![]() ![]() While we’re not sure exactly which gate is meant by the ‘gate called Beautiful’, what is clear is that now he doesn’t need to be carried just to the gate each day. Healing him meant he could take his full place with the People of God at worship. Lameness excluded you from Temple worship under Old Testament Law. There is something Jesus does in this miracle that we can all do, whether we have a healing ministry or not. Let’s call attention to Jesus through what we do.Īnd what does Jesus do here through Peter and John? This is not just a miracle of healing, and if it were only that this story might be daunting or discouraging to those of us who have not seen healing. Someone once said to preachers, “You can’t make yourself out to be a great preacher and tell people how wonderful Jesus is in the same breath.” That’s true for us all, whatever our gift is. It’s one of those stories that remind us of that important theme: nothing we do as Christians is about drawing attention to us, it’s about pointing to Jesus. Right from the start, this is a story, then, that points to Jesus, as indeed Peter will tell the crowd (verse 12). For Peter and John to heal a lame man here ‘in the name of Jesus’ is a sign they are walking in his footsteps. There, Jesus’ first converts (his disciples in 5:1-11) are followed by – guess what? Jesus healing a lame man ( 5:17-26). Compare it with Luke’s first volume, his Gospel. Right from the start, this is a story about what discipleship means. There is more than enough to meditate upon with the first two elements of the healing itself and then the speech.įirstly, then, the healing. It makes for three phases in the story: the healing, Peter’s speech and the opposition.īut I’ll have to leave that final phase of this story to next week. Just as the opposition to Jesus begins early in the Gospels, so does opposition to the apostles and the Jesus movement in Acts. It extends beyond chapter three, which we read, into chapter four, where Peter and John are hauled before the religious authorities. So we come to this famous story, this first major episode after Pentecost and the formation of the early community of Jesus-followers. “No,” retorted Thomas, “and neither can she say any more, ‘In the name of Jesus of Nazareth, rise up and walk’.” Having shown him many of the beautiful works of art, the ornate architecture and the lavish fittings, the Pope turned to Thomas and said, “No longer can the church say like Peter, ‘Silver and gold have I none’.” One of the thirteenth century Popes was showing the great Catholic thinker Thomas Aquinas around the Vatican. ![]() Whenever I read Acts 3, one story always comes to mind. Thus, if we would attempt to good purpose the healing of men's souls, we must go forth in the name and power of Jesus Christ, calling on helpless sinners to arise and walk in the way of holiness, by faith in Him.Life has been frantic since returning from leave at the weekend – and still is. Peter, in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, bade him rise up and walk. Peter and John seem to have been led by a Divine direction, to work a miracle on a man above forty years old, who had been a cripple from his birth. Matthew Henry's commentary describes the first example of healing in Acts, stating "The apostles and the first believers attended the temple worship at the hours of prayer. The Beggar Healed by Peter and John in Acts 3 ![]() We see this ability performed throughout the book of Acts as the apostles, after witnessing Christ raised from the dead, traveled to preach the gospel of salvation through Him. "And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction" ( Matthew 10:1). In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus bestowed His apostles with the power to heal sickness and expel evil forces. ![]()
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