The Lame Beggar Healed
3:1 Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. 2 And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. 3 Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. 4 And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” 5 And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. 6 But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” 7 And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. 8 And leaping up he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. 9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
Peter Speaks in Solomon’s Portico
11 While he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s. 12 And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? 13 The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over 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 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. 16 And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.
17 “And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. 19 Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, 20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, 21 whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. 22 Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. 23 And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’ 24 And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days. 25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ 26 God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.” (ESV)
16 By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see.
This was a pretty big thing that Peter and John had just done, but they wanted to make sure that God was given the glory for it. They also take advantage of the opportunity to share the Gospel with people who desperately needed to hear it. In the same way, we need to be looking for ways to give God glory through our lives, and Giving God the credit for anything that we accomplish. We also should view every situation as an opportunity for evangelism, and be ready to spread the Truth of God’s Word on a daily basis to our high school campuses or wherever else we are.
4Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!”
5So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.
6Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”
7Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong.
8He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.
9When all the people saw him walking and praising God
10they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him………………………………………………………………………….
WOW this is intense,this shows you how amazing God is,it is unbelievable.There is nothing better then God not silver and gold nothing ,and this verse realy points this out.I love how god uses people to spread his word and his miracles,its so kool how the man just got up and walked.Its also amazing how humble peter and john are, they didnt go around bragging or anything,and i think thats great.
Yeah Dante, I think it is great too that Peter and John gave God the glory for their actions, they recognized that it is only by His power and mercy that we can do anything worth recognition in this life.
19Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,
This verse did not say accept; it said repent! Only by turning from our sin to life in Christ can we begin to experience His full mercy, grace, love, and holiness in our lives. If we only accept the gospel of Truth; than we are saying that we are only agreeing with it and tollerating it, even the demons agree that Jesus is God (Matthew 8:29)! We need to be constantly dieing to sin and our desires, and in turn constantly being raised up in Christ so that we can be sanctified by His holliness. This is the best gift in life, being made holy like Christ, the only thing that stands between us and Christ’s holliness/the refreshing that comes from the Lord is our sin.
Nice to see you on Dante.
16 By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see.
The disciples made a cripple man able to walk again in this passage. I think this is amazing, because Christ was gone! They did this stuff without Him physically there. But because they knew that He could do anything, all they did was have faith and ask. Through His name and faith was this feat accomplished. If the disciples could do something like this, imagine what we can today. All Christ asks for is faith and to use His name. I rember Christ said that with the amountr of faith the size of a mustard seed, you could move a mountain. This may not be possible now, but we still can do amazing thing, and convert a lot of people. All we have to do is call upon Jesus, and have faith!
19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,
I agree, Hunter! Im right there with you! The best gift in life is being made holy like Christ. This verse is amazing! The only way to be saved is by repentance and faith, and turning towards the Lord! This verse clearly explains that. We are ALL sinners, but by God’s grace we are saved! As Christians, we should strive to be more and more like Christ! We should not have desrires of this world, becase it offers nothing. But with God, he is the one who satisfies your every need! We need to be dyeing in our sin, and being raised up in Christ, as Hunter mentioned.
12 When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?
This is such a great reminder that all glory be to God! Nothing that the apostles did came out of their own humanly power, it came from Gods. God has given us everything that we have and it is so amazing that though we keep sinning His mercies and blessings are still poured on us! We have such a giving and wonderful God who deserves all the glory for anything that we do!
16By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see.
Even though Jesus was dead and risen, Peter and John still proclaimed His name by helping the crippled man walk. The crippled man also praised the Lord for the miracle that He had just done. We can all learn from this passage whether it is a good grade on a test at school, or meeting new friends, we should praise God in any situation because He has given us the strength and courage to accomplish great things for Him.
6Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”
7Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong.
Last year in my 10th grade Bible class we watched a movie called the Apostle Paul. I remember this scene where the man was just yelling at them for money and Peter told them do we look like people who would have silver or gold! But instead they gave the crippled man stronger feet and ankles and he could now walk. Peter doesn’t actually have the power to do that, except what was given to him from above. That was all the work of Jesus Christ.
