After God used Peter to heal a handicapped man who was born crippled, Peter takes the opportunity to preach the gospel to an amazed crowd that had gathered. His Jewish audience had been waiting for a "special time" in history, a time that was often referred to as "the Day of the Lord." This was going to be a time when God was going to forgive the people of their sins. It was going to be a time for healing and reconciliation. The Jews were waiting for God to establish His righteous kingdom on earth and destroy the wicked, oppressive Roman kingdom.

Peter provides the crowd with the evidence that "now is time" that God is establishing His kingdom. Everything that God promised through the prophets is being accomplished through Jesus, the risen Messiah. All the crowd has to do is repent and put their faith in Jesus and they will experience the promised times of refreshing. If they continue to reject Jesus, they are rejecting God's plan of salvation. Peter invites the crowd to join in on what God is doing. He says, "Now is the time. Come, get on board."