Acts 3:1-3:26
I began this message by recalling what had happened in Acts so far. The amazing miracle of the sound of wind, the tongues of fire, Peter’s speaking the gospel with boldness, 3000 people becoming believers in one day, the beginnings of a new kind of life among the believers, sharing things, loving one another, homothumadon, and koinonia.
One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, "Look at us!" So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them. – Acts 3:1-5
Doctor Luke, the human author of Acts, was a man who paid attention to details. There are some interesting details in this passage!
1. The man was crippled from birth. He had never walked in his life.
Can you imagine what this was like? I imagine that he was more or less at peace with his circumstances. He had never known anything else. His handicap was part of who he had always been. It wasn’t a good life, but he was alive. During the message, someone pointed out that probably at least a part of him was not content with circumstances. I agree with this - deep down there was a part of him that wanted wholeness, to be able to walk, run, jump, dance - just like everyone else.
2. He had friends who carried him to the gate every day. This means that Peter and John had almost certainly walked by him before. It is quite possible that even Jesus had walked by him before!
He was a kind of “fixture” at the gate. I am sure people walked by him every day and considered him minimally, except perhaps to think, “There he is again.” Some gave him a small coin, enough so that it was worthwhile to be brought there every day. Probably some were put off by him. "Can’t he go somewhere else? Why does he have to 'mar' the gate called Beautiful?" Josephus, a Jewish historian of that time, described one of the gates, probably this one, as 75 feet high with huge double doors, made of solid brass, so beautiful that it “greatly excelled those that were only covered over with silver and gold.”
When I was in college, I made several trips to UC Berkeley in California. At least when I was there in the 80s, Berkeley was still in the 60s. There was no place like it. I don’t know if it is still like that now. There were several “fixtures” at Berkeley. One person only wore clothes of a certain color. (I can’t remember the color.) There were several who would “preach” or carry on “conversations” with themselves. They would almost always show up at the same part of campus at the same time. Because I didn’t stay there very long, these people were novelties to me, and I would definitely notice them and stare. But the locals didn’t even “see” these people anymore. It was like they were part of the landscape.
New York City also has its fixtures, along subway lines, in Central Park, etc. Many cities in the 3rd world have beggars who come to the same place each day, just like in this passage.
3. The world of Peter and John and the world of the crippled man collide. The man asked them for money, and then, Peter and John looked straight at him. What was going on in their minds as they looked at him? I’ll come back to this.
Then Peter said, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. – Acts 3:6-7
Was the crippled man healed because of his faith? I don't personally think so. The passage says that he was just expecting some money. I don't think being healed was even remotely a possibility in his mind.
Remember Luke was a physician. Dr. Luke. According to a commentary, the Greek terms used here are medical terms. It describes feet completely sideways from the leg, twisted, out of joint. There may not have even been a joint. And the healing involves coming into a socket and becoming straight. This happens instantly, after Peter starts to help him up, holding his hand – his right hand.
(There are so many details! I can just imagine Luke questioning them later. “Describe his ankles to me before the healing. Describe them after. When did you take his hand? Which hand did you use?” I can imagine Peter saying, “Luke, does it matter?” It matters! This is true! It’s not a made up story. Luke is also amazingly detailed about the crucifixion.)
Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. When all the people saw him walking and praising God, they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. While the beggar held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon's Colonnade – Acts 3:8-11
Can you imagine the scene? He got up and went with them, because he didn’t want to lose them. He is walking – what an amazing sensation! He is jumping! I am sure he is laughing, shouting. “Whoo hoo! God, You are awesome!” “Praise Your glorious Name!” He is drawing a crowd, but he doesn’t care. Let them come! Let them see! Let them see what God can do! A huge crowd gathers over the commotion. Thousands of people! They recognize the man as the cripple, but here he is leaping like a deer! He holds on to Peter and John (I imagine he keeps hugging and kissing them, or he dances with them), so the crowd sees that they are somehow responsible for this miracle.