8He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.
I think anyone who would see this miracle happen to them would be jumping up and praising the Lord for healing him in this way. If I was blind and then someone just came up and said in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, see! And then all of a sudden I could see, I would be jumping around praising the Lord, because I would be full of so much joy and excitement. Praise the Lord for what he gives us and for what he does for us here on this earth.
5So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.
I was thinking of this verse from the perspective of the beggar. Here he is, sitting at the gate, begging for money as he did every day. He was expecting something from Peter and John, but what he got was far beyond what he could imagine. It reminds me of Ephesians 3:20 “Now to Him who is able to do immesurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us.” The beggar had hoped he’d get some money to sustain himself for the day, instead he got physical and spiritual healing that would last for all eternity. Praise be to God!
6 Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that this is the picture that we need to embrace in our own lives and as we present the Gospel. You see, from a worldy perspective “material” and “temporal pleasures and goods” are what is being sought out and what people are striving after. Yet we see here that it is not silver or gold that is going to make us see clearly or make us joyful but only Jesus Christ and His saving power! May we remember that as we seek to live our lives for Him each day.
5So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.
6Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”
7Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong.
8He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God
This is amazing, and if being a non christian and getting to see this miracle, how could you not want to join God’s kingdom???
Is there miracles happening like this right now?? I have always wondered about it but have never got a straight up answer.
Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Where do you start with this chapter? It is so rich with teaching I had to read it again. I love the way Peter and John reminded the amazed crowd of their terrible decision in verses 13-14 & 15 but gave them encouragement and a reminder of what the prophets foretold in scripture in verses 17-18 with a clear message to repent in 19.
It’s great to see so many names from the Laguna Hills small group.
Vanessa, i was thinking that same thing…
6 Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”
We as Christ’s ambassadors cant promise people gold or silver, money or cars, or any kind of physical prosperity if they repent and turn to Christ. But what we can give is of so much more value! We can lead people to Christ, so that they too can have the amazing satisfaction and prosperous joy that comes with being a Christian. We have one thing to offer to this world, lets step it up and take our gift of Christ’s Love to our highschools and (as has been a theme this whole week
double it up!!
I think that as followers of jesus we should be more open to learning. Jacob and Ray are right as well. We can’t promise riches to the ones we are trying to get to come and be a follower; we just need to hope and have faith that the come to God by themselves. If we would all just talk to one cripled person (someone without God) and then they begin to belive in the Lord then we are doing what God wants us to do.
I think that was amazing when the beggar was praising God and not just focusing on his ability to walk. It shows us that when we get blessed we should immediately praise God becasue He’s the one that blesses us. If you are a christian than you have been blessed like crazy so us Christians should wake up praising God. He has sooo much grace toward us, Bless Him!!!!
12When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?
It is awsome to see what God can do through us as Christians. It is even more awesome to see Peter admit that it what not by his power that this miracle was done by by God. This was awsome to see because he could have taken credit for it but he admitted it was not through his power the miracle was done. This shows us that through God’s power he can do anyhting through us to show the power and love of Christ to others, even healing a crippled man.
16 By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see.
I love this verse! God’s disciples were doing miraculous things at this time & they could have taken credit for all of it! They could have became great and famous, but instead they stayed faithful to God. Whatever they did, they did in the name of the Lord. We learn so much from the people in the Bible! We should all have attitudes like this and give it all up to God and do everything solely for Him!!!
12When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?
The people in the temple courts were astonished at seeing the man walk and thought Peter and John healed him by their own power, or as he says, godliness. Peter realized this and sets them straight. He tells them that not only was it by the power of God that this man could walk and they gave God all the glory, but they also told the people they need to repent! That is so cool. Pretty much any conversation can be turned to where you end up telling the other person the gospel! There are so many opportunities, and I know I need to make sure I am taking them and that I double it up!!
Its so cool how Peter and John see an opportunity for evangelism and immediately go out and take advantage of it. This shows God will always bless us with opportunities to talk to people, but we need to always be alert and ready to to take advantage of them.
