John Calvin Commentary Acts 3:21

"whom the heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, whereof God spake by the mouth of His holy prophets that have been from of old." — Acts 3:21 (ASV)

Whom the heaven must contain. Because people's senses are always inclined towards a crude and earthly way of seeing God and Christ, the Jews might think to themselves that it was indeed preached that Christ was raised from the dead, yet they could not tell where he was, for no one showed them where he was.

Therefore, Peter anticipates this when he says that he is in heaven. From this it follows that they must lift up their minds, so that they may seek Christ with the eyes of faith, although he is far from them, although he dwells outside the world in heavenly glory.

But this is an ambiguous phrase, because we may understand it either that Christ is contained or comprehended in the heavens, or that he comprehends the heavens. Therefore, let us not insist on the word, as it has an ambiguous meaning. Instead, let us be content with what is certain: that we must seek Christ nowhere else but in heaven while we hope for the last restoring of all things, because he will be far from us until our minds ascend high above the world.

Until the time of restoring. Regarding its power and cause, Christ has already restored all things by his death, but the effect does not yet fully appear. This is because that restoring is still in progress, and so, consequently, is our redemption, since we still groan under the burden of servitude.

For as the kingdom of Christ has only begun, and its perfection is deferred until the last day, so those things connected to it now appear only in part. Therefore, if today we see many things in confusion in the world, let this hope encourage and refresh us: that Christ will one day come that he may restore all things.

In the meantime, if we see the remnants of sin clinging to us, if we are surrounded on every side by various miseries, if the world is full of devastation and dispersion, let us lament these miseries, yet in such a way that we are sustained by the hope of restoring. This is the reason why Christ does not appear immediately: because the Church's warfare is not yet complete. Since its time is appointed by God, it is not for us to hasten it.

Which he spoke. I do not interpret this as referring to the times alone, but I refer it to the whole period, so that the meaning is this: that whatever he had spoken before concerning the kingdom of Christ is witnessed by all the prophets.

Certainly, the gospel gains no small credit from this: that as soon as God began to show himself to the world, he always set Christ before them; after he began to speak to the fathers, he always laid this foundation of doctrine. By the same argument Paul commends the gospel, both in the beginning of his Epistle to the Romans (Romans 1:1) and also in the end (Romans 16:25), namely, that it is no new thing, but was promised even from the beginning. This is true antiquity, which is able to lend credibility to doctrine: when God himself is the author, the holy prophets are the witnesses, and the continual course of the ages confirms the testimony.

This confirmation was especially necessary for the Jews, who, having been brought up in the doctrine of the Law, ought to admit nothing but what agrees with it. Therefore, Peter commands them only to pay attention to those things which the prophets have testified concerning Christ.