Acts 3:1-10 Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God, and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
Peter and John heal a man who was lame from birth
- Over 40 years old (Acts 4:22), he was doubt- less a pitiable sight. It is not unlikely that for 15-30 years he had sat at this spot
- Long since without hope of health—yet the grace of God reaches him even after all these years have passed.
- This miracle was a sign to Israel. It is called a sign by the leaders themselves (Acts 4:16)
Acts 4:16 saying, “What shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.
Amazing Healing
Acts 4:8-12 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
- The lame man asked for money because he had given up the hope of being healthy
- Peter used the same Greek root that can mean both healing (“made whole”) and salvation
- The healing of the lame man is a sign of the spiritual salvation so needed by the nation itself.
Our Miracle
- The lame man sat outside the house of God, just as sinners are outside God’s house (the Church)
- Sinners who are evangelized sit, as it were, at the gate “Beautiful.”
- The cure for sin, illustrated in the beggar, is faith. The faith referred to is the beggar’s because Peter has so little to say of him- self it is hardly likely he would be speaking of his own faith.
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