Acts 3:1-11 One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. Now a man who was lame 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. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them. Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk. ”Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. When all the people saw him walking and praising God, they 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.
At the gate Beautiful we see a miracle that could not be denied by any group of people. A man lame from birth was CARRIED to the temple gate so he could beg for money from the many people who walked by him to the temple. The beggar was familiar to all who attended the temple. Peter and John were going to the temple at 3 o’clock, probably to meet with other Christians. The lame man cries out to them for alms. Peter and John do not brush by him, but stop and address him. Their act of stopping and talking to him probably made this beggar uncomfortable. He expected the usual comments, either derogatory or a greeting and maybe a coin flipped his way, but not these two men stopping and talking to him in such a direct way. But they stopped and looked at him purposefully, much like Jesus would. When a blind man yelled out to Jesus when He and a crowd of people passed by, Jesus stopped when he heard the man’s cry. He healed that man of his blindness on that day. We know Jesus did only what He was led to do or say by God’s direction. He was not functioning as an independent entity away from his Father’s will. We know that in the Garden of Gethsemane, He said, “Not my will but your will be done." These two disciples were now doing God’s will in this scene. They probably had passed other cripples on the way to the temple, but this cripple was destined by God to walk and jump. As Jesus, who was led by the Spirit under God’s will, they stopped and addressed this beggar’s desire for money. Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk. Surely they had already passed other indigents, but this beggar's daily existence was at the temple gate, so he was very familiar to all who went into the temple. The people knew he had atrophied legs, not conditioned for walking or jumping. But now after his healing, they see him not only walking but jumping with vigor. The people in the temple were astonished at such a scene. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. This miracle was fully developed, he had strong legs to walk and jump. Atrophied legs are not made for that kind of activity. No one could discount such a great miracle. But Jesus who was always led by the Holy Spirit had told the disciples that they would be imbued with power after He was gone from their presence. Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. (John 14:12-14). Jesus will glorify his Father by the acts of his disciples. They too will follow the Father’s will of blessing all people through the name of Jesus. Jesus had commissioned the disciples to minister in his name when they visited towns in Judea. They were to glorify God by doing marvelous works. These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give. (Matthew 12:5-8) Now, however, after Jesus’ departure from the earth, they are under the control of the Holy Spirit. They are to do the mighty works of God for all people. Peter and John stopped that day before this beggar to reveal God’s glorious power to the people of Jerusalem. As Jesus did, they were revealing the love God has for the people He has made.
Jesus also promised them that they would do greater things than what He had done. They were doing the miraculous such as raising the dead. In Joppa we see Peter raising the dead woman, Dorcas. She was a righteous woman, well respected in her community, especially among the widows, for she sewed clothing for them. Now she is dead, bringing much pain and sorrow to those who benefitted from her kindness. Peter, as Jesus did before him, raises her from her deep sleep of death. Peter sent them all (mourners) out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. (Acts 9:39-41) As with the lame man at the temple gate, Peter helps her to her feet. Jesus assisted the blind man by using his spit. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?” He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.” Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. (Mark 8:23-25) Jesus is not done with this man until his sight is restored completely. Peter is not done with the lame man and the dead woman until he knows they can get up and function. But Peter is doing only what he saw Jesus do in his lifetime. Peter also heals a paralyzed man, something he saw Jesus do at the pool of Bethesda. After Jesus heals this man, He tells the man to pick up his mat and walk. Peter in Lydda tells the healed paralyzed man to do the same thing, pick up your mat and walk. There he found a man named Aeneas, who was paralyzed and had been bedridden for eight years. “Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and roll up your mat.” Immediately Aeneas got up. All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord. (Acts 9:34-35) This is not a past tense healing, but his healing is active, present. Jesus Christ heals you. Rolling up his mat is part of that healing. He is in the midst of the healing process; Jesus is with him now, healing every step. This is often what Christ does for each of us in our walk, saying to us, “I have healed you.” Either physically or spiritually, but God is inside us doing the work of healing. This act of healing is accomplished through the Holy Spirit inside us. Peter does the will of the Father. He is telling this man that Jesus Christ has done the work of healing in your body, get up and walk. In both of these situations in Jobba and Lydda, we see Peter going to specific people, not to all the dead, to all the paralyzed, but to two people. As with the lame by the temple, God was using these people’s situations for his glory and for spreading the Good News to all people everywhere.
What about Jesus’ statement of greater works than I have done? How could anything be greater than calming the wind, knocking down the sea waves? When the disciples saw Jesus display such power, they wondered what kind of man do they have in the boat. Of course, they had God who performed the miraculous deed of creating the world and the galaxies with his Word. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. (John 1:1-3) Jesus, manifesting God in the flesh, was in the process of bringing eternal life to the world, restoring the eternal breath of God in human beings. Darkness had permeated the souls of men and women, but now Jesus brought God's eternal life into the lives of men and women of faith. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:4-5) No act can be greater than that restoration, but we do see men doing things that Jesus did not do on earth. One is the judgment of men immediately for their sins and woefulness. Jesus did not do that. When James and John wanted to call judgment on a Samarian town that did not receive Jesus, the Lord rebuked them for such an attitude. Jesus came to restore, to heal, to love people, not to destroy them. Now we see Paul doing something Jesus never did, an act that might seem to be greater than anything Jesus had done while living. Paul is in the mode of judging someone; penetrating God’s domain of rightfully judging all people at the end of time. He brings retribution on a man in Paphos. They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.” (Acts 13:6-11) God is just and He will bring judgment on all people in the last day. In this scene with Bar-Jesus, Paul precludes that day of final judgment by judging this sorcerer, causing blindness to enter his life for a while. We see the same thing happen with the waywardness of Ananias and Sapphira. Peter tells them, you have sinned against God by lying to the Holy Spirit. Therefore, your days on earth will be terminated today. He steps into God’s domain of judging sin, causing the immediate demise of the two liars. Both of these events are different from anything Jesus did on earth, but we do not know if they were greater, but they definitely through the Spirit’s empowerment were opposite of Jesus’ deeds. Angels were heavily involved with the disciples’ lives, delivering the apostles out of prison, giving them direction and dreams. Angels ministered to Jesus in the wilderness during his 40 days of fasting; however, in the custody of his enemies, He was not delivered. God is in the driver's seat in everything Jesus did and everything the disciples did. God’s will was to be performed in Jesus’ walk on earth and God’s will is the guiding force in believers’ lives. The Holy Spirit came to Jesus in the Jordan River in fulness; from that time He completely satisfied the will of God. This is true of the disciples after the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Peter and John were going to the temple to meet with other believers and stopped at a beggar because the Holy Spirit and God wanted them to; Jesus wanted them to for the glory of his Father. Peter under the unction of the Holy Spirit said to this man lame from birth, In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk. The earth stopped that day for the lame man. He for years had watched the activity of men and women as they passed him. The world was going as it always had for him for years. But God stopped the world for him and said get on. I am going to heal you today and this world will be a totally different place for you. The whirling mundaneness of his life and the activity around him stopped. He would have a new life now, a new beginning, a born again life. We too are people who have had God stop our old life. No longer will we be satisfied with eating, drinking and being merry. God has told us to get on with his life in us. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30) Peter lifted the beggar up to a new life. We too have been lifted up to a new life; the old has past; we now live IN HIM FOR HIM.
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