Acts 3:1-10 A lame man is healed at
the Temple when Peter prays for him. I have to wonder, was this lame man laying
there when Jesus walked by, and Jesus didn't heal him? We have record in Luke
5:18-26 and John 5:1-9 of Jesus' healing of the lame. Perhaps this man's time
had not yet come - Jesus was leaving this one for Peter. Verse 10 implies that
he had been begging at the beautiful gate of the temple for some time.
In
verse 6, Peter says he had no silver and gold. It was just recorded in Acts
2:45 that in the new Christian community they were selling their goods and
giving to anyone who had need, Perhaps this sharing was limited to those within
community, so Peter was not free to share community generosity with
non-members.
And
when he got up, he was walking and leaping. This seems incredible, since he had
been lame from his mother's womb. He had never learned to walk as a child. But
now that he was healed, he immediately had the balance and coordination to walk
and to leap. According to verses 9-10, all the people had the same reaction as
they were filled with wonder and amazement.
Acts 3:11-16 Peter's impromptu
sermon, reiterating that it was in the name of Jesus that the miracle occurred.
Peter is quick to state that the glory for this miracle goes to Jesus, who is
the servant of the God of Abraham. In this message addressing the Jews in the
Temple, most likely including the priests, scribes, and Pharisees who were
present, he bluntly accuses them of being worse than Pilate, in stating that
they, his listeners, delivered Jesus up and disowned Him in the presence of
Pilate who had decided to release Him (Luke 23:16-25). They put to death the
author of life, an interesting juxtaposition - how could they kill the one who
created life in the first place? Obviously they couldn't, the resurrection
proves it. And for those who perhaps did not see Jesus after His resurrection,
they have the evidence right in front of them in the man who was born a cripple
and was now able to run and leap, in Jesus' name.
Acts 3:17-26 Peter concludes his
sermon with an altar call based on the Pentateuch. Peter repeats his call for
his listeners to repent and be saved. In this case, although he cites the
prophets as being fulfilled in Jesus' suffering, in this case instead of
quoting Isaiah, he quotes Moses, two sections from Deuteronomy (18:15-18 and
15:19) and Genesis 12:3. In this part of the sermon Peter switches from the
atonement through Christ's death and his resurrection to a different theme. He
is now making the case that Jesus was the promised Messiah, and urging them
receive God's blessing by turning from wickedness to God's Servant, Jesus.
It
would be possible to discuss in depth the logic underlying Peter's
hermeneutics, but I think it is safer to say that Peter was operating in the
power of the Holy Spirit. Besides recognizing that people need to hear
different aspects of the gospel, specific aspects of the message will speak to
the hearts of people differently. And so in this case the Holy Spirit led Peter
down this path. The key point in this whole sermon is that we again see that
the proper use of Scripture, which in Peter's case meant the Law, the Prophets,
and the Psalms, is to bring life to listeners by connecting them to God through
experiential faith.
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