Acts 3 (NLT)
“Peter Heals a Crippled Beggar
Peter and John went to the Temple one afternoon to take part in the three o’clock prayer service. 2 As they approached the Temple, a man lame from birth was being carried in. Each day he was put beside the Temple gate, the one called the Beautiful Gate, so he could beg from the people going into the Temple. 3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for some money.
4 Peter and John looked at him intently, and Peter said, “Look at us!”5 The lame man looked at them eagerly, expecting some money. 6 But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!”
7 Then Peter took the lame man by the right hand and helped him up. And as he did, the man’s feet and ankles were instantly healed and strengthened. 8 He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk! Then, walking, leaping, and praising God, he went into the Temple with them.
9 All the people saw him walking and heard him praising God. 10 When they realized he was the lame beggar they had seen so often at the Beautiful Gate, they were absolutely astounded! 11 They all rushed out in amazement to Solomon’s Colonnade, where the man was holding tightly to Peter and John.
It’s interesting that Peter and John continue to attend services at the Temple. You would think they might have rejected the Temple and started a new independent church open to all. However, they haven’t forgotten that the God of the Temple is the same God who they now serve as Christ followers. So, prayer services in the Temple would still be moments of adoration and praise for them, an awareness of who God is.
More importantly, it was a place where they could share this new Good News about Jesus. The people in the Temple were definitely there because they worshipped God. What they didn’t know was God had changed things forever by sending Jesus to earth. So, the Temple was a place that could be open to this news. (In the next chapter tomorrow, we’ll see how the Temple administration felt about all this – not good.)
The healing of the crippled beggar certainly got everyone’s attention. He was someone they recognized from the many times they had seen him begging at the gate. Right from the ‘get-go’, Peter attributes the healing to Jesus. This was not any attempt on Peter’s part to indicate he was a healer. It was totally Jesus. The crippled man also acknowledges that he was healed by God right from the start. “He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk! Then, walking, leaping, and praising God, he went into the Temple with them” (v. 8). And “all the people saw him walking and heard him praising God” (v. 9). So, there was no misunderstanding about who got the credit.
In our scientific focused world, it’s important to give God the credit when something unexpected happens. For example, when my husband recovered from cancer, he would clearly give God the credit. Doctors tended to smile and say, “Sometimes things like this happen; we’re still looking into why some people recover so we can help others in the future”. Or they would shrug indicating they didn’t understand, but there must be some explanation. What we often don’t know is what impact our testimony has on those unbelieving people. They need to hear us give God the credit so there is that whisper in the backs of their minds.
“Peter Preaches in the Temple
12 Peter saw his opportunity and addressed the crowd. “People of Israel,” he said, “what is so surprising about this? And why stare at us as though we had made this man walk by our own power or godliness? 13 For it is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the God of all our ancestors—who has brought glory to his servant Jesus by doing this. This is the same Jesus whom you handed over and rejected before Pilate, despite Pilate’s decision to release him. 14 You rejected this holy, righteous one and instead demanded the release of a murderer. 15 You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. And we are witnesses of this fact!
16 “Through faith in the name of Jesus, this man was healed—and you know how crippled he was before. Faith in Jesus’ name has healed him before your very eyes.
17 “Friends, I realize that what you and your leaders did to Jesus was done in ignorance. 18 But God was fulfilling what all the prophets had foretold about the Messiah—that he must suffer these things. 19 Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. 20 Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will again send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah. 21 For he must remain in heaven until the time for the final restoration of all things, as God promised long ago through his holy prophets. 22 Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your own people. Listen carefully to everything he tells you.’ (Deuteronomy 18: 15) 23 Then Moses said, ‘Anyone who will not listen to that Prophet will be completely cut off from God’s people.’ (Deuteronomy 18: 19; Leviticus 23: 29)
24 “Starting with Samuel, every prophet spoke about what is happening today. 25 You are the children of those prophets, and you are included in the covenant God promised to your ancestors. For God said to Abraham, ‘Through your descendants all the families on earth will be blessed.’26 When God raised up his servant, Jesus, he sent him first to you people of Israel, to bless you by turning each of you back from your sinful ways.”
Once again, Peter uses Old Testament scripture to back up what he is saying. He understands that these people need to grasp that this new message is true, that it was there in the Torah. But Peter also realizes they need to repent. He clearly tells them they are responsible for Jesus’ death. Pilot would have freed Jesus, but they insisted on letting the murderer go free instead. Peter does lessen the burden a little by saying that the prophets had foretold Jesus’ death, and that Jesus’ death and resurrection were all part of God’s plan. But still, they do have to acknowledge their guilt in this – or another way of putting it is acknowledging their sin.
Sometimes today, I think we gloss over the sin part. We talk about praying and asking God for help. We talk about letting God have control in our lives because we know His plans are best. But we don’t use the ‘sin’ word much. Even though Peter told them the crucifixion was part of God’s plan, he didn’t mince words about their part in it. “Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away” (v. 19). We may not want to publicly talk about our sin, but inside we know we have messed up. Being able to admit it, and ask for forgiveness from God, is such a freeing moment. Knowing that Jesus died to take our punishment for sin, gives us the freedom to share this good news with others. We are loved and accepted by God, and it’s nothing we have done. Everyone has access to this wonderful new life. It’s not earned; it’s given. What freedom and joy!
Ephesians 2:8-10
“God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago”
Our song for today is Amazing Grace by Chris Tomlin.