Peter Heals a Cripple (Acts 3-4).

Backstory: God had called Abraham promising him a homeland and multiple descendants to bless the world. Abraham’s descendants became slaves in Egypt, so God called Moses to led Israel out of Egypt. At Mt. Sinai God formed them into the nation of Israel and eventually led them into their land under Joshua. Then God found a king after His own heart in David and promised him a ‘perpetual kingship’ over God’s people. David’s son, Solomon, built the Jerusalem Temple as a dwelling place for God, but his many foreign wives introduced an idolatry that split the nation. The ‘Northern kingdom’ would be scattered by the Assyrians and the ‘Southern Kingdom’ was later taken into ‘Exile in Babylon for 70 years’. The Persians conquered the Babylonians and allowed the Jews to return to their land but Israel remained dominated by various Pagan empires. God’s people were waiting for God to send a conquering king to liberate God’s people and God sent Jesus. After being ‘anointed by the Spirit’ at his baptism, Jesus overcame the Devil’s temptations and he proclaimed the ‘Kingdom of God’. Jesus formed a ‘new people (12)’ around himself and once his disciples recognized his Messianic identity he made his way to Jerusalem where he was enthroned as ‘KING of the JEWS’ on a cross. Three days later Jesus was ‘declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead’ (Romans 1:4). Then Jesus showed himself alive to his disciples and ascended into heaven. He told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem and then on the ‘Day of Pentecost’ God poured out his Spirit on disciples empowering them to be his witnesses. This brings us to the story of Peter healing a crippled beggar at the temple gates. Watch the story being told and read the comments below.

A Cripple is Healed: The apostles, Peter and John, were on their way to the temple to pray when a crippled beggar asked them for money. Peter tells the beggar that they didn’t have money but Peter tells the man, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Then Peter helps him up by the hand. The man’s legs became strong so that the man was able to walk into the temple courts, jumping and praising God. Peter had something better than money and he didn’t even ask if the man wanted to be healed. Peter just told the man to get up in the name of Jesus and then Peter helped the man up and he was able to walk. Clearly the point of the story is that the ‘name of Jesus’ carries the restorative power of God.

The people recognized him as the cripple who normally begged at the temple gate and they were ‘filled with amazement’. They gathered around looking at Peter and John as if by their own power and godliness they had healed the crippled man. Peter wanted them to look to Jesus who the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had glorified. They had turned Jesus over to Pilate who was willing to release Jesus but they had Pilate release a murderer instead. According to Peter, they killed the ‘author of life’ but God raised him from the dead. Peter and John were witnesses of this and the healing confirmed their testimony. It was not that Peter and John had special power or that the name of Jesus is magical. They trusted in Jesus who had the power and it was through faith in the name of Jesus that the man was made whole (3:16).

The God of the Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had glorified Jesus, who the people of Israel handed over to Pilate. They killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. Peter and John were eye-witnesses and the healed man validated their testimony. Peter said that Israel and their leaders had acted in ignorance but they were without excuse since the ‘prophets’ had foretold that the Christ would suffer. Therefore they were to ‘repent and turn to God’ and they would be forgiven and ‘refreshed’ by God sending the appointed Christ Jesus. For now Jesus would remain in heaven until his return at the time when God would restore all things. After his ascension, Jesus waits for the time to return to renew all creation and to make heaven and earth one as foretold by the prophets.

The Israel story was culminating in the Jesus story. Jesus was the prophet like Moses who would usher in an age foretold by all Israel’s prophets. The story of Jesus was the unexpected fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham to bless ‘all peoples on earth’. The resurrection and ascension of Jesus was the culmination of the story told by all of Israel’s prophets. The appropriate response was to repent of their wicked ways and turn to the resurrected Jesus. Israel and their leaders had killed the Christ in ignorance, but they were without excuse for all the prophets had foretold these days.

The religious leaders heard Peter’s preaching of the resurrection of Jesus and they were greatly disturbed. Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, responded boldly by saying the crippled man had been healed in ‘the name’ of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Many believed the message and the number of believers increased to over 5000. The religious leaders, however, put Peter and John in prison overnight.  The next day the religious rulers questioned Peter and John about the healing. Then Peter ‘filled with the Holy Spirit’ made it clear that all Israel needed to know that it was by the ‘name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth’ that the man stood healed. Moreover, the whole incident showed that there was salvation in no one else and that there was no other man by which we can be saved, other than the name of Jesus.

