Now
Peter and John were going up to the temple area for the three o’clock hour of
prayer. 2 And a man crippled from
birth was carried and placed at the gate of the temple called “the Beautiful
Gate” every day to beg for alms from the people who entered the temple. 3 When he saw Peter and John about to go into
the temple, he asked for alms. 4 But Peter looked intently at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” 5 He paid attention to them, expecting to
receive something from them. 6 Peter said, “I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have I give
you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, [rise and] walk.” 7 Then Peter took him by the right hand and
raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles grew strong. 8 He leaped up, stood, and walked around, and
went into the temple with them, walking and jumping and praising God. 9 When all the people saw him walking and
praising God, 10 they recognized him as the one who used to
sit begging at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, and they were filled with
amazement and astonishment at what had happened to him.
Observant
Jews prayed three times a day so that they could build a better relationship with
God and Peter and John were going to the Temple to pray. Even though they believed that Jesus was the Messiah
they were waiting for, they were still Jews obligated to worship in the
Temple. The crippled man had no other way
to support himself than to beg for alms.
Peter called upon the name and power of Jesus and healed the crippled
man (v. 6; Acts 4:7). Healing through
the power of the Holy Spirit in the name of Christ is not controlled by the
piety of human beings. The apostles and
Paul constantly had to make that clear to the crowds who witnessed the healings
(Acts 3:12-16). Jesus Christ directs the
person who has confessed faith in him to be the medium through which the
healing occurs; “All the people of Israel should know that it was in the
name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean whom you crucified, whom God raised from the
dead; in his name this man stands before you healed (Acts 4:10).”
The completeness of the cure was attested to
by the man’s reaction after he was cured. He was no longer barred from entering
the Temple; “He leaped up, stood, and walked around, and went into the
temple with them (v. 8).: Luke wrote,
“Awe came upon everyone, and many wonders and signs were done through the
apostles (Lk. 2:43). The people were filled with awe when Peter healed the beggar in the name and power of Jesus
(Acts 2:1-4).
Almighty
God, we invoke the name of your beloved Son as we lift our prayers to you in
hope. Help us to see the miracles you
work in our lives every day and to give thanks for your goodness. This we pray through your Son, Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen!
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990
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