Acts 3.1-10
It has previously been commented that, instead of ‘The Acts of the Apostles’, a more fitting name for this book would be ‘The Acts of Jesus and the Spirit’. The very first verse of the whole book tells us that the prequel, Luke’s gospel, was about what Jesus began to do and teach.
This book then, the sequel, is about what Jesus continued to do, through his Spirit given to his followers. In Acts 3, this is exactly what we find.
Peter and John were going to the temple to pray. They take the usual route, pass the usual landmarks and see the usual people, there’s the lame man at the gate, as usual. This is the everyday fabric of life, long since faded by routine, rolling on as usual.
But today, something makes Peter and John stop. Rather than glancing over the lame man, as is the habit of many and perhaps as they themselves had done before, today they direct their gaze at him. The lame man fixes his attention on them in return and he does what he usually does, asks for alms, expecting to receive what is usually given.
But what he receives this time is not usual. It’s not even possible.
As Peter’s hand grasped this man’s own and he felt himself being pulled upwards, perhaps he braced himself for the familiar pain and the lurch of despair as he prepared for his crippled legs to crumple and he inevitably collapsed onto the hard ground, as he had done countless times since the very beginning of his very broken life. But today, there is no pain. And far from collapsing back down he finds himself leaping upwards and now standing, for the first time in his life supported unassisted on his own once useless legs.
This was not usual. This was not possible. And yet here the lame man stands, amazed, in the presence and power of the Spirit, who dwells in Peter and John.
In his sermon at Pentecost, back in chapter 2, Peter had said Jesus of Nazareth was raised up by God and exalted to his right hand. Now, in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, this lame man had been taken by the right hand and raised up. His brokenness has been undone by faith in the name of the one who was broken for him.
We see here that as Jesus promised, because he has ascended he has given the Spirit, who is now at work through his followers. The Spirit works through the disciples to do the same kinds of things Jesus did during his ministry. In fact, Jesus’ Spirit-filled followers would do greater things, as he said in John 14:12. As Don Carson puts it,
“Our faith in Jesus thrusts us into a struggle in which the decisive battle has already been won, in which the promised eschatological blessing has already dawned even if it’s not yet consummated. Indeed, our own feeble efforts participate in the triumph of Christ and the work of his bequeathed Spirit to call forth an innumerable host of new followers of the Savior and Master we’re privileged to serve.”
Don Carson
For Spirit filled followers of Jesus, it is business as unusual. We participate in the triumph of his resurrection, participating through the Spirit in the Kingdom coming.
As Jesus had demonstrated his care for the broken, overlooked and desperate during his ministry, so his followers come to share that same concern by the transformation the Spirit works in them. This lame man was defined by his brokenness, overlooked and desperate. Peter chose not to overlook him, instead he looked intently at him (as would Paul of another lame man in Acts 14). This man’s brokenness, so ingrained, so familiar, so all-encompassing as to define him, was not beyond the redemptive power of Jesus. He was the lame man who begged at the temple gate. But transformed by faith in Jesus’ name, he was no longer defined by his brokenness but by his restoration. He became the once-lame man who now leaps in praise of his Saviour. Restoration in Jesus redefined him.
As Jesus had received a mixed response, so his followers still do. In Luke 5 Jesus healed a paralysed man. Amazement seized those who saw and they were filled with awe. The religious leaders, however, were provoked to anger. Here in Acts 3, those who saw this lame man healed were also filled with wonder and amazement, yet by the start of chapter 4 the religious leaders have again been provoked to anger. We should not be surprised to face opposition when we do things in his name.
And as Jesus proclaimed the gospel of the Kingdom of God and attested to its truth with signs and wonders, so through the Spirit, that power is given to us as well. That’s what we see happening all over the place at the start of Acts. And there is still power in Jesus’ name to heal today. Sometimes we receive healing now like this man, sometimes we must wait until all things are made new, knowing that God’s grace is sufficient for us, like Paul in 2 Corinthians 12. New creation is dawning, it’s first rays piercing our broken world; one day we will see the risen sun fully and all will be made new.
For now, it’s business as unusual.
Let’s pray.
Father, thank you that you have given us your Spirit to transform us into your likeness. Thank you that in your name there is power to heal, to restore and redeem. Please helps us to be those who bring healing and restoration in your name to the world around us by the power of your Spirit working through us.
Amen.