When Peter saw this, he said to them: "Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. – Acts 3:12-15
“Why does this surprise you?” Would it surprise you? I think it would surprise most people. The second question is more penetrating. “Why do you presume we did it by our own power or our own godliness?” This is natural thinking. To do a miracle, you must be very powerful, some kind of magician or something, or you must be super-spiritual. Before Peter comes back to finish this thought, he reminds them who God is, who Jesus is, and what they did to Him.
“The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” is almost a code phrase for the Jewish God. He says this is the one and same God who glorified Jesus – who gave Him glory. Then he says they killed Him – they insisted on it, in fact – overriding Pilate. They went so far as to have a murderer released instead of Him.
What a contrast! They “kill the author of life” and give life to an author of death!
As in Acts 2, the essence of the gospel is “But God raised Him from the dead! We saw it! We are witnesses!”
Once again, the miracle is not the good news. The miracle gets people’s attention so that the good news can be shared.
And as with Acts 2, the miracle is symbolic. Recall that the tongues/fire miracle of Acts 2 was symbolic of undoing the curse of the Tower of Babel, of consummating a sacrifice, of fulfilling the Feast of the Harvest (firstfruits), and of much more. What about this miraculous healing?
I think it is symbolic of the greater healing God through Jesus offers all of us. The beggar expected a bit of temporary comfort, a few coins. What he got was so much greater! In the same way, the Jewish people at that time really expected very little from God. But what He offered them (and offers us) is so much greater: healing! Total healing! Man was made to walk, not be lame. And what we are made for? Praising God, having a deep relationship with Him that gets deeper and deeper and more and more satisfying forever! This is available to all who call on Him.
By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus' name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see. – Acts 3:16
Here Peter gives the explanation: “We didn’t do it! It’s not our power! It’s not even our righteousness or holiness! It was Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through Him.
Peter was the instrument of healing, but God was the healer. In general, even with non-miraculous stuff, if we can even make such a distinction (that’s a whole ‘nother topic), we need to avoid praising the instrument. It is so easy to do this when you hear a great message on the radio, or read a great book, or even in conversations with each other, to mistakenly credit the instrument.
Someone has suggested the example of a surgeon saving a patient’s life. Imagine that when the patient wakes up, he asks to see the scalpel – when it arrives, he begins to heap praise on the scalpel. “Oh mighty scalpel – you saved my life! You are so talented – no mistakes made. And you are so wise – you knew just where to cut!” Of course, this sounds ridiculous. We are to praise the surgeon, not the scalpel! And we are to praise our Creator, not the creation.
Now, I wonder about what it felt like for Peter to "get" the faith to pronounce the healing. When did Peter “know”? Did John know too? This is total speculation, but I think they knew at the moment they looked at him. I think they were given the “gift of faith” mentioned in I Cor. 12:9-10. They didn’t muster something up. They just looked at him, and Peter, at least, if not also John, suddenly knew that God would heal the crippled man now. If I were to film a movie of this event, I would show, from the moment Peter and John see the beggar, powerful flashes of vision showing the man getting up. Walking. Jumping. Dancing. And then flashes showing Peter helping him up. Going with them to the temple. Flashes of the men hearing Peter speak. Flashes of the crowds with tears of repentence running down their faces.
Can this happen today? I don’t see why not. But you can’t force it. It’s all God. What we can do is pray. But even here, I wouldn’t pray that we get a chance to show off a miracle – instead I would pray for the chance to impact people with the gospel. Just as in Acts 2, that was the greater purpose. Just as in Acts 2, this miracle opens the doors to thousands of people’s hearts. The healing is just the opening act. Peter’s message, and the response, is the main event.
"Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. But this is how God fulfilled what He had foretold through all the prophets, saying that His Christ would suffer. Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that He may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. – Acts 3:17-20
The gospel is here. Repent – turn to God. Trust in Christ, who died for your sins and rose to life again. Then your sins will be wiped out – literally, erased – picture chalk on a blackboard. Then times of refreshing will come – literally, “cool breezes”. And then, ultimately, He will return for you and we will be with Him forever.