And its also cool to see ordinary men doing miracles through the power of Christ. Its amazing what Christ can do with us when we have open hearts that are ready to serve Him. We need to be praying constantly that He would do a work through us as we set our hearts on Him, and we will see many people saved like it talks about in these chapters/
12When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?
What a great response by Peter, I like in the first thing he asked is “why does this surprise you?” Peter was probably thinking, why is this so surprising after you seen Jesus do this time after time again. Then Peter gives the glory to God, because this is not Peter’s own power, but it is the power from God.
19Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,
this verse is awsome!!! the one and only way to get saved is by repentence and faith, and this verse should encourage nonchristians to repent….as christians we should trying to be living a more holy life like god did:)
15You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this.
Right when i read this verse i just stopped to think about it. I really love how it says that Jesus is the author of life. He really is!! Ahhh i just love that
Good to be back on here. I’ve been busy, but that’s no excuse not to get in the Word; that’s when we need it most, especially the encouragement of fellowship through SOTD. Great comments everyone!
8He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.
This is such a beautiful picture!! I couldn’t even imagine what it would be like to see a crippled person healed. It would have to be unreal! (A miracle maybe?) I think, however, that this serves more as a framework for how Christians should be reacting to true “healing.” This man was healed of his physical ailments and went out rejoicing and praising God. How much more should Christians be praising God, shouting at the top of their lungs, for the spiritual healing he grants us in Christ!!! Even more, we should be absolutely overjoyed when we witness a non-believer come to Christ. I thought this verse was a great parallel to the healing power God has on us both physically and spiritually. We need to make sure we have the thankful and worshipping heart the cripple had for God’s grace!
16By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see.
I agree with Mike. Peter takes this great miracle and gives God glory instead of accepting it himself. He takes full advantage of every situation using it to share the Gospel so that others may be saved.
12When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?
i love the humility of teh disciples here! they just healed a man in the name of Christ that everyone knows is a poor beggar, and the disciples give it all to God. in everything that we do we should give it all to God. we should want to do everything for His glory, because it is what He deserves and requires. I also like what Zach said, about how the beggar didnt care that he could walk, but rather he was praising God for HIs grace and mercy. sometimes we get caught up in these awesome things, and we are sooo excited about it we forget to thank God. He gives, but He takes away if it is interfering with our walk with Him
16By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see.
This chapter has so many great verses like in verse 16 By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. this verse tells alote because this is how we recive the Lords kingdom is through faith in the lord. But first you must do as it sais in verse 19 to repent of your sins.
S.
C.
14You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you.
15You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this.
This passage is great. Peter didn’t hold back in his preaching. He wasn’t afraid to preach the unpopular message of his day. Can you imagine the conviction some of those Ist Century Jews heard Peter accusing them of killing the author of life? Many of them had seen Jesus, maybe even some had seen him perform miracles, perhaps they had cried Hosanna as Jesus was riding on the backs of a donkey and a colt. It was team effort Matt 21:6.
We need to be bold just as Peter was and tell our non christians friends that they are sinners destined for hell unless they repent of their sins and believe in Jesus Christ. and the reason we do this is because we want to be good friends. and really our non-christian are indeed going to hell if they don’t repent. Its true. So we need to have compassion and warn them of the danger.
12When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?
I am struck by how Peter redirects the attention brought to him by the healing of the beggar into a full on Gospel presentation v.13-26. This is the second time in Acts (the other Pentecost) when Peter took advantage of having people’s attention and used it to point to Jesus. His messages are filled with scripture, hard truths, and a call for repentance that left his audience “cut to the heart” (2:37). This encourages me not to back down or water down anything I say went I talk about God with other people.
19Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,
I love how Peter speaks to the people. He does not hold back or try and word things a certain way. He just calls it like it is. He calls them to repentance. This is the kind of evangelistic faith that I want to have. The message is simple Repent and have faith. Sometimes it seems so complicated but its not. We just need to be bold and Preach the GOSPEL.
19Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,
That pretty much sums up our chritian faith. No matter what you have done, God will always be willing to forgive you. I really think that more people need to know about how God will always be there for them. Many people make bad mistakes, and feel so guilty that they go through life thinking that God will never forgive them. Yet, this verse testifies that all they need to do is repent and put their faith in God and they will be forgiven.
