A Lame Man Healed

The hour of prayer. “Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour” (3:1). The ninth hour was three o'clock in the afternoon. God's people gathered at the temple to pray at set times each day. Peter and John had just been filled with the Holy Spirit, and they still kept on praying. God's power does not replace prayer. It comes as we pray. A man who never walked. The man was “lame from his mother's womb” (3:2). That means he was born unable to walk. He had never taken a single step. Every day someone carried him to the gate called Beautiful, where he asked for alms. Alms are gifts of money for the poor. They really looked. Many people passed him every day. Some dropped a coin and kept walking. But Peter fixed his eyes on him, with John, and said, “Look at us” (3:4). They did not look away from his need. Expecting something. “So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them” (3:5). He expected a few coins. God planned to give him a whole new life. What this means for you. God sees the people others walk past, and He sees you. Make time to pray every day, like Peter and John did. When you pray, come to God expecting good things, because He loves to give.

Set times of prayer (3:1). At the temple, prayer was offered in the morning and again in the afternoon, at the time of the evening sacrifice. The ninth hour, counted from sunrise, was about 3 p.m. The first believers still met “daily with one accord in the temple” (Acts 2:46). Being filled with the Spirit did not end their habit of prayer; it filled it with new life. Over forty years (Acts 4:22). Luke later tells us “the man was over forty years old on whom this miracle of healing had been performed.” He had been lame since birth, and everyone in Jerusalem knew his face. No one could say the healing was a trick. Alms (3:2). Alms were gifts of mercy for the poor, and giving them was part of worship. Jesus taught that giving should be done quietly, for God to see: “your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly” (Matthew 6:4). Fixed eyes (3:4). The Greek atenizo (say: ah-teh-NEE-zoh) means to look hard and steady at someone. Peter and John did not glance at the man and move on. They gave him their full attention. Expectation (3:5). The man expected coins, the best help anyone had ever given him. He was about to receive what money could never buy. For you. Prayer, noticing people, and expecting God to act belong together. Ask God to open your eyes to the person He has put in front of you today.

Peter and John went to the Temple at three o'clock. That was a time for God's people to pray together. Peter and John had the Holy Spirit's power. They still made time to pray. Praying is how we stay close to God. A man was sitting by the gate. He had never walked, not even once. Many people walked right past him. But Peter and John stopped and looked at him. God sees people that others forget. He sees you too. The man hoped for a few coins. God wanted to give him much more.

Peter and John went to pray. They saw a man who could not walk. They stopped for him. God sees every person.

Silver and gold. Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you” (3:6). Peter was not rich. But he had something worth far more than money. In the name of Jesus. Peter said, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk” (3:6). To do something in Jesus' name means to do it by His power and with His permission. Peter was not saying a magic word. He was trusting Jesus to do what only Jesus can do. A helping hand. “And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up” (3:7). Peter reached out and touched the man. Faith and kindness worked together. Immediately. “Immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength” (3:7). A man who had never walked did not need lessons. God made his feet strong in a moment. Walking, leaping, praising. He went into the temple “walking, leaping, and praising God” (3:8). He praised God, not Peter. Long before, Isaiah wrote that one day “the lame shall leap like a deer” (Isaiah 35:6). What this means for you. Jesus really healed this man, and He still cares about every hurt you have. You can pray to Him about anything. He does not take away every sickness right away, but He always hears you, and He always loves you.

Poor, but not empty (3:6). The believers shared what they had, “as anyone had need” (Acts 2:45), and Peter carried no silver or gold. What he did have was the presence and authority of the risen Jesus. Paul wrote, “we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us” (2 Corinthians 4:7). The name (3:6). In the Bible a name stands for the whole person and his authority. Jesus means the Lord saves. Christ is the Greek word for Messiah, God's Anointed King. Of Nazareth points to the real man the crowd had seen and heard. Peter spoke as Jesus' messenger, by Jesus' authority. Lifted by the hand (3:7). Jesus “took her by the hand and lifted her up” when He healed Peter's mother-in-law (Mark 1:31). When Peter was sinking in the lake, “immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him” (Matthew 14:31). Peter did for this man what Jesus had done for him. Made firm (3:7). The word for received strength means made firm and solid, like a building on rock. The same word comes back in 3:16: Jesus' name “has made this man strong.” Leaping (3:8). Isaiah 35 describes the day God comes to save His people: blind eyes open, deaf ears hear, and “the lame shall leap like a deer.” This man's first leap was a sign that the Savior Isaiah spoke of had come. Healing today. Jesus still heals, and believers are told to “pray for one another, that you may be healed” (James 5:16). God answers in His own wisdom and time. Full healing is promised to every believer on the day when “there shall be no more pain” (Revelation 21:4).

Peter did not have money to give. But he had something better. He knew Jesus, and Jesus has all power. Peter spoke in the name of Jesus. That means he spoke for Jesus, by His power. The name of Jesus is not a magic word. The power belongs to Jesus Himself. Peter took the man's hand to help him up. Right away the man's feet grew strong. He did not need to learn how to walk. Jesus still cares about people who are sick or hurt. We can pray to Him about anything. He always hears us and loves us.

Peter had no gold. But he had Jesus! In the name of Jesus, the man walked. He jumped and praised God.