"He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. For Moses said, 'The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from among his people.' Indeed, all the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken, have foretold these days. And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, 'Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.' When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways." - Acts 3:21-26
Isn't it wonderful to be an heir? Most of us are "grafted in" or "adopted" but we now have full rights as heirs of the covenant. We are the "all peoples" blessed through the complete work of Christ.
I suggested three applications:
1. Jump for joy. Our deliverance is much greater than that of the crippled beggar.
2. Pray for opportunities to share the good news of Christ. That was the ultimate purpose of the Acts 2 and Acts 3 miracles.
3. Give what you have. Peter gave out of the faith God had given him. He gave the words of healing, and he gave a clear message of salvation out of his knowledge of the scriptures and his knowledge of Christ.
We then broke into groups and discussed the following two questions.
If we don’t feel like jumping for joy praising God, what can we do about it?
How do we give what we have? What might we give?
I closed with a movie clip from the movie The Flywheel. This is a movie made by a church in Georgia with less than $100K and a lot of prayer. The production quality is not quite up to that of a $100M movie, but it is quite moving. It is about a swindling used car dealer (and lot owner) who repents and comes back under the lordship of Christ. This gives him peace but causes many new trials which I won’t mention so I don’t spoil the movie. The clip takes place after his repentance and in the midst of his trials, which include financial trials.
The clip shows a woman enter his dealership office. He asks her if she is making a payment. She says no – she is returning the car. She explains the trials in her life – a seriously sick child who needs help at a hospital, a husband out of work – and tearfully explains she just can’t afford to make the payments. He, saying nothing, goes to his file cabinet, pulls her title, and signs it over to her. He explains that he believers her, that she was a good customer, and that the car is hers. She starts to break down crying. He gives her space and goes back to her office. She notices his 8-ish year old son, who saw the whole thing, and tells him, “You have a really wonderful dad.”
Yes, but he has an even more wonderful God. He is just giving what he has. May we do the same.
One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, "Look at us!" So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them. – Acts 3:1-5
Doctor Luke, the human author of Acts, was a man who paid attention to details. There are some interesting details in this passage!
1. The man was crippled from birth. He had never walked in his life.
Can you imagine what this was like? I imagine that he was more or less at peace with his circumstances. He had never known anything else. His handicap was part of who he had always been. It wasn’t a good life, but he was alive. During the message, someone pointed out that probably at least a part of him was not content with circumstances. I agree with this - deep down there was a part of him that wanted wholeness, to be able to walk, run, jump, dance - just like everyone else.
2. He had friends who carried him to the gate every day. This means that Peter and John had almost certainly walked by him before. It is quite possible that even Jesus had walked by him before!
He was a kind of “fixture” at the gate. I am sure people walked by him every day and considered him minimally, except perhaps to think, “There he is again.” Some gave him a small coin, enough so that it was worthwhile to be brought there every day. Probably some were put off by him. "Can’t he go somewhere else? Why does he have to 'mar' the gate called Beautiful?" Josephus, a Jewish historian of that time, described one of the gates, probably this one, as 75 feet high with huge double doors, made of solid brass, so beautiful that it “greatly excelled those that were only covered over with silver and gold.”
When I was in college, I made several trips to UC Berkeley in California. At least when I was there in the 80s, Berkeley was still in the 60s. There was no place like it. I don’t know if it is still like that now. There were several “fixtures” at Berkeley. One person only wore clothes of a certain color. (I can’t remember the color.) There were several who would “preach” or carry on “conversations” with themselves. They would almost always show up at the same part of campus at the same time. Because I didn’t stay there very long, these people were novelties to me, and I would definitely notice them and stare. But the locals didn’t even “see” these people anymore. It was like they were part of the landscape.