8 He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.
It brings me joy to read this verse!!! It is so wonderful how God works!! Peter and John didnt have any money to give the poor man but they gave him something ALOT BETTER, something that will last this many forever!….they gave him the good news!!! This man now prasies the Lord that he can walk!!!
5So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.
6Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”
7Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong.
This is so great!
We need to encourage others and help them with their walk with Christ. Gold and Silver mean nothing and they are so insignificant compared to the glory of God in Heaven.
12When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?
Oh man what an awesome chapter! This verse stuck out to me the most because I love the example as well as truth that Peter sets up here. I knows it is not by his power that this man was healed, but by Gods hand alone! This reminds me of 1 Corinthians 1:17-
1 Corinthians 17- For CHrist did not send me to baptize, but to preach the Gospel-not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
The ideas in these two verse are different, but the idea of this verse with the whole chapter of Acts 3 connects so well I think!
Paul gets to preach the Gospel and tell the truth! If Paul lied or added something in any way, there would be no power because it would come from man’s wisdom, but he didn’t. So many churches and pastors do this in our world today, “With Christ your life will be better,” “With Christ you will lose weight,” “With Christ you will be happy!” FALSE FALSE AND MORE FALSE, we need to start telling it like it is! “With Christ, you will die and crucify yourself, live a hard life, wage war everyday, but have a peace that trancends all understanding with eternal life!”
Now that is what I call truth!
19Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,
I love how the diction used here creates a “refreshing” image when a nonbeliever repents of their sins. I feel like many non-Christians do not understand that living a life as a Christian is a freeing experience. They are blinded and enslaved by their sin to the point that they see us as being enslaved by our beliefs. Ironic, huh?
San Clemente Reminder!!! Morning prayer starts tomorrow morning in front of the Little Theater by the vending machines between zero and first period (same time and place as last year). See ya there!
2Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts.
Wow, I just wanted to point out how ironic that was that a begger, which most people thought was a disgusting thing, was sitting in front of the temple gate called Beautiful! It just kind of reminded me that everything that God has created is beautiful in His sight and should not be overlooked. We shouldn’t overlook anyone that’s on the street. We should see them and their soul and really care about whether or not they are going to Heaven. God created them just as He created us, and God cares about their salvation too. That is what I automatically thought when I looked at that verse.
19Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,
Then this verse just brought me overwhelming joy! Whenever I here the message get out it just brings me such gladness! Oh and by the way, great comments everyone!
6Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” 7Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. 8He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.
These verses hit me hard. Nothing on this earth could even compare to Jesus Christ. it reminded me that there is nothing we can do or give in this world that will save us, but only believing in Christ. Nothing else even comes close to God on this earth.
19Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,
I thought this verse was really good how we need to completely turn from our sins and follow the Lord. All good things come from the Lord and we need to remember to do everything in his name.
Another good day of comments everyone! Let’s keep encouraging others to join us on here!
19Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,
This is the second time in three chapters that Peter has preached on repentance. As we will see in our next series this is a major theme in the early church and even in the New Testament. If we don’t turn then we will burn, but all who repent are forgiven for their sins and receive times of refreshing from the Lord.
I really like this chapter. First of all a man that could not walk was made through God to walk. And that is amazing in its self. But the cool thing that i think we can take out of this is that when John and Peter did this they did not take any of the credit. They said straight up to the people like why are u looking at us we did not do this and they gave all the glory to God like it ought to be. So i just want to give God all of the glory for all that i do!!!!!
19Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord
Great comment, Beth W., just what I was thinking! There is nothing as refreshing as the cleansing that comes from turning to God in repentance. I know this is true in the sense of becoming a Christian, the initial repentance. But this really encouraged with the reminder of how refreshing it is to be repentant of my sin each day, because God has promised that “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 What refreshing we can find in the Lord daily!
12When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?
People will comonly want to take the glory for everything they do. But they always forget that it is by the Lord’s hand that we are doing all things, and He needs to be praised for everything! So the next time someone points at you, point up!