8 A Miracle to Confirm the Word (3:1-11)

Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer. And a certain man who had been lame from his mother’s womb was being carried along, whom they used to set down every day at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, in order to beg alms of those who were entering the temple. And when he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he began asking to receive alms. And Peter, along with John, fixed his gaze upon him and said, “Look at us!” And he began to give them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, “I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene—walk!” And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened. And with a leap, he stood upright and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God; and they were taking note of him as being the one who used to sit at the Beautiful Gate of the temple to beg alms, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. And while he was clinging to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them at the so-called portico of Solomon, full of amazement. (3:1–10)

The Bible warns repeatedly of the ever-present danger of heretical false teachers. Because they claim to represent God, yet misrepresent His truth, they do great harm. Jesus described these preachers in Matthew 7:15 as “ravenous wolves” and warned that “many false prophets will arise, and will mislead many” (Matt. 24:11). Some will be exceedingly dangerous, showing “great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect” (Matt. 24:24).

The apostle Paul called false teachers “savage wolves” (Acts 20:29), “rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers” (Titus 1:10). He warned the Corinthians to beware of them, calling them “false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ” (2 Cor. 11:13). They are those who “fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons” (1 Tim. 4:1), who “oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected as regards the faith” (2 Tim. 3:8).

Perhaps the most scathing denunciation of heretical preachers comes from the pen of the apostle Peter. It needs to be read in full.

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly thereafter; and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day with their lawless deeds), then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties, whereas angels who are greater in might and power do not bring a reviling judgment against them before the Lord. But these, like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed, suffering wrong as the wages of doing wrong. They count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, as they carouse with you, having eyes full of adultery and that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children; forsaking the right way they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness, but he received a rebuke for his own transgression; for a dumb donkey, speaking with a voice of a man, restrained the madness of the prophet. These are springs without water, and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved. For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved. For if after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment delivered to them. (2 Peter 2:1–21; cf. Jude 4–16)

The danger posed by such liars makes it imperative that there be a way to distinguish them from those who speak truth from God. The apostle John recognized that need for discernment when he warned believers, “Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).

The Lord Jesus Christ recognized the responsibility for God’s messengers to have His teaching accredited by His works. He said of His own ministry, “the works that I do in My Father’s name, these bear witness of Me” (John 10:25), and, “If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father” (John 10:37–38). He challenged Philip to “believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me; otherwise believe on account of the works themselves” (John 14:11). The works that He did corroborated the words that He said. Nicodemus recognized that when he said, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him” (John 3:2).

The Lord granted that His spokesmen in the early church, the apostles and prophets, also be accredited by miracles. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles” (2 Cor. 12:12). The writer of Hebrews added, “How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will” (Heb. 2:3–4). As noted in the discussion of Acts 2:43 in chapter 7, however, such miraculous accreditation is no longer necessary. We can determine who speaks for God by comparing their teaching with Scripture.

The miraculous sign gifts included the gift of healing (cf. Matt. 10:1) exercised in this passage. This is one of many healings done by the apostles (cf. Acts 2:43), selected for its impact and connection to Peter’s inspired sermon. Unfortunately, there is much confusion about that gift. Many today claim to possess or have access to that gift. Their so-called healings run the gamut from psychological ploys to outright fakes to demonic activity. A biblical understanding of the apostolic healing ministry includes the following points:

First, as noted above, many alleged healings are fraudulent. Over the years, faith healers have been exposed as charlatans. Apparent healings result from mind manipulation or a kind of hypnosis, stemming from a strong belief in an authority figure. When that figure tells people they are healed, their emotions may temporarily override their physical symptoms. Such “healings,” needless to say, are short-lived.

A related category of “healings” involves cures of psychosomatic illnesses. Since such imagined diseases can produce symptomatic illnesses having no physical, organic cause, their cure is not an illustration of the gift of healing. Jesus and the apostles healed those afflicted with physical ailments, such as blindness, deafness, and paralysis, and organic diseases, such as leprosy. The cure of those conditions, and others like them, however, is beyond the reach of contemporary faith healers.

Second, Satan and his demonic hosts can produce counterfeit healings. They do so not only in false religions but also under the guise of Christianity. The Lord Jesus Christ warned that “false Christs and false prophets will arise, and will show signs and wonders, in order, if possible, to lead the elect astray” (Mark 13:22). The apostle Paul echoed that warning, relating it specifically to the coming man of sin. He described him as the “one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders” (2 Thess. 2:9). Jesus warned that “many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness,” (Matt. 7:22–23). God is not involved in, nor does He approve of, everything done in His name. Still less does He desire testimony from demonic sources. Our Lord refused to allow the demons to disclose His true identity (Luke 4:41), and Paul refused to allow a demon-possessed girl even to testify to the truth that he and Silas were God’s servants (Acts 16:16–18).

Believers must constantly be aware of the danger of satanic deception. Paul warned the Corinthians of that when he wrote regarding some of the false teachers of his day:

For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their deeds. (2 Cor. 11:13–15)

Satan is perhaps even more dangerous in his subtlety as a wolf in sheep’s clothing than as a roaring lion.

