verse 22: For Moses truly said. The authority of Moses among the Jews was absolute and final. It was of great importance, therefore,