ROOTED - Friday, May 29, 2026
Joel 2:31
31 The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to
blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.
Reflection: Peter’s Sermon is a Little Confusing
Written By: Pastor Jesse Caro
In the Book of Acts, we read in chapter 2 the
Holy Spirit coming down… and everyone begins to speak in tongues. The Day of
Pentecost marked the beginning of the church… the day when the Holy Spirit came
down and filled his people (a promise of Jesus fulfilled from a few weeks
before in Acts 1:8: “the Holy Spirit will come upon you”). With such a large
crowd gathered, Peter did what all great preachers do: he preached. He boldly
told the Jewish people in the crowd, “you crucified this Jesus, repent!” Consequently,
three thousand people came to faith.
In this great sermon… the first truly “gospel” sermon ever
preached… Peter says something that is a bit confusing to us, the reader in
2026. He says that the Day of the Lord, along with the moon turning to blood,
was fulfilled on that day. That is, he takes Joel’s prophecy of the Day of the
Lord and applies it to the Day of Pentecost. However, it is accepted by
scholars that 1) “the Day of the Lord” (used by many prophets) refers to the
day that the Lord comes again to judge the world in the end times, and 2) the
moon (obviously) on the day of Pentecost did not turn to blood (and we know
from science and history there was no blood moon that year). So, why did Peter make
this mistake?! In seminary I learned that this was a “partial fulfillment” (no
need for an explanation).… but that seems like a cheap way out of the problem. Here
is my conclusion: I have no earthly idea! I have no clue. I am scratching my
head. I would simply say this: I am not shaken by things like this. It is a
mystery that one day I am sure I will understand. But whether I do or don’t, I
can live without having answers to all the questions. I can trust the Bible
even with these puzzling questions lingering in the background. And, more importantly,
I am unshaken in trusting the God of the Bible. Don’t let these sorts of
gee-whiz issues distract you from what is crystal clear in the pages of
scripture.
Lord
God, even in the mysteries, may we be committed to what is clear and
compellingly true in the record of the Word of God.