What is the meaning of Acts 10:39? We are witnesses • Peter speaks as one who personally saw and heard Jesus (Acts 1:21-22). • Jesus had predicted the apostles would “be My witnesses…to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). • The phrase stresses credibility: “That which we have seen and heard we proclaim to you” (1 John 1:3). • The gospel rests on eyewitness testimony, not hearsay (Luke 24:48). of all that He did • The apostles testify to every public act of Jesus—teaching, healing, forgiving, casting out demons (Acts 2:22). • John notes, “There are many more things that Jesus did…even the world itself could not contain the books” (John 21:25). • These works confirm His identity as “the Holy One of God” (Mark 1:24). • Their complete knowledge counters later rumors or partial stories. both in the land of the Jews • “Land of the Jews” points to Galilee, Judea, and surrounding villages (Matthew 4:23). • Jesus’ ministry honored the covenant people first (Romans 15:8). • It shows God keeps promises to Israel while preparing to reach the nations (Isaiah 49:6). and in Jerusalem • Jerusalem is the prophetic center: “It cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem” (Luke 13:33). • Here Jesus taught publicly (John 18:20), died, rose, and sent the Spirit (Acts 1:4). • The city’s history of rejecting prophets underscores Israel’s responsibility (Acts 13:27). and although they put Him to death • “They” refers to the leaders and the crowd who demanded crucifixion (Luke 23:23-24). • Human guilt is clear, yet God’s plan stands: “This Man was handed over by God’s deliberate plan…and you…put Him to death” (Acts 2:23). • Isaiah 53:5 foretold this rejection and suffering for our sins. by hanging Him on a tree • “Tree” echoes Deuteronomy 21:23: “Anyone hung on a tree is under God’s curse.” • Paul links the verse to Jesus: “Christ redeemed us from the curse…by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree’” (Galatians 3:13). • Peter will later write, “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24). • The wording highlights both the shame of crucifixion and the substitutionary atonement accomplished there. summary Acts 10:39 records Peter’s concise eyewitness report: Jesus’ public ministry was fully observed, taking place throughout Israel and culminating in Jerusalem; the nation’s leaders executed Him on a cross, fulfilling Scripture’s curse motif. The verse assures us that the gospel rests on factual history—seen, heard, and faithfully proclaimed—demonstrating both human guilt and God’s redemptive purpose through the crucified Messiah. |
    |