The religious leaders were astonished by the boldness of these two ‘unschooled ordinary’ men. They knew that their courage came from being with Jesus. Now they couldn’t deny that a miraculous healing had occurred because the man was standing right there. Peter had said that the miracle had been done in the ‘name of Jesus’; who they had crucified but whom God raised from the dead. To try to stop the message from spreading they threatened the apostles and forbid that they teach or preach in the name of Jesus. However, for Peter and John to obey the religious leaders would mean they would have to disobey God. So Peter and John said that they couldn’t stop speaking about what they had seen and heard. Now the crowd was praising God and the leaders didn’t know what to do. They threatened the apostles and let them go.

They were ‘untrained, ordinary men’ but they had the first-hand experience of being with Jesus and that was the source of their bold witness. They had a clear and focused way of understanding Israel’s story as culminating in Jesus. They proclaimed the risen Christ who had transformed them and they were not going to stop testifying about the Jesus they had seen and heard. The crowd was praising God and not knowing what to do the leaders further threatened them and then released them. Peter and John went and told their fellow believers all that had happened. They went to God in prayer and asked Him to continue to do miracles in Jesus’ name and to enable them to speak the word with boldness. God answered their prayers by shaking the place where they were and filling them with the Holy Spirit, so that they spoke the word of God boldly.

Ironically they don’t pray that the Lord would judge those who were threatening them. They didn’t pray that the opposition and the persecution would stop. They prayed, ‘Lord, please continue to work miracles in Jesus’ name and enable us to speak boldly and work powerfully among us.’ What they wanted was for God to miraculously work among them and that they would be enabled to speak of Jesus boldly and confidently. They wanted God’s powerful presence, shaking them up, filling them with the spirit, and giving them boldness. How should we respond to their example? Do we want and pray for what they wanted?

The 'Day of Pentecost' (Acts 2).

The Backstory: Remember how God called Abraham and promised him a homeland and multiple descendants to bless the world. Abraham’s descendants multiplied but were enslaved in Egypt. God called Moses who led Israel out of Egypt to Mount Sinai were God formed them into the nation of Israel that was to be ‘kingdom of priests’. They began to take possession of their land under Joshua but they would need a king to be a ‘light to the nations’. God found in David a king after His own heart and promised David a ‘perpetual kingship’ over God’s people. It was David’s son, Solomon, who built the Jerusalem Temple as a dwelling place for God among His people. But Solomon’s many foreign wives introduced an idolatry that split the nation. The ‘Northern kingdom’ would be scattered by the Assyrians and the ‘Southern Kingdom’ was later carried into ‘Exile in Babylon for 70 years’. When the Persians conquered the Babylonians they allowed the Jews to return to their land but Israel remained dominated by various Pagan empires. God’s people were waiting for a ‘conquering king’ to restore the kingdom and God sent Jesus, who was announced by John the Baptist and ‘anointed by the Spirit’ at his baptism. Then Jesus, after overcoming the Devil’s temptations in the wilderness, went around proclaiming the ‘Kingdom of God’. Jesus formed a ‘new people (12)’ around himself and once his disciples recognized his Messianic identity he made his way to Jerusalem where he was enthroned as ‘KING of the JEWS’ on a cross. He looked like a failure, but three days later Jesus was ‘declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead’ (Romans 1:4). Then after showing himself to be alive to his disciples with many convincing proofs he ascended into heaven after telling his disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the gift of the Father, the promised Holy Spirit. This brings us to the ‘Story of Pentecost’ from Acts 2. Watch the story being told and read the comments below.

Pentecost (Acts 2):

On the ‘Day of Pentecost’ all the believers were gathered together when the sound of a violent wind filled their house. Something like tongues of fire came down and rested on them. They were ‘all’ filled with the Holy Spirit and they spoke in other languages as the Spirit enabled them. God-fearing Jews from throughout the empire were in Jerusalem for Pentecost crowded around the house. The crowd was amazed because they heard these Galilean disciples ‘praising God’ but each in their own languages. Some in the crowd wanted to know what this meant but others accused the disciples of having had too much wine (Acts 2:1-13). So Peter addressed the crowd to explain the matter.

Pentecost was an agricultural festival fifty days after Passover. Pentecost was a celebration of the first fruits of the harvest and it had become associated with the ‘giving of the law’ at Sinai. The law was given at Sinai roughly 50 days after that first Passover. All this was a reminder of God bringing Israel out of Egypt and into the land promised. So the day was about God providing for His redeemed people whom He called to do His will on the earth. Moses had gone up Mt. Sinai and had come down with the law, and external summary of God’s will. In his ascension, Jesus had gone up into heaven and at Pentecost the Holy Spirit came down to empower God’s people to do God’s will. At Sinai 3000 were put to death because of the idolatry of the ‘golden calf’ incident. Yet, at Pentecost 3000 were baptized and added to the number of God’s people (Exodus 32:25-28, Acts 2:41).

