An Unexpected Gift

Good Morning!

We get to continue our journey through the book of Acts today.

‌We’ve come now to chapter three, which to me really feels like a shift from the introduction and origin story of the Apostles…we’ve read about why they were in Jerusalem, how they received the Holy Spirit after Christ ascended, and how the church was growing very rapidly through the unifying power of the spirit.

The apostles recognize everything that’s happening as the fulfilment of prophecies from the Old Testament, as well as of everything Jesus had promised them, and Peter has been leading the way in helping bring everyone else up to speed. To explain to everyone what’s happening, while continuing to call out the corruption and wickedness that Jesus was calling out, and that resulted in his wrongful torture and execution.

It’s a lot for everyone to be processing all at once!

Like Peter and John in today’s story, though, the disciples did continue to boldly worship God in the temple, and publicly proclaim Jesus as the Messiah, teaching anyone who was willing to learn. And as they go about doing what they know how to do, God works some astonishing results.

As Mike likes to say, Acts is a book full of actions, and that comes out in most of the book that’s narrative, but also in significant sections of prose discourse, with Peter’s preaching and teaching.

We get a little of each in this chapter. It certainly has some amazing action, which is immediately followed up by Peter’s explanation of the true meaning and significance behind the surface of what people are seeing on the outside.

Acts 3

Let’s start by reading this chapter together.

Acts 3 (NLT)
1 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. 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.’ 23 Then Moses said, ‘Anyone who will not listen to that Prophet will be completely cut off from God’s people.’ 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.”

‌Context

‌A Miraculous Sign

‌This story, and the subsequent speech, is one example of what we read in chapter 2, that:

‌Acts 2:43 (LSB)
43 And fear came upon every soul; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles.

‌This is one of those signs, wonders, mighty works, which shows the fulfillment of Jesus’s promise to his disciples that they would do even greater works than he had done!

‌John 14:12 (LSB)
12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do because I go to the Father.

‌It’s an example of the kind of activity being referenced in the summary at the end of Mark:

‌Mark 16:20 (LSB)
20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed.] [And they promptly reported all these instructions to Peter and his companions. And after that, Jesus Himself sent out through them from east to west the sacred and imperishable preaching of eternal salvation.]

‌This story in Acts 3 is the first miracle we see recorded following the inauguration of the church on Pentecost, testifying to the authority of Jesus’s word through His apostles.

‌The Location

‌Remember, all of this is happening at the Temple, the center of Jewish worship and culture; a place the apostles are not trying to escape, but rather to reform and bring back to life by speaking the truth of Christ even from within the walls of the institution that conspired to kill him. The same leaders who killed Jesus are still going to be in and around this same temple.

‌As Jews, Peter and John could walk through the Court of Women into the Court of Israel, whereas non-Jews would be restricted to the Court of the Gentiles.

‌They had the right to be there, but can you imagine the spiritual and emotional tension that these men were walking into? And yet they did so with humble boldness. They have so much selfless confidence in the message they've been given, and in the person who gave it to them, that they will follow His leading anywhere to proclaim Him. This, here, at the temple is just the beginning, but it sets the precedent for a pattern that plays out for multiple apostles throughout the book of Acts.

‌The temple might not be the first place you’d expect some high-profile people of interest in a massive conspiracy to be. Especially not drawing attention to themselves. But here they are. Not only showing up for the daily prayers, not only talking to God (which he loves!) and talking about God with other people (which he also loves!) but doing something with God to bring life and healing to people, for the purpose of drawing their attention to God, so that more people would start doing things with God too!

‌Naturally, the first place they went is to the people who do already want to worship God! That’s why everyone is there at the temple, showing up to pray! They are doing what they know to do to worship God. Peter and John are not there to stop people from worshipping by any means! They are there to help people better understand who they are worshipping and how, so they can continue to worship God outside the walls of the temple. They weren’t even getting it right inside the Temple, as Jesus made abundantly clear.

‌So, it makes sense that Peter and John continued to participate in Jewish customs and rituals for worship, along with all the other faithful Jewish Christians. Not abandoning Judaism but rediscovering and reshaping their faith with their new understanding of the Messiah, and their acceptance of Jesus as being the ultimate fulfilment of that role. Eventually, Judaism and Christianity would experience a more formal split coinciding with political movements at the time, but at this point Christian; they were still figuring out what their transformed lives and faith were becoming, and what it would look like

‌For now, that meant that they were meeting in their homes, as well as in the public temple, for as long as they could, but their faith in God’s presence was no longer dependent upon the location and existence of the temple in Jerusalem, when they recognized each one of themselves as temples of the holy spirit, God’s presence was wherever they went.