New York City also has its fixtures, along subway lines, in Central Park, etc. Many cities in the 3rd world have beggars who come to the same place each day, just like in this passage.
3. The world of Peter and John and the world of the crippled man collide. The man asked them for money, and then, Peter and John looked straight at him. What was going on in their minds as they looked at him? I’ll come back to this.
Then Peter said, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. – Acts 3:6-7
Was the crippled man healed because of his faith? I don't personally think so. The passage says that he was just expecting some money. I don't think being healed was even remotely a possibility in his mind.
Remember Luke was a physician. Dr. Luke. According to a commentary, the Greek terms used here are medical terms. It describes feet completely sideways from the leg, twisted, out of joint. There may not have even been a joint. And the healing involves coming into a socket and becoming straight. This happens instantly, after Peter starts to help him up, holding his hand – his right hand.
(There are so many details! I can just imagine Luke questioning them later. “Describe his ankles to me before the healing. Describe them after. When did you take his hand? Which hand did you use?” I can imagine Peter saying, “Luke, does it matter?” It matters! This is true! It’s not a made up story. Luke is also amazingly detailed about the crucifixion.)
Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. When all the people saw him walking and praising God, they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. While the beggar held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon's Colonnade – Acts 3:8-11
Can you imagine the scene? He got up and went with them, because he didn’t want to lose them. He is walking – what an amazing sensation! He is jumping! I am sure he is laughing, shouting. “Whoo hoo! God, You are awesome!” “Praise Your glorious Name!” He is drawing a crowd, but he doesn’t care. Let them come! Let them see! Let them see what God can do! A huge crowd gathers over the commotion. Thousands of people! They recognize the man as the cripple, but here he is leaping like a deer! He holds on to Peter and John (I imagine he keeps hugging and kissing them, or he dances with them), so the crowd sees that they are somehow responsible for this miracle.
When Peter saw this, he said to them: "Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. – Acts 3:12-15
“Why does this surprise you?” Would it surprise you? I think it would surprise most people. The second question is more penetrating. “Why do you presume we did it by our own power or our own godliness?” This is natural thinking. To do a miracle, you must be very powerful, some kind of magician or something, or you must be super-spiritual. Before Peter comes back to finish this thought, he reminds them who God is, who Jesus is, and what they did to Him.
“The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” is almost a code phrase for the Jewish God. He says this is the one and same God who glorified Jesus – who gave Him glory. Then he says they killed Him – they insisted on it, in fact – overriding Pilate. They went so far as to have a murderer released instead of Him.
What a contrast! They “kill the author of life” and give life to an author of death!
As in Acts 2, the essence of the gospel is “But God raised Him from the dead! We saw it! We are witnesses!”
Once again, the miracle is not the good news. The miracle gets people’s attention so that the good news can be shared.
And as with Acts 2, the miracle is symbolic. Recall that the tongues/fire miracle of Acts 2 was symbolic of undoing the curse of the Tower of Babel, of consummating a sacrifice, of fulfilling the Feast of the Harvest (firstfruits), and of much more. What about this miraculous healing?
I think it is symbolic of the greater healing God through Jesus offers all of us. The beggar expected a bit of temporary comfort, a few coins. What he got was so much greater! In the same way, the Jewish people at that time really expected very little from God. But what He offered them (and offers us) is so much greater: healing! Total healing! Man was made to walk, not be lame. And what we are made for? Praising God, having a deep relationship with Him that gets deeper and deeper and more and more satisfying forever! This is available to all who call on Him.
By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus' name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see. – Acts 3:16
Here Peter gives the explanation: “We didn’t do it! It’s not our power! It’s not even our righteousness or holiness! It was Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through Him.
Peter was the instrument of healing, but God was the healer. In general, even with non-miraculous stuff, if we can even make such a distinction (that’s a whole ‘nother topic), we need to avoid praising the instrument. It is so easy to do this when you hear a great message on the radio, or read a great book, or even in conversations with each other, to mistakenly credit the instrument.