Pentecost advanced the story of the covenant God made with Abraham to bless the world (Genesis 12:1-3, Galatians 3:8, 14). Abraham’s call follows and reverses the ‘Tower of Babel’ incident where God had confused language to prevent the people from working together in opposition to His will (Genesis 11). In contrast at Pentecost when the disciples declared the ‘wonders of God’ those in the crowd were enabled to hear them in their own languages with no translation. This linguist unity was a testimony that God was now extending His reign throughout the earth (Acts 1:8). This was the Spirit’s empowerment which Jesus had promised to enable his disciples to testify about him throughout the earth. So Pentecost represents a significant advance in God’s plan to bless the world through Abraham. To do this God was now has pouring out His Spirit on ‘all people’ as foretold by the Prophet Joel (Acts 2:4, 17, Joel 2:28-32).

Some in the crowd sought an explanation while others thought the disciples were babbling drunkards. So Peter explained that this was what God had said through the prophet Joel regarding God pouring out His Spirit on ‘all people’ in the ‘last days’. Their sons and daughters would prophesy, their young men would see visions, their old men would dream dreams and God would poured out His Spirit on ‘all His servants’. The ‘last days’ had come and the final ‘Day of the Lord’ when the sun would go dark and the moon would turn to blood would come. For now God would pour out His Spirit on ‘all peoples’ including all genders, all ages, all ethnicities and all who calling on the Lord, that is Jesus, will be saved (2:21). 

Peter preached Jesus as a man who had been accredited to them by signs and wonders and yet they had handed Jesus over to be put to death on a cross. But this was all part of God’s set purpose for David had foretold how God would ‘not abandon Jesus to the grave, or let His Holy One see decay’ (Psalm 16).  King David had died and was buried but God had promised to enthrone one of David’s descendants (2 Sam.7:12-14). David had foretold the resurrection and the ascension of Jesus Christ. So God exalted to Jesus to His right hand and Jesus had poured out the Holy Spirit. This was Peter’s explanation for what was observed that day at Pentecost. David hadn’t ascended into heaven, and yet the Psalm (Ps 110) said, “‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”  Peter concluded by announcing that God had made the crucified Jesus, both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:22-36). The resurrection confirmed that Jesus was true Messianic Davidic king and the ascension indicated that Messiah Jesus was the Lord of all the earth. This is the good news is that Jesus is both Messiah and Lord, and in his death Jesus had conquered sin and death changing everything.

Peter’s hearers were ‘cut to the heart’ and asked what they should do. Peter told them to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins and they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Peter assured them that the promise was for them and for their children and for all who were ‘far off’; for all who the Lord would call. 3000 believed Peter’s message and were baptized. The believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, the breaking of bread, and to prayer as essential practices. They shared everything in common and the apostles did many miraculous signs. They met together daily in the temple courts and they broke bread in their homes regularly and the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved (Acts 2:37-47).

These early Christians were a family unified around the resurrected Christ who had ascended into heaven where he was enthroned as the Lord of all the earth. From his heavenly throne Jesus had poured out God’s Holy Spirit and as a result these early Christians simply couldn’t help but speak about the Jesus they had seen and heard. Their speech was transformed but so were their lives for they were a family that shared everything in common. As we reflect on this early Christian community we can only wonder why we fall so short of their example. 

'The Ascension and Promise (Acts 1)'.

We have told the story of Jesus and then we went back and told the story from creation to the conquest of Canaan. We're now going to jump ahead to the story of the early church from the Book of Acts.  

Background Story: God called Abraham promising him a homeland and multiple descendants to bless the world. Abraham’s descendants multiplied in Egypt but were enslaved. They cry out and God called Moses to deliver them from Egyptian slavery. God bound Himself to Israel in covenant at Sinai forming them into a ‘kingdom of priests and a holy nation’. They begin to take possession of their land under Joshua but the chaotic period of the Judges showed that they would need a king to be a ‘light to the nations’. God found in David a king after His own heart and He promised David a ‘perpetual kingship’ over God’s people. David made plans, but David’s son, Solomon, built the Jerusalem Temple as a more permanent place for God to dwell among His people. But Solomon took many foreign wives which introduced an idolatry that split the nation. The ‘Northern kingdom’ would be scattered by the Assyrians and the ‘Southern Kingdom’ was later carried into ‘Exile in Babylon for 70 years’. The Persians, who conquered the Babylonians, allowed the Jews to return to their land. The temple was rebuilt but things fell desperately short of the ‘glories of the prophesied coming kingdom’. So Israel remained dominated by various Pagan empires. The OT ends with God’s people waiting for a ‘conquering king’ to come and restore the kingdom.  

