Acts 3

The Explanation

Three o'clock in the afternoon. The sun is hot on the stones of Jerusalem. Peter and John walk up the steps to the temple, because that is the hour when people go there to pray.

At the gate sits a man. He has sat there almost every day of his life. His legs have never worked, not one single day, not since he was born. Every morning someone carries him to the gate and sets him down. Every evening someone carries him home again. The gate is called Beautiful. It is the most beautiful gate of the temple, all gold and shine. But the man sitting under it does not feel beautiful at all. He holds out his hands and asks for coins.

He sees Peter and John coming. "Something for a poor man?" he calls.

Peter stops. He looks straight at him, right into his eyes. "Look at us," he says.

The man looks up. Now something is coming, he thinks. A coin. Maybe two.

Then Peter says, "I have no silver or gold, but what I have, that I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!"

And Peter grabs him by the right hand and pulls him up.

Something happens in that man's feet. In his ankles. Strength, like warm water running down. His legs, which never once carried him, hold him. He stands. He takes a step. And then he jumps. He goes into the temple with Peter and John, walking and leaping and shouting thank you to God, so loud that everybody turns around.

People stare. "Isn't that the beggar from the Beautiful Gate?" They run together to see. The man will not let go of Peter and John. He holds on to them, still jumping.

Then Peter turns to the crowd. And he says something surprising. "Why are you staring at us? Do you think we did this with our own power?"

No. Peter says: this is Jesus. The Jesus you handed over. The Jesus you said no to, when Pilate wanted to let him go. You chose a murderer instead of him, and Jesus was killed. But God raised him from the dead, and we saw him with our own eyes. It is his name that made this man strong.

Peter does not soften it. He says it out loud. But then he says something gentle too: "I know that you did this in ignorance." You did not understand. And now you can turn around. Turn back to God, and your sins will be wiped away, like chalk washed off a wall.

What Does This Mean?

Peter had no money. He had something better. He had a name, the name of Jesus, and that name is stronger than legs that never worked.

The man asked for a coin. He got a whole new life. God often gives bigger than we dare to ask.

And notice: Peter refuses to be the hero. Everyone is staring at him and he points away from himself. Not me. Jesus.

The Common Thread

Long, long before, God promised Abraham that all the families of the earth would be blessed through his family. And Moses said God would send a prophet you must listen to. Peter says: he is here. Jesus is the one all the prophets were talking about.

The man's leaping feet are like a small sign of something huge. One day God will make everything new and right again. The healed man is the first little piece of that.

For You

You may not have silver or gold either. But you have something. You can say a name. Tonight you can pray for someone by name, someone who is sick, or sad, or sits alone at school.

And you can do what Peter did: stop, and really look at the person nobody looks at.

Talk About It

The man asked for money and got something much bigger. What is something big you would like to ask God for?

Why do you think Peter did not want the people to look at him?

Praying Together

Lord Jesus, your name is strong. Thank you that you saw that man at the gate. See the people I care about too. Help me to look at people, really look, like Peter did. Amen.