Third, contrary to the teaching of many today, the early church was not a miracle-working church. Rather, they were a church with miracle-working apostles. The gift of healing in the early church was limited to the apostles and their close associates in ministry. When they disappeared, so did the gift of healing.

Fourth, in every recorded instance of the gift of healing in Acts, it is unbelievers who are healed (3:1–11; 5:15–16; 8:7; 19:11–12; 28:8). (Whether or not Aeneas [Acts 9:33–34] was a believer is difficult to determine due to the brevity of the passage. However the description of him as “a certain man,” rather than a believer or disciple [cf. Acts 9:36] suggests he was an unbeliever.) That miraculous healing was an utterly uncommon occurrence in the early church is clear from the stir Peter’s healing of Aeneas caused. If healings were common, what would be so sensational about one more? Yet Peter’s healing of Aeneas caused all who lived in that region to turn to the Lord (Acts 9:35).

Further evidence that the gift of healing was not used on behalf of the church comes from the passages that mention sick believers. Paul did not heal Trophimus but left him sick at Miletus (2 Tim. 4:20). Nor did he advise Timothy to go to the local healer for his medical problems. Instead, he told him to take wine for his illness (1 Tim. 5:23).

Does that mean God no longer heals? Of course not! God may choose to heal today in response to the prayers of His children, when that is consistent with His will. But that is a far cry from the miraculous, supernatural healing ability given the apostles on behalf of non-Christians. They were the foundation of the church (Eph. 2:20), but they have passed from the scene. With them went the miraculous gifts that were uniquely associated with them (2 Cor. 12:12). It is an unfounded assumption without biblical support that healings should be expected as commonplace in the church. Never in all history has there been a time of such healing power as exhibited by Christ and the apostles. There is no time before or since when God manifested such prolific healing miracles. It was rare before the ministry of the Lord and the apostles and equally, if not more, rare since. (For a detailed discussion of healing, see my book Charismatic Chaos [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992], and Richard Mayhue, The Healing Promise [Eugene, Oreg.: Harvest House, 1994].)

In Acts 3:1–10, the Holy Spirit selects one of the “many wonders and signs” mentioned in 2:43 as an illustration. This astounding miracle of healing a man lame from birth gathers a curious crowd and prepares them to hear Peter’s sermon. It also confirms that Peter and John represent God. The record of the lame man unfolds in three events: the scene, the sign, and the sequel.

THE SCENE

The gospels and Acts reveal that Peter and John were closely associated. According to Luke 5:10, they were partners in a fishing business before their call as disciples. With John’s brother James, they made up the inner circle of the twelve (cf. Matt. 17:1; Mark 5:37; 9:2; 13:3; 14:33; Luke 8:51; 9:28). Jesus entrusted them with making preparations for the Passover meal (Luke 22:8). They alone of the twelve followed Jesus to the high priest’s house after His arrest (John 18:15ff.). Peter and John were the first of the disciples to visit the tomb after the resurrection (John 20:2ff.). The early chapters of Acts often find them traveling and ministering together (cf. 4:13, 19; 8:14).

The imperfect tense of the verb translated were going up suggests it was their custom to go to the temple frequently (cf. 2:46). The ninth hour, the hour of prayer would be three in the afternoon according to the Jewish reckoning, which counted the hours from sunrise. Psalm 55:17 mentions the three hours of prayer, the other two being in the morning (the third hour) and at noon (the sixth hour). The ninth hour was also the time of the evening sacrifice, when the daily temple crowds would be at their peak.

On their way into the temple, the two apostles encountered a certain man who had been lame from his mother’s womb. Crippled from birth, his case was hopeless; his affliction was not one the doctors of his day could cure. The imperfect tense of the verb translated was being carried along, together with the phrase set down every day indicates it was his daily routine to beg at that location.

The gate of the temple which is called Beautiful was the perfect site to beg alms of those who were entering the temple. Beggars in Palestine favored three locations: the houses of the rich (cf. Luke 14:1–2; 16:19–21), main highways (cf. Mark 10:46), and the temple. Of the three, the temple was the best site. Not only did crowds throng the temple daily, but they also came to impress God with their piety. One way to do that was to give alms to the poor. Further, the temple treasury was where people gave their offerings to the Lord. They would therefore be in the frame of mind to give money when they came to the temple. The Beautiful Gate, inside the temple mount area on the eastern side, separated the Court of the Gentiles from the Court of the Women. Like the other gates, it was large and ornate. According to the Jewish historian Josephus, it was made of Corinthian brass, and was so large it took twenty men to close it (Wars V.V.3, VI.V.3).

The lame man was strategically placed at the gate for maximum effect, and spotting Peter and John about to go into the temple, he began asking to receive alms. He expected mercy in the form of money, little realizing he was about to receive the greater mercy of healing and salvation.

THE SIGN

And Peter, along with John, fixed his gaze upon him and said, “Look at us!” And he began to give them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, “I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene—walk!” And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened. And with a leap, he stood upright and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping (3:4–8a)

Four aspects of this miracle are noteworthy: it was unexpected, it was done in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, it was instantaneous, and it was complete.