Into this story Jesus was announced by John the Baptist. At his baptism Jesus was ‘anointed by the Spirit’ and declared to be God’s son (Luke 3:22). Jesus was then led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where he overcame the temptations of the Devil, after which Jesus went around proclaiming the ‘Kingdom of God’ and ‘casting out demons by the Spirit of God evidencing that the ‘Kingdom had come’. Jesus formed a ‘new people (12)’ around himself and once his disciples recognized his Messianic identity he made his way to Jerusalem where he was enthroned as ‘KING of the JEWS’ on a cross. He looked like a false Messiah defeated by the Romans, but three days later Jesus was ‘declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead’ (Romans 1:4). This brings us to the ‘Story of the Ascension’ from Acts 1. Watch the story being told and read the comments below.

ACTS 1:1–26.        If Luke’s gospel is the story of what Jesus began to ‘do and teach’ then the Book of Acts is the story of ‘what Jesus continued to do and to teach’. Acts is the sequel to Luke’s gospel and it is based on the resurrection. If there was no resurrection then there would be no continuation to the ‘Jesus Story’ and no hope of transformation. But after dying on a Roman cross Jesus gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He also taught his disciples about the ‘kingdom of God’ over a forty day period. Both the resurrection of Jesus and his teaching regarding the ‘kingdom of God’ were central and essential. Now the next step for the disciples was to wait for the promised Holy Spirit. John had baptized with water in preparation for the Messiah (Luke 3:16) but they would be baptized with the Spirit who would empower them to testify about the resurrected Messiah (Acts 1:1-5).

The disciples wanted to know when Jesus was going to restore the kingdom to Israel. But they were not to know the ‘dates and times’. They needed to know that the Spirit would empower them to testify about Jesus throughout all the earth. The disciples, like many Jews of that day, believed that the Messiah would restore Israel as top nation (Psalm 72, 89) and bring God’s judgement on the rest of the world. But their concept of the kingdom of God needed to be transformed. Then Jesus was taken up into the sky and hidden from their sight by a cloud. They stood gazing into the sky when two ‘men in white’ said that Jesus would return in a similar fashion as he was taken up into heaven. King Jesus had ascended to be enthroned in heaven and the next big thing was that the Spirit would be poured out to transform the world. The ‘Story of Jesus’ would continue by the Spirit-filled Church making known by ‘word and deed’ that Messiah Jesus was the world’s true Lord.

After Jesus’ ascension into heaven the disciples returned to where they were staying in Jerusalem. There they gathered together constantly for prayer. Peter stood among the 120 believers and said that the words of scripture that the Holy Spirit spoke through David had to be fulfilled regarding Judas. Judas had shared in their ministry but he accepted money for guiding those who arrested Jesus. Judas bought a field with the money he received for betraying Jesus where he fell headlong and his body burst spilling his intestines (Acts 1:12-20). Peter understood through what was written in the Psalms, that another would have to take Judas’ place of leadership (Ps 69:25, 109:8).

The twelve apostles chosen by Jesus correlate to the twelve tribes of Israel. The twelve represent the restored people of God. So Peter reasoned from scripture that they would need to replace Judas and a twelfth would need to be selected as his successor. It would need to be someone who had been with them from Jesus’ baptism until the ascension of Jesus into heaven. This shows that these early Christians saw Jesus and themselves as Jesus’ disciples to the continuation of the kingdom and through them the ‘Jesus Story’ would continue. But how could such a motley crew play such an important role? They would do this through the Spirit of God dwelling with them and within them.

So they decided to replace Judas to be one of the twelve and to share in their apostolic ministry. He would need to someone that had been with them from Jesus’ baptism to the time Jesus ascended. Together they would be witnesses that Jesus was the resurrected Messiah who had ascended into heaven. They selected Joseph, called Barsabbas, and Matthias and they prayed that the Lord would reveal the one He had selected. Then they caste lots and Matthias was selected to join the eleven apostles. But how could they be sure of the Lord’s leading as they sought to do the Lord’s will? They were led by the Apostles who were directed by the scriptures and prayer within the context of the community of believers. They gathered in constant prayer and they sought the Lord’s guidance and they acted as informed by the scriptures (Acts 1:20-26).

Despite their flaws, they could be sure that God was directing them, after all even the selection of Judas was part of God’s sovereign plan. Soon, they would have an even greater sense of the presence of the Lord with them to empower them to do God’s will when the Spirit was poured out on them. The resurrected Jesus ascended but the Spirit would be poured out so that the ascended Lord would dwell among them by the Spirit (Revelation 1). They had anticipated Jesus reigning from a throne in Jerusalem but Jesus would now reign from God’s right hand over all creation. The resurrection proved that Jesus was Israel’s true messianic king but the ascension meant that same Jesus was Lord of all the earth. Jesus would empower them by the Holy Spirit so through the Spirit-filled Church Jesus’ Story would continue.