We’ve continued to see God at work through the church throughout history, even through painful transitions and despite massive human corruption and evil working both within the church and outside it. We’ll get glimpses of all that beginning to play out even in Acts as we continue through the book.

But for today, lets return to this miracle of the lame man suddenly walking. I think this is a really fun story, because as shocking and miraculous as it is, it really isn’t very contentious or scandalous. Nobody’s stopping them yet, in this chapter.

It doesn’t last very long; in the next chapter, they get arrested! Their teaching annoys the leadership, so they get kicked out and locked up. But before that, before the antichrists do their work, there’s this beautiful story of restoration and praise. Where a simple act of healing for someone’s physical condition results in that person AND those around them directing their focus to God, filling them with awe as they worship and praise him.

Suddenly, everyone is actually experiencing what they came to the temple to experience, whether they realized it or not!

At least, for a moment! And that moment is such a gift! Because even though the apostles are arrested moments later, you know that multiple people’s lives were never the same after having experienced and witnessed this miracle.

‌The Miracle

So, let’s talk a little more about that miracle for a minute.

‌First of all, who is this guy and why is he at this gate?

The Problem

Luke tells us that he was lame since birth. He couldn’t walk. Which means he couldn’t work. So, he’s looking for money, presumably so he can eat. If he doesn’t eat, he will die. It’s as simple as that. He survived completely dependent upon the kindness of others. And we learn a little later that he’s over 40 years old, so he’s been doing this for quite some time; he didn’t just start doing this yesterday, this has been his whole life.

‌When the disciples first tell him they don’t have any money, how do you think the man felt?

In his mind, the ONLY cure for what ailed him in that moment was money. This is logical. It doesn’t even cross his mind that his legs could be cured; to him that’s not even a possibility. The only way forward for him is to get enough money to survive another day, or even a few, before wondering where his next meal would come from.

He did have someone, maybe a couple of close friends or family members who were kind enough to carry him to the gate, to provide transportation to the one place where he could safely occupy himself doing the only thing he knew how to do: beg for money.

He had nothing to give, and only knew one thing to ask for.

And God, in his great mercy, skipped right over what this man was asking for, and instead gave him what he needed. It is a good father who understands the true needs of his children and provides for them, regardless of what we think we need or want in any given situation. Never is the man criticized for asking for money; what else could he have asked for without being arrogant? All the more gracious is God’s glory revealed when upon someone who has been so humbled in this way.

‌The Cure

‌The cure was instant and undeniable, for himself as well as for anyone observing. Not every act of healing and restoration is like this; sometimes it’s slow and painful, and sometimes we don’t always understand how it’s happening. The entire story of humanity is a long, painful, confusing story of healing and restoration…provided by God in his great love for us and his desire to clean up the messes we’ve made. Sometimes all we can do is say “God I’m sorry for contributing to the mess, but I’m here to help clean up; please show me how I can help, and not make it worse!”

‌That’s essentially the posture of the apostles that I’m reading. They are going about doing what they know, open and willing to participate in

‌But in this case, it was very obvious. And it’s obviously from God.

‌The Response

‌Immediately the man began praising God!

He also tried to cling to Peter and John, which is understandable! I’d want to stay close to the guys who healed me too. But it doesn’t sound like he went with them into the custody of the Jewish leaders, does it? Nor should he have! He had a story to tell, and legs with which to carry him to those who needed to hear it.

And meanwhile, the people in the temple clearly grasped that a miracle had taken place; there was no doubt about its authenticity.

Although the crowd knew God had acted to heal this man, they were unsure of the significance of the event. Their curiosity and questions facilitate Peter’s sermon. Their shaken imaginations give openings in the crags of their hearts for transformative seeds of truth to take place. And it does! For about five thousand more men, we read later!

‌The Explanation

‌Peter almost seems surprised that people are amazed! But he quickly takes advantage of his captive audience, to explain the meaning of the miracle to the crowd: It provides proof (yet again) of the gospel - the Church’s message that God raised Jesus from the dead as Lord and King, the true Messiah of Israel.