Eyes on the wrong men. The crowd ran to Solomon's Porch, a long covered walkway at the temple. Peter asked, “Why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?” (3:12). Peter refused to take the glory. God's Servant. “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus” (3:13). The same God who made promises to Abraham had now honored Jesus. The Holy One. Peter called Jesus “the Holy One and the Just” (3:14). Jesus never sinned once. Yet the crowd had asked for a murderer named Barabbas to go free instead of Him. The Prince of life. They “killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses” (3:15). Jesus is the One who gives life. Death could not hold Him. Faith in His name. “And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong” (3:16). Even that faith “comes through Him.” Not just their sin. Peter was speaking to the people of Jerusalem that day. But the Bible says “all have sinned” (Romans 3:23). Jesus died for the sins of every person, including ours. What this means for you. When God does something good through you, point people to Jesus, just as Peter did.

Solomon's Porch (3:11). This was a covered colonnade, a long row of stone columns with a roof, along the east side of the temple courts. The believers often gathered there: “they were all with one accord in Solomon's Porch” (Acts 5:12). The same stare (3:4, 12). Peter fixed his eyes on the beggar; now the crowd fixed their eyes on Peter. It is the same Greek word, atenizo. Peter turned every eye toward Jesus. His Servant (3:13). The word for Servant can also mean child, one who belongs to the Father. Isaiah called the Messiah God's Servant: “My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities” (Isaiah 53:11). God glorified Him by raising Him and seating Him in heaven. Pilate and the crowd (3:13-14). Pilate “was determined to let Him go,” but the crowd chose a murderer. Peter said it plainly so the people would see their need for mercy. Prince of life (3:15). The Greek archegos (say: ar-khay-GOSS) means founder, pioneer, or the leader who goes first. Hebrews 12:2 uses the same word for Jesus, “the author and finisher of our faith.” They killed the very One who gives life, and God raised Him. Faith that comes through Him (3:16). Peter says the name of Jesus twice, and then says the faith itself is “the faith which comes through Him.” Even trusting is a gift. Salvation works the same way: “by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves” (Ephesians 2:8). One sinner to others. Peter had denied Jesus three times himself (Luke 22:54-62). He was not looking down on the crowd. He was a forgiven sinner inviting other sinners to the same mercy.

Everyone stared at Peter and John. Some people thought Peter had done the miracle. But Peter would not take the praise. He pointed the people to Jesus. Peter told them who Jesus really is. Jesus is God's Servant. He is the Holy One who never sinned. He is also the Prince of life, the One who gives life. Jesus was killed on the cross. But God raised Him from death! Peter and John saw Jesus alive with their own eyes. Trusting Jesus made the lame man completely well. When God does something good, we give Him the praise.

Everyone looked at Peter. Peter said Jesus made the man well. Jesus died, but God raised Him!

Spoken with kindness. Peter began, “Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it…” (3:17). Brethren means brothers. Peter knew they had not understood what they were doing. He did not hate them. He wanted them to be saved. God's plan. “But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled” (3:18). The cross was not an accident. God planned it to save us. Repent and turn. “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out” (3:19). To repent is to change your mind about sin and turn from it. To be converted is to turn around and come back to God. Blotted out. Blotted out means wiped away completely, like writing erased from a board. God does not keep a list of the sins He has forgiven. Times of refreshing. When sins are forgiven, “times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (3:19). Refreshing is like a cool drink on a hot day. Jesus said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Jesus will come again. Heaven has received Jesus “until the times of restoration of all things” (3:21). Restoration means making everything new and right again. Jesus is coming back. What this means for you. No sin is too big for God to wipe away. You can turn to Him today.

Not knowing (3:17). Peter said they acted without understanding. Jesus had prayed on the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34). Not knowing did not make them innocent, but it meant that mercy was still open to them. Foretold and fulfilled (3:18). “All His prophets” spoke of a suffering Christ. Isaiah wrote, “He was wounded for our transgressions” (Isaiah 53:5). Jesus Himself said “it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day” (Luke 24:46). Two words for turning (3:19). Metanoeo (say: meh-tah-noh-EH-oh) means to change your mind, to see sin the way God sees it. To be converted means to turn around and go back. Repentance is more than feeling bad; it is a change of direction toward God. Wiped out (3:19). Exaleipho (say: ex-ah-LAY-foh) means to wipe away, like wiping wet ink off a page. Paul uses the same word: God has “wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us” (Colossians 2:14). Refreshing (3:19). The word for refreshing pictures a cool breath of relief after heat or hard work. Forgiveness brings rest to the soul now, “from the presence of the Lord.” Until (3:20-21). Jesus is in heaven now, and God will send Him again. The “times of restoration of all things” look ahead to the day God says, “Behold, I make all things new” (Revelation 21:5). Many Christians see this as the day Jesus returns to set the whole world right. Today. Peter's message is still God's invitation: turn to Him, receive forgiveness, and wait for Jesus with hope.

Peter spoke kindly to the crowd. He called them his brothers. They had not understood what they did to Jesus. Long ago God said His chosen King would suffer. Jesus suffered and died to save us. Now Peter gave them good news. They could turn away from sin and come back to God. God would wipe their sins away for good. Then God would give them times of rest and joy. Jesus is in heaven right now. One day He will come back. He will make everything right again. You can come back to God today.

Peter said to come back to God. God will forgive sins. Jesus will come again. He will make everything new!