Think Wink.

Last time we looked at Isaiah 53:11 and saw that through the resurrection of the Suffering Servant he became the Righteous One. And through this one, who is now the Righteous One, the many are justified. Now how does this provide a background for the Pauline doctrine and formulation of justification? That is the question we turn to here in the next few posts. First is the book of Acts, specifically Paul’s statements. Up first is Acts 13:37-39.

37 But he whom God raised up did not see corruption. 38 Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and by him everyone who believes is freed [δικαιοῦται, justified] from everything from which you could not be freed [δικαιωθῆναι, justified] by the law of Moses.

Paul is concluding his sermon (Acts 13:16-41) in Antioch, Pisidia during his first missionary journey with Barnabas. Paul begins his message by outlining the history of Israel from the Patriarchs, through the enslavement in Egypt where Yahweh built up the nation of Israel, through the period of Joshua’s conquest of Israel and the defeat of the “seven nations,” through the judges that ended with Samuel, and moves to the monarchial period. Paul spoke of how God raised up Saul, who was of the tribe of Benjamin for forty years. Then God raised up David, “‘a man after my heart, who will do all my will’” (Acts 13:22). From this lineage, that of David’s, God has brought to Israel the promised savior, Jesus. He outlines how John the Baptizer pointed to Jesus. Paul pointed out how the men in Jerusalem, with Pilate, being ignorant of the Scriptures, fulfilled the very prophecies about Jesus in crucifying him. After buring him, God raised Jesus from the grave and Jesus appeared to many who are now his witnesses. Thus the resurrection was the proof that Jesus was the promised savior that Israel was waiting for God to send. Paul cites Psalm 2:7 to show that Jesus is that savior, that “son” of God. To prove the resurrection of Jesus Paul cites Psalm 16:10. It is this resurrection that sets Jesus apart from David. David’s body is still in the tomb, Jesus’ body is not.

I think it is most interesting to see how Paul proclaims the good news to his Jewish audience. In Acts 13:32-33 Paul says, “And we bring you the good news [ἡμεῖς ὑμᾶς εὐαγγελιζόμεθα] that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus.” For Paul the good news is that God has fulfilled his promise by raising Jesus from the dead. The gospel is wholly bound up in the resurrection of the curicified Jesus. It is in the resurrection that God reveals Jesus to be the long awaited savior that would come from David’s seed to redeem Israel and restore her. The gospel is promise-fulfillment and the fulfillment is the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. The eschaton has arrived for Paul and Luke in what God has done in Christ.

Before I get too carried away, my main point is to illustrate that Paul and Luke see the gospel is uniquely tied to the resurrection of the crucified Jesus.

Now when we come to Acts 13:36-37 we are seeing Paul contrast David and Jesus. David was never raised from the dead. Paul means for διαφθορά (corruption) to refer to the physical decay the body experiences when someone has died. Paul understands that “the Holy One” of Psalm 16:10 is the Messiah/Christ and that he isn’t to expierience the decay of death. This “Holy One” isn’t David because his body did experience decay, but Jesus’ body did not decay because God raised it up (one should note the μὲν…δὲ expression to bring out this contrast) and is therefore the referent of the Psalm and its “Holy One.” Again the emphasis is on the resurrection.

Thus when we come to Acts 13:38-39 and Paul saying that “forgiveness of sins” is through “this man,” he is referring to the resurrected crucified-Jesus, not to his crucifixion only. Jesus’ resurrection is explicitly linked to the forgiveness that God offers to the believing one. That when Paul says “by him” we are “justified” and not “by the law of Moses,” he locates this justification in the resurrection of the crucified Jesus, not in Jesus’ crucifixion alone.

Now there is differing opinion here in the meaning of δικαιόω, which appears twice in the text. The ESV represents the school that says δικαιόω here means “freed” or liberation, possibly even transformation. The NET represents the school that says δικαιόω means “justified.” The NET cites the following from BDAG, “BDAG 249 s.v. δικαιόω 3 categorizes δικαιωθῆναι in 13:38 (Greek text) under the meaning “make free/pure” but categorizes δικαιοῦται in Acts 13:39 as “be found in the right, be free of charges” (BDAG 249 s.v. δικαιόω 2.b.β).” I’m not certain but it is possible that both meanings are present in Paul’s mind (and Luke’s by extension). What I mean is that the Law of Moses had provisions in it to instruct a person on how to live a right and purified life before I AM. When one failed to live up the obligations set forth, that same Law offered a sacrifice to purify the person who has transgressed the Law as well as remove the charges of sin against that person and effecting a right status and relationship with I AM. Thus on one level Christ’s resurrection “frees” us from sin and purifies us from it, liberating us from it’s enslavement and transforming us. In another sense, the charges of transgressing the law are removed because Jesus’ resurrection effects the forgiveness of those trespasses ans sins, thus establishing a right status before Yahweh and a right relationship with God.

Jesus’ resurrection announces two things. First the Law did not actualize purification and establish a right standing but rather pointed toward that which would. The Law did not justify but did present the need for justification. Second, God has fulfilled what the Law promised in raising Jesus from the dead. His resurrection has effected the forgiveness of sins. Therefore we have the purification that the Law did not attain but rather pointed towards. We have a right status before God through this resurrected Jesus which the Law anticipated but did not give. The charges of transgression are forgiven. Sin no longer holds sway over us because by being forgiven of it, its power over us has been loosed.

But why present this “justification” in light of Jesus’ resurrection? Why present it this way? It goes back to Isaiah 53:11. There, as we saw, the Servant sees the light of life and becomes the Righteous One. This Righteous One then justifies the many and bears their transgressions. He is raised as righteous and then makes righteous the many whose sins he bore and was crushed on behalf of by God. Paul alludes to this model to present Christ to the Jews here in Antioch Psidia. The citations from the Psalms establish him as this expected servant. His resurrection establishes that he has done what the righteous servant was promised to do, forgive sin and justify the many.

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