Let’s read starting in verse 11 again; I’m going to read from the LSB this time:

Acts 3:11–26 (LSB)
11 And while he was clinging to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them at the portico called Solomon’s, full of wonder. 12 But when Peter saw this, he replied to the people, “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this, or why do you gaze at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk? 13 “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him. 14 “But you denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 but put to death the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses. 16 “And on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which is through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all. 17 “And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers did also. 18 “But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. 19 “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; 20 and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, 21 whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time. 22 “Moses said, ‘THE LORD GOD WILL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR BROTHERS; TO HIM YOU SHALL LISTEN to everything He says to you. 23 ‘AND IT WILL BE THAT EVERY SOUL THAT DOES NOT HEED THAT PROPHET SHALL BE UTTERLY DESTROYED FROM AMONG THE PEOPLE.’ 24 “And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors onward, also proclaimed these days. 25 “It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘AND IN YOUR SEED ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH SHALL BE BLESSED.’ 26 “For you first, God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”

‌Peter explains the meaning of the miracle to the crowd: It provides proof of the Church’s message that God raised Jesus from the dead as Lord and King, the true Messiah of Israel.

‌Conclusion

The “New Testament church” has fascinated Christians through the ages. The excitement, the vitality, the depth of fellowship portrayed in early Acts has attracted us. Many have sought to recapture those days: some by a reemphasis on the Spirit, others by restructuring the church as an institution.

‌No one can duplicate any moment in history. Yet as we study these first chapters of Acts we do discover principles which will vitalize Christian experience. We probably will not need to abandon our old. But we will need to make a fresh commitment to the God who worked so powerfully in the men and women of the early church. He lives today, and He is fully able to work just as powerfully in us.

‌Richards, Lawrence O. The Teacher’s Commentary. Victor Books, 1987, p. 762.

‌One thing we can learn from is Peter’s presentation of the Gospel, twice now. Each time the presentation is adjusted to the context in which it is proclaimed, but ultimately, it’s the same message, and there are a few key markers to Peter’s explanation of the Gospel that I think we can learn from. What follows is not a framework on which to hang the gospel, but rather a few observations of prevailing themes throughout it.‌

1. Jesus, the historical person.
2. ‌That he was crucified (his audience complicit).
3. ‌That he was raised.
4. ‌That all this corresponds to Old Testament prophecy.
5. ‌That, specifically, Jesus is the promised Messiah.
6. ‌That the only appropriate response is repentance and faith.
   That is, the only appropriate response to the truth is to make a decision to follow God and walk together, instead of just going our own ways. And trusting that he knows how best to care for and protect us for all eternity.

‌What does it look like to follow God and walk with him?

‌Well, that depends on who you are and what moment of your life you’re in, but no matter what in any given situation, one righteous action we can always count on is that of simply praising God! All the time! But especially when he has given us so much to be thankful for and shown us so many reasons to praise him!

‌Seeing a man who was once lame, walking and leaping and praising God, that’s enough right there to at least draw one’s attention to the gospel, isn’t it?

‌He might not have understood all six of those pretty preaching points (YET!), but that didn’t stop him from praising God, did it?

‌And it sure sounds like he would have stayed and learned as much as he could to understand more, but in the immediate wake of his salvation, all he needed to do was proclaim his own salvation and the goodness and power of God. He didn’t need to even say anything, because his whole life, in an instant, became a testament to the power and glory of God.

‌Praise God!

‌Praise God!‌

Praise God, who through Isaiah says of Christ:

Is 35:1–10 (LSB)
1 The wilderness and the desert will be delighted, And the Arabah will rejoice and flourish; Like the crocus 2 It will flourish profusely And rejoice with rejoicing and shout of joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, The majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the glory of Yahweh, The majesty of our God. 3 Strengthen limp hands, and give courage to the knees of the stumbling. 4 Say to those with an anxious heart, “Be strong, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, But He will save you.” 5 Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. 6 Then the lame will leap like a deer, And the tongue of the mute will shout for joy. For waters will break forth in the wilderness And streams in the Arabah. 7 Then the scorched land will become a pool And the thirsty ground springs of water; In the haunt of jackals, its resting place, Grass becomes reeds and rushes. 8 And a roadway will be there, a highway, And it will be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean will not pass by on it, But it will be for him who walks in that way, And ignorant fools will not wander on it. 9 No lion will be there, Nor will any vicious beast go up on it; These will not be found there. But the redeemed will walk there, 10 And the ransomed of Yahweh will return And come with joyful shouting to Zion, With everlasting gladness upon their heads. They will attain delight and gladness, And sorrow and sighing will flee away.