Someone has suggested the example of a surgeon saving a patient’s life. Imagine that when the patient wakes up, he asks to see the scalpel – when it arrives, he begins to heap praise on the scalpel. “Oh mighty scalpel – you saved my life! You are so talented – no mistakes made. And you are so wise – you knew just where to cut!” Of course, this sounds ridiculous. We are to praise the surgeon, not the scalpel! And we are to praise our Creator, not the creation.
Now, I wonder about what it felt like for Peter to "get" the faith to pronounce the healing. When did Peter “know”? Did John know too? This is total speculation, but I think they knew at the moment they looked at him. I think they were given the “gift of faith” mentioned in I Cor. 12:9-10. They didn’t muster something up. They just looked at him, and Peter, at least, if not also John, suddenly knew that God would heal the crippled man now. If I were to film a movie of this event, I would show, from the moment Peter and John see the beggar, powerful flashes of vision showing the man getting up. Walking. Jumping. Dancing. And then flashes showing Peter helping him up. Going with them to the temple. Flashes of the men hearing Peter speak. Flashes of the crowds with tears of repentence running down their faces.
Can this happen today? I don’t see why not. But you can’t force it. It’s all God. What we can do is pray. But even here, I wouldn’t pray that we get a chance to show off a miracle – instead I would pray for the chance to impact people with the gospel. Just as in Acts 2, that was the greater purpose. Just as in Acts 2, this miracle opens the doors to thousands of people’s hearts. The healing is just the opening act. Peter’s message, and the response, is the main event.
"Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. But this is how God fulfilled what He had foretold through all the prophets, saying that His Christ would suffer. Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that He may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. – Acts 3:17-20
The gospel is here. Repent – turn to God. Trust in Christ, who died for your sins and rose to life again. Then your sins will be wiped out – literally, erased – picture chalk on a blackboard. Then times of refreshing will come – literally, “cool breezes”. And then, ultimately, He will return for you and we will be with Him forever.
"He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. For Moses said, 'The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from among his people.' Indeed, all the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken, have foretold these days. And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, 'Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.' When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways." - Acts 3:21-26
Isn't it wonderful to be an heir? Most of us are "grafted in" or "adopted" but we now have full rights as heirs of the covenant. We are the "all peoples" blessed through the complete work of Christ.
I suggested three applications:
1. Jump for joy. Our deliverance is much greater than that of the crippled beggar.
2. Pray for opportunities to share the good news of Christ. That was the ultimate purpose of the Acts 2 and Acts 3 miracles.
3. Give what you have. Peter gave out of the faith God had given him. He gave the words of healing, and he gave a clear message of salvation out of his knowledge of the scriptures and his knowledge of Christ.
We then broke into groups and discussed the following two questions.
If we don’t feel like jumping for joy praising God, what can we do about it?
How do we give what we have? What might we give?
I closed with a movie clip from the movie The Flywheel. This is a movie made by a church in Georgia with less than $100K and a lot of prayer. The production quality is not quite up to that of a $100M movie, but it is quite moving. It is about a swindling used car dealer (and lot owner) who repents and comes back under the lordship of Christ. This gives him peace but causes many new trials which I won’t mention so I don’t spoil the movie. The clip takes place after his repentance and in the midst of his trials, which include financial trials.
The clip shows a woman enter his dealership office. He asks her if she is making a payment. She says no – she is returning the car. She explains the trials in her life – a seriously sick child who needs help at a hospital, a husband out of work – and tearfully explains she just can’t afford to make the payments. He, saying nothing, goes to his file cabinet, pulls her title, and signs it over to her. He explains that he believers her, that she was a good customer, and that the car is hers. She starts to break down crying. He gives her space and goes back to her office. She notices his 8-ish year old son, who saw the whole thing, and tells him, “You have a really wonderful dad.”
Yes, but he has an even more wonderful God. He is just giving what he has. May we do the same.
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