Acts 3:26 says that God raised up Jesus and sent him first to the Jewish people, with the purpose of blessing them by turning each of them away from their wickedness. The verse is part of Peter’s speech to a crowd in Solomon’s Portico in Jerusalem, right after he healed a lame man at the temple gate.
God, having raised up his servant Jesus, sent him to you first to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your wickedness.”
Acts 3:26 (WEB)
What Acts 3:26 Means
The phrase “God, having raised up his servant Jesus” points to the resurrection. Peter is saying that God vindicated Jesus after the crowd had handed him over to be executed. The word “servant” links Jesus to the suffering servant pictured in Isaiah, and it reminds the listeners that Jesus came to serve, not to seize power.
“Sent him to you first” carries the sense of an invitation given to a particular people at a particular time. Peter’s audience is Jewish, and he presents Jesus as the one God sent to them before the good news spread to others. The word “first” does not say that the Jews are shut out from later blessing. It describes the order in which the message was offered.
The heart of the verse is the blessing, which Peter defines as “turning away every one of you from your wickedness.” Blessing here is not mainly about money, health or comfort. It is about a change of direction, a turning from sin toward God. The verse does not promise that every hearer will accept this turn, and the wider chapter makes clear that a response of repentance is what Peter calls for. It is a promise about God’s purpose in sending Jesus, not a guarantee of how each person will respond.
The Context of Acts 3:26
Acts was written by Luke, who also wrote the Gospel bearing his name, and it records the early growth of the church after Jesus’ ascension. Luke’s audience appears to have been largely Gentile readers, but the speeches in Acts are addressed to Jewish listeners in Jerusalem. Peter’s words in chapter 3 therefore show how the apostles reasoned with their own people about the Messiah.
Just before the verse, Peter quotes Moses’ promise that anyone who will not listen to the coming prophet will be cut off from the people, and he links this to Samuel and the prophets who followed him. Just after, he reminds the crowd that they are heirs of the covenant God made with Abraham. Read in that setting, Acts 3:26 is the climax of an argument: the promises God made to Israel’s ancestors are being fulfilled in Jesus, and the first step of that fulfillment is a call to repent.
Key Phrases in Acts 3:26
Acts 2:38
Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
(WEB)
In Peter’s earlier sermon on Pentecost, he tells the crowd to repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins. The same call to turn from sin appears here, showing that repentance was central to the apostles’ message from the start.
Luke 24:47
And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
(WEB)
Before his ascension, Jesus tells the disciples that repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem. This verse gives the wider missionary pattern that Acts 3:26 begins to put into practice.
A Short Prayer From Acts 3:26
Lord, thank you for raising up Jesus and sending him to bless people like me. I confess the wickedness I still hold onto, the things I know are wrong and the habits I keep returning to. Turn my heart away from them today, and help me respond to your mercy with honest repentance. Teach me to receive the blessing you offer and to extend it to the people around me, through Jesus my Lord. Amen.