Peter and John heal a lame man at the temple.
Click here for an online Bible. Acts 3:1-10
All of the original Christians were still Jews. They faithfully followed the Jewish customs and traditions. Peter and John went to the temple for the 3 PM prayer time. On their way in to the temple area, they encountered a lame man.
The lame man was carried to the temple every day so that he could beg at the temple gate. Almsgiving was practiced by faithful Jews. It was a virtue to give to the needy. Faithful Jews go to the temple, so a temple gate was an excellent place to beg. The irony here was that the lame man was not allowed inside the temple. Leviticus 21:16-20 says that people with deformities were not allowed into the temple.
The lame man asked Peter and John for money. They stopped and told him to look at them. They wanted his full attention. The lame man gave them his full attention, but he expected to get some money. Peter told him that they didn’t have any money but he would give the man what he did have. He told the man to get up and walk.
Was the man healed by his own faith in Christ or by Peter’s faith in Christ? Later, in verse 16, Peter says that it was by faith in Christ that the man was healed. He didn’t say whose faith. We can’t say for sure. Luke does not record Peter explaining the gospel or anything about Jesus to the lame man, so unless there was more conversation that Luke did not record for us, it is hard to see how the man responded in faith.
The simplest reading of the account is that the man was healed based on Peter’s faith. The healing then brought about the lame man’s faith.
The man had been lame since birth. We see a little later that the man was forty years old. Imagine the joy that he experienced when he was healed. He was walking and jumping and praising God. It is easy to pass over this one detail – he followed Peter and John into the temple. For years he had sat outside the temple area begging. He could never enter. Now, for the first time in his life, at forty years old, he could go inside. He had not only experienced physical healing, he experienced spiritual healing.
The people in the temple saw the lame man. He had been sitting at the gate for years; they recognized him. Now he was healed. He was probably hard to miss. He was jumping around praising God for his healing. The people were amazed.
We don’t see stuff like this. It is easy to forget that we are every bit the representatives of God that Peter and John were. We can have an impact on people for the gospel too. We may not see many healings, but like Peter and John, we can give what we have. So what do we have? We have the love of Christ and the gospel of salvation.
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2 comments:
I'm catching up on my reading after the busy Thanksgiving holiday schedule, and this particular passage struck a chord with me. This man was outside begging for help at the temple - wasn't even allowed in because of his handicap. Can't you just see it happening? He just wanted help. And help and healing he received because the apostles stopped and took time to help him heal in the name of Jesus. How many times have we seen someone reaching out and we look the other way because we are leary of them or just don't have time to stop? I know I am guilty of it. There is a trust issue there, at least for me at times. One instance was recently, turning into the mall I saw a begger on the median asking people for money at the stop light. He was holding a sign and had a cup out walking up and down beside the cars. He stopped in front of mine first. Of course, my car was on his side of the road and I had just missed the green light so I knew I had to face him. How wrong is that, that I would think something like that? I locked my doors and rolled up the windows, and tried to not make contact. I was afraid of him for whatever reason. Maybe he would reach in and try to do something to me, maybe he would make a crude remark, maybe he wanted money for booze, maybe, maybe, maybe ... Instead of helping him, I turned away. Haven't we all been there at some point? I could have helped him, I could have offered him my testimony and provided some hope. We don't know people's intentions, even though we think we may. We are really quick to judge because of the world we grow up in and the world we live in today. I just wish I would have at least trusted enough to make a difference at that point in time, so I asked for forgivness. If we want to be more like Jesus we have to follow his Word ... just like He said "Follow me." He didn't turn his back on people different from himself, but tried to help those that crossed His path, whether they were unkind, indifferent, or even under much sin. This is a wonderful story of hope that I think anyone could benefit from. Next time I encounter that person at the stop light or someone on the corner that is in need of a helping hand, just maybe I'll trust enough to turn off the judgments and speculation, and just listen to them and try to give them a little bit of what I've been given ... Christ's love and much hope.
I'd concur with your straight foward reading of Peter's faith healing the man. I see the healing as a testimony to the power of faith in Christ to all those around - "they were filled with awe..." This makes more sense than the healing being a reward for a fast coming to faith.
Sarah, we have all done the exact same thing. We justify why we shouldn't give the hand out. I think the best option is prayer and the willingness to go through with how the Lord leads you - He may not want you to give for some of the very reasons you mention but we won't know unless we pray.
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