What were Peter and the eleven calling on Israel to repent of?
Peter and the eleven called Israel to repent of the worst sin they had ever committed: killing their Messiah. Peter charged them directly, saying, “You killed Him. You murdered Him.” They had murdered the one God had sent, their Messiah, and God would yet send the king and the kingdom if they repented.
Les explains that the early part of Acts is transitional, still an extension of the Jewish program after the crucifixion and resurrection, with Peter and the eleven holding sway. They appeal to the nation of Israel to repent of the worst sin they ever committed—killing their Messiah. Peter says, “You killed Him. You murdered Him.” If Israel repented, God would pick up where He left off, send the king, and they could have the kingdom. Stephen later made the same appeal, urging Israel to believe the one they killed was indeed the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of the living God, but they stoned him. Saul of Tarsus appears at that stoning, a Pharisee who hated Jesus’ name from religious conviction and thought he served God by stamping out early Jewish believers who confessed Christ as Messiah.