‌Praise God, who through Christ says in Isaiah:

‌Is 61:1–11 (LSB)
1 The Spirit of Lord Yahweh is upon me Because Yahweh has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim release to captives And freedom to prisoners, 2 To proclaim the favorable year of Yahweh And the day of vengeance of our God, To comfort all who mourn, 3 To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a headdress instead of ashes, The oil of rejoicing instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of Yahweh, that He may show forth His beautiful glory. 4 Then they will rebuild the ancient waste places; They will raise up the former desolations; And they will make new the ruined cities, The desolations from generation to generation. 5 Strangers will stand and pasture your flocks, And foreigners will be your farmers and your vinedressers. 6 But you will be called the priests of Yahweh; You will be spoken of as ministers of our God. You will eat the wealth of nations, And in their glories you will boast. 7 Instead of your shame you will have a double portion, And instead of dishonor they will shout for joy over their portion. Therefore they will possess a double portion in their land; Everlasting gladness will be theirs. 8 For I, Yahweh, love justice, I hate robbery in the burnt offering; And in truth I will give them their recompense And cut an everlasting covenant with them. 9 Then their seed will be known among the nations, And their offspring in the midst of the peoples. All who see them will recognize them Because they are the seed whom Yahweh has blessed. 10 I will rejoice greatly in Yahweh; My soul will rejoice in my God, For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with a headdress, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 11 For as the earth brings forth its branches, And as a garden causes the things sown in it to branch out, So Lord Yahweh will cause righteousness and praise To branch out before all the nations.

‌These are the passages Jesus cited when asked by John the Baptist’s followers whether or not he was the promised one, implying that his own healing signs, which included causing the lame to walk and the blind to see. These things were glorious to behold, and visible to see plainly for anyone with open eyes.

‌Brothers and sisters, let our eyes be opened to the glory of God around us, and in doing so let us not behold the Glory of God and withhold our praise. Let us respond to his call willingly and with gladness!

‌Then, beyond that, with our eyes be opened by his spirit to the wonders of God’s grace and mercy and power, to allow him to transform us, not into something other than ourselves, but into God-honoring, glorious, liberated expressions of ourselves, rather than fearful and hateful and destructive ones. In this way we are being transformed, by the renewing of our minds and spirits.

‌Armor of God

‌Or, as Paul puts it, in Ephesians 6, by taking up the full armor of God, that we may be able to resist in the evil day, that the evil one may flee from us ever further as we draw ever closer to God in subjection to Him, and having done everything we can, to stand firm, trusting God to handle the rest.

‌Let us stand firm, therefore, Having put on the mobilizing, leaping, dancing legs of truth, and having put on the body armor of righteousness, that is, doing right by God; it’s like an exoskeleton of protection for our souls, and let’s lace up our boots of readiness that comes from proclaiming peace. And on top of all that, leaning into the force-field of faith that shields us even from the fiery missile strikes of the evil one. Let us receive our salvation as gladly as we would receive a helmet to protect us from danger, wielding what we have been given…the spirit and word of God in all his power, not for rebelliousness and death, not for attention and fame, but for love and life and peace. Glory and praise go hand in hand; one begets the other. Glory invites, beacons, and demands the surrounding gaze, like fireworks in a dark hidden valley, and the ensuing praise serves to expand such influence even further.

‌It's a rather arrogant thing to proclaim glory, to praise a thing or person, demanding such attention, unless the glory is truly worth beholding.

‌In other words, when we jump and leap, or dance and sing, or whatever we do to draw attention from our surroundings, it ought only to be to praise God and point others to him! When we do so, it is glorious indeed! If we do it just for ourselves though, it will only end in embarrassment, pain, and worse of all, isolation.

‌All the earth and the heavens declare God's glory, and when we join the chorus, it will draw the gaze of those around us, friendly or otherwise. Do so exuberantly, but not flippantly. It draws attention, so don’t waste it! And be watchful, alert, ready!

‌God’s ready for you, right now! He was ready for you when you were born and he’ll be ready for you when you die, but he’s also ready for you right now. Are you ready for God? Do you want God? He wants you. Talk to God, see, hear, and read what God has said and done, for thousands of years and in your own life! And continue to do so in community with others.

‌Benediction

‌God, thank you for providing everything we're enjoying now and ever will enjoy. Thank you even for providing everything we don't enjoy and help us to be thankful for your loving guidance and discipline even when it's difficult.

‌I ask that you help us be continually enriched by the time we spend together; show us how to love each other better, and through doing things together, that we would come to know you ever more deeply.

Help us listen to others and talk to you, ignoring other people’s mistakes like you ignore ours. Help us see things from your perspective.

Remind us and guide us in responding to you when you reveal yourself to us, both in unhindered, unashamed praise to you, all glory to your name, and also with an insatiable thirst for understanding and knowledge. To know you and your word better each day, so that we can continue to pass on what you gave. Use us, your church, your body, we pray, to bring more healing, more life, in the short-term, here, and now, so that people turn their attention to you, now, our healer and savior.

Amen.