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; the 3rd hour (9:00 a.m.), the 6th hour (12_00 p.m.), and the 9th hour (3:00 p.m.) and Peter and John were going to the Temple for evening prayer. Three o’clock was also when the evening sacrifice was offered (Ex. 29:39). The morning and evening hours of prayer were not specifically outlined in the Torah but developed over time and became Rabbinic traditions. Even though the disciples believed that Jesus was the awaited Messiah, they were at that time still worshiping in the Temple. In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus was crucified at the 3rd hour (Mark 15:25), darkness covered the land at the 6th hour (Mark 15:33), and Jesus died at the 9th hour (Mark 15:34-37).
The crippled man had no other way to support himself than to beg for alms, so he sat by the gate through which everyone entered the Temple. Peter and John told the man to look at them and called upon the name and power of Jesus Christ to heal the crippled man (v. 6; Acts 4:7). Healing through the power of the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus Christ is not controlled by the piety or power of human beings. Peter and John made that clear to the crowd who witnessed the miracle (Acts 3:12-16) and also to the Sanhedrin (Acts 4:10). The completeness of the cure was attested to by the man’s reaction after he was cured and was no longer barred from entering the Temple. The 40-year-old man (Acts 4:22) who was born lame and had to be carried everywhere, “Leaped up, stood, and walked around, and went into the temple with them (v. 8).: The crowd reacted with amazement to the miracle and praised God (v. 10; Acts 2:43).
Almighty God, help us to see the miracles you work in our lives every day and grant us the grace to give you thanks for your goodness. This we pray through 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.
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.
Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.
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