“The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with His right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins” (Acts 5:30,31).
This was the courageous response given by Peter and the apostles when the chief priests ordered them not to teach any more in the name of Christ. “We ought to obey God rather than men” they said (v.29), and proceeded in effect to preach the gospel to the priests themselves!
The central theme of that gospel is the death of Christ “for the forgiveness of sins” as our “Savior” and His bodily resurrection to be our “Prince.” The Greek word for “Prince” (archeogos) is also used in Hebrews 2:10 and 12:2, where the Lord Jesus is called “the captain of their salvation” and “the author . . . of our faith,” respectively.
He is indeed “King of kings and Lord of lords” to us, and will one day soon be acknowledged as such by all people of all nations and times (Philippians 2:9–11). No other famous religious founder and leader (Mohammed, Buddha, Confucius, etc.) was ever put to death for His teachings, and no other religious founder and leader ever rose from the grave, never to die again! Mohammed is still in his grave and so are Buddha and Confucius and all the rest.
But our Prince and Savior Jesus Christ has defeated death and is alive, in His glorified physical body at the right hand of the Father, where He “ever liveth to make intercession for [us]” (Hebrews 7:25). It is sad that hundreds of millions of people around the world place their faith in the futile words of so-called teachers and prophets who could neither “give repentance” nor “forgiveness of sins” to anyone while they ignore the One who can “save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him” (Hebrews 7:25), and has proved it by His bodily resurrection from the dead. HMM
