Acts 3:20

Verse 20. And he shall send, etc. Acts 1:11. Under this economy of things, he shall send Jesus Christ, i.e. the Messiah, to teach men; to redeem them; to save them; to judge the world; to gather his people to himself; and to condemn the wicked. Under this economy they were then. This, therefore, was an argument why they should repent and turn to God, that they might escape in the day of judgment.

Which before was preached, etc. 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. In his time was to be the period of refreshing. 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 been a long time 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 remarked, however, that there is here a difference in the manuscripts. A large majority of them read προκεχειρισμενον--who was designated or appointed--instead of who was preached. This reading is approved by Griesbach, Knapp, Bengel, etc. It was followed in the ancient Syriac, the Arabic, etc., and is undoubtedly the true reading. 21. Whom the heaven must receive. The common belief of the Jews was, that the Messiah would reign on the earth for ever, John xii. 34. On this account they would object that Jesus could not be the Messiah, and hence it became so important for the apostles to establish the fact that he had ascended to heaven. The evidence which they adduced was the fact that they saw him ascend, Acts i. 9. The meaning of the expression, "whom the heaven MUST receive," is that it was fit or proper (δει) that he should ascend. One reason of that fitness or propriety he himself stated in John xvi. 7; comp. xvii. 2. It was also fit or expedient that he should do it, to direct the affairs of the universe for the welfare of the church, (Eph. i. 20--22,) and that he should exercise there his office as a Priest in interceding for his people, 1 John ii. 1, 2; Heb. vii. 25; ix. 24; Rom. viii. 34, etc. It is remarkable that Peter did not adduce any passage of Scripture on this subject; but it was one of the points on which there was no clear revelation. Obscure intimations of it might be found in Psa. cx. 16, etc., 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; and Peter doubtless intended to say that he was clothed with power, and exalted to honour in the presence of God. See Psa. cxv. 3; comp. 1 Pet. iii. 22, "Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him." Note, Acts ii. 33.  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--αποκαταστασεως ?**os--does not elsewhere occur 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. Matt. xii. 13, "And it (the hand) was restored whole, like as the other," Mark iii. 5; Luke vi. 10. And hence it is applied to the preparation or fitness for the coming of the Messiah which was to attend the preaching of John in the character of Elias, Matt. xvii. 11; Mark ix. 12. Thus in Josephus, (Antiq. ii. 3, 8,) the word is used to denote the return of the Jews from the captivity of Babylon, and their restoration to their former state and privileges. The word has also the idea of consummation, completion, or filling up. Thus it is used in Philo, Hesyehius, Phavorinus, and by the Greek classics. (See Lightfoot and Kuin�el.) Thus it is used here by the Syriac. "Until the complement or filling up of the times ;" that is, of all the events fore- told by the prophets, etc. Thus the Arabic, "Until the times which shall establish the perfection or completion of all the predictions of the prophets," etc. In this sense the passage means, that the heavens must receive the Lord Jesus until all things spoken by the prophets in relation to his work, his reign, the spread of the gospel, the triumph of religion, etc., 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 ill its progress and its close.  All things. All things which have been foretold by the prophets. The expression is limited by the connexion to this; and of course it does not mean that all men 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 their completion and fulfillment. Which God hath spoken. 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 denoting the same as from the beginning, meaning to affirm with emphasis that all the prophecies should be fulfilled. The apostles were desirous to show that they, as well as the Jews, held entirely to the prophets, and taught no doctrine which they had not taught before them. 22. For Moses truly said. The authority of Moses among the Jews was absolute and final. It was of great importance, therefore,

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Verse 20 Which before was preached unto you - Instead of προκεκηρυγμενον, before preached, ABCDE, fifty-three others, both the Syriac, all the Arabic, the Armenian, Chrysostom, and others, have προκεχειρισμενον, who was before designed, or appointed; and this is without doubt the true reading. Christ crucified was the person whom God had from the beginning appointed or designed for the Jewish people. It was not a triumphant Messiah which they were to expect; but one who was to suffer and die. Jesus was this person; and by believing in him, as thus suffering and dying for their sins, he should be again sent, in the power of his Spirit, to justify and save them.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain