Peter Heals the Crippled Beggar
1One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. 2Now 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. 3When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. 4Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, "Look at us!" 5So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.
6Then 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." 7Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong. 8He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. 9When all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10they 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.
Peter Speaks to the Onlookers
11While 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. 12When 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? 13The 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. 14You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. 15You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. 16By 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.
17"Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. 18But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer. 19Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, 20and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. 21He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. 22For 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. 23Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from among his people.'
24"Indeed, all the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken, have foretold these days. 25And 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.' 26When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways."
Interesting points of Discussion:
- [See v.1] 'at the time of prayer'- Peter and John seem to be going to the temple to pray at the customary hour- 'three in the afternoon'
- Instead of walking by the beggar in front of the temple and going about their business, they recognize this as an opportunity to spread the Gospel and go out of their way to help this man as Peter shouts, 'Look at us!'
- [See v.3] 'he asked them for money'- the man just wanted enough money to "get by" for the day
- [See v.5] 'expecting to get something'- the man expected to receive something which was faith on his part but much less than what he would actually receive and not the right thing
- In the same way, how many of us lower our expectations and settle for less when God wants to give us so much more?
- Also, do we always ask for and expect the right things from God?
- The man asks for money but he is given the Holy Spirit; God's abundance is far greater than any kind of worldly abundance
- [See v.6] 'silver or gold I do not have'- rather than giving this man what he is asking for which is to support his mess of a condition without changing anything significant in his life, Peter transforms him from lame to walking by the power of the risen Jesus Christ
- As people of the church, are we called to simply make better or make bearable the present condition of those in need or are we to completely change their condition by releasing the redeeming work of God in Christ?
- And in doing the work, is what we really need more money and funding for the church to meet the natural needs of the poor or the spiritual power to say "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk"?
- [See v.6] 'what I have I give you'- Peter gives him the power to walk in the name of Jesus; he couldn't have done this if he himself hadn't received the power of Jesus in his own life
- [See v.7] 'he helped him up'- it was one thing for Peter to say to the man to get up and walk, it took a supernatural prompting of the Holy Spirit for Peter to trust God completely for something way out of the ordinary and believe that the man would actually get up and walk; he was receiving the gift of faith as described in 1 Corinthians 12:9,
"9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit," - Faith is a gift! It is not our self-inspired belief alone that is called faith, it is a supernatural gift from God to trust God beyond natural human abilities
- Being open to receiving this gift of faith is what leads to the healing; listening to the Holy Spirit and its commands seems to be critical in performing these miracles
- Often doubts and fears can consume our minds and cause the Holy Spirit to grow weak even though it is willing
- [See v.10] 'they recognized him'- this man was a familiar sight at the temple which means Jesus must have seen him before, but why did he never heal him?
- This shows how important God's timing is; it was for the greater glory of God that Jesus healed this man from heaven through his apostles
- [See v.12] 'why does this surprise you?'- Peter knew it wasn't enough to save these people to merely see and hear a miracle and to be amazed and interested
- Peter knew well that seeing and hearing about miracles wasn't going to save these people or bring them to Jesus for it says in Romans 10:17,
"17Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ." - [See v.12] 'as if by our own power or godliness'- Peter gives the credit all to Jesus and none to himself; healing doesn't happen because the people who are performing them are super spiritual, so close to God, Godly, holy, etc.
- [See v.13] 'God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob'- as Peter preaches about Jesus, he makes sure that the God he is talking about is not any of the other gods people have invented or imagined
- [See v.14] 'asked that a murderer be released to you'- Peter boldly confronts the crowd convicting them of their sin in choosing to reject Jesus Christ all the while embracing a criminal and a murderer
- [See v.15] 'You killed the author of life'- Peter himself having witnessed the resurrection of Jesus lets the people know that they betrayed and killed the very one that created them and gave them life
- [See v.16] 'By faith in the name of Jesus'- once again Peter stresses that what healed the man wasn't his own faith but because of God's gift of faith; just iterating "in Jesus name" has no power on its own if you are not consciously doing it in the authority and power of Jesus
- It is clear that there is a third person, the Holy Spirit, that allows Peter to consciously perform the healing in the authority and power of Jesus
- [See v.17] 'I know that you acted in ignorance'- Peter seems to be offering a second chance to these people who killed Jesus- he doesn't say that they're innocent but he realizes that they didn't know about God's eternal plan which they ignored
- [See v.18] 'God had fulfilled what he had foretold'- Peter reveals how God took the most evil act (crucifixion of Jesus) and used it for the good of mankind; this is the God that is at work in our own lives as described in Romans 8:28,
"28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." - [See v.19] 'times of refreshing'- Peter refers to the time when Jesus Christ will return for the second time to restore all things and to establish the kindgom of righteousness on Earth; he points out that this will only happen if the Jews (Israel) repent as a nation
- [See v.23] 'will be completely cut off'- if the Jews do not listen to Jesus they will no longer be God's people
- [See v.26] 'turning each of you from your wicked ways'- not only does God want to bless us and do good for us, he also wants to turn us all away from our sins