IT WAS UNEXPECTED

In response to the beggar’s cries for alms, Peter and John fixed their gaze upon him. Atenizō (fixed his gaze upon) is the same word used in 1:10 to describe the apostles’ intense gaze at the ascending Lord. The two apostles focused their attention on the unhappy cripple, commanding him, “Look at us!” With eager anticipation, the beggar began to give them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. He was expecting, of course, to receive money. Peter’s reply, “I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you,” was totally unexpected. The beggar no doubt wondered what these men could give him that would be more valuable than money. He was soon to find out.

Like all of God’s works, this miracle was based on God’s sovereign will. There were hundreds of other beggars in Jerusalem, many of them undoubtedly crippled as well. But it was this man that God sovereignly chose to receive healing. Expecting only some money to help momentarily ease his desperate situation, the beggar instead received far more than he would have ever dreamed possible.

IT WAS DONE IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST

In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene—walk! (3:6b)

The beggar had little reason to believe in Jesus Christ. Jesus had not changed his plight, and He had been executed as a blasphemer. He therefore must have found Peter’s use of His name perplexing. In the name of means by virtue of Christ’s character, authority, and power. As noted in the discussion of Acts 2:22 in chapter 5, Jesus Christ the Nazarene was the common designation of our Lord during His earthly ministry. It describes Him as Jesus, the Messiah from Nazareth. To do something in the name of Jesus Christ is to act consistent with His will; to do what He would do if He were here, to act in His authority and with His delegated power. Peter had seen the Lord heal countless times. Now, acting on behalf of His Lord with the power delegated to him (cf. Matt. 10:1), he commands the beggar to walk.

IT WAS INSTANTANEOUS

And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened. (3:7)

The beggar’s confusion did not last long. Seizing him by the right hand, Peter raised him up; and immediately his feet and ankles were strengthened. The genuine gift of healing, in contrast to the alleged healings of today, resulted in immediate cures. Our Lord’s healings were instantaneous (cf. Matt. 8:13; Mark 5:29; Luke 5:13; 17:14; John 5:9); there was no gradual process involved. Scripture knows nothing of “progressive healings.” The beggar did not even need to be taught how to walk. He received his coordination and balance instantly.

IT WAS COMPLETE

And with a leap, he stood upright and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping (3:8a)

Peter did not have to manhandle the beggar to get him on his feet. As soon as he felt the strength surge through his feet and ankles, with a leap he stood upright and began to walk. His symptoms were completely gone. Peter and John did not have to support him as he limped along. Instead, he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping. His joy and excitement knew no bounds. Mere walking was not enough for him, he also had to leap. Like a child with a new toy he could not resist using his new-found ability.

The four characteristics of this miracle provide a checklist to screen all alleged miraculous healings. A healing that fits the true biblical pattern will stem from God’s sovereign choice, it will be done to glorify Jesus Christ, it will be instantaneous, and it will be complete. Needless to say, the so-called instances of healing claimed by modern “healers” do not meet those criteria.

THE SEQUEL

and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God; and they were taking note of him as being the one who used to sit at the Beautiful Gate of the temple to beg alms, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. And while he was clinging to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them at the so-called portico of Solomon, full of amazement. (8b—11)

There were three results of the miraculous healing of the lame beggar. First was joy to the beggar himself, which he expressed by praising God. The sedate, stately ritual of the evening sacrifice was suddenly shattered by his loud cries of joy and praise. It is God’s desire that all His children experience joy. Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full” (John 15:11; cf. 16:24).

A second result was praise and worship toward God. Mere participation in a religious service does not in itself guarantee true worship. The most genuine worship of God likely to have taken place that day in the temple was the praise of the beggar.

Third, the miracle was a testimony to the people. The beggar’s outburst of praise caused shock and amazement on the part of the crowd. All the people there in the temple saw him walking and praising God. His was a very public testimony. Recognizing him as being the one who used to sit at the Beautiful Gate of the temple to beg alms, the crowd was filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. That a miracle had taken place was undeniable. They had seen the beggar sitting at the Beautiful Gate for many years, so everyone knew his condition. Even the Jewish leaders did not deny that a miracle had taken place. In Acts 4:16, they said, “What shall we do with these men? For the fact that a noteworthy miracle has taken place through them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.”

As noted in the discussion of Acts 2:22 in chapter 5, God designed miracles to act as signs to attract attention and point people to divine truth. This healing did both. It certainly drew the attention of the crowd, who ran together to them at the so-called portico of Solomon, full of amazement. And had they remembered their Old Testament, they would have known that healings were to mark the beginning of messianic times. Isaiah said of that age, “Then the lame will leap like a deer” (Isa. 35:6).

As He had for Peter’s first sermon on the Day of Pentecost, God provided the introduction. Amazed at the miraculous healing of the lame man, a large crowd gathered at the portico of Solomon, the porch surrounding the Court of the Gentiles (the same location where Jesus had given the discourse on the Good Shepherd [John 10:23]). The man who had been healed stood with the apostles, clinging to Peter and John. He was living proof that a miracle had taken place. The stage was set for Peter to preach Christ.