Acts 3

May 7, 2023

Have you ever had expectations for something to either receive or have
happen to you, and it ended up being way more than you asked for or
expected?
Have you ever experienced a miracle or knew of a miracle in the life of
someone you know?

Read Acts 3: One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of
prayer—at three in the afternoon. 2 Now a man who was lame from birth was
being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to
beg from those going into the temple courts. 3 When he saw Peter and John about
to enter, he asked them for money. 4 Peter looked straight at him, as did John.
Then Peter said, “Look at us!” 5 So the man gave them his attention, expecting to
get something from them.
6 
Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In
the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” 7 Taking him by the right hand, he
helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. 8 He
jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple
courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. 9 When all the people saw him
walking and praising God, 10 they recognized him as the same man who used to sit
begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and
amazement at what had happened to him.

Peter Speaks to the Onlookers

11 
While the man held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and
came running to them in the place called Solomon’s Colonnade. 12 When Peter
saw this, he said to them: “Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you? Why do
you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?
13 
The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his
servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before
Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. 14 You disowned the Holy and
Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. 15 You killed the
author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. 16 By
faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It
is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed
him, as you can all see. 1

The man was lame from birth! The man was looking for money.
What did Peter have that he was going to give the man? Faith, power,
healing, Gospel, Spirit of God
How long do you think it takes for a person to regain their ability to
walk after losing it?

Let’s just say that in the event of a stroke, where a person has lost the
ability to walk, most patients regain the ability to walk within the first 6
months or, when mobility has been severely affected, within the first 2
years following their stroke.

INSTANLY the man’s ankles and feet became strong!

He jumped and began to walk!
Walking and jumping and praising God!

Acts 3:12 (NIV)

12 
When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise
you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made
this man walk?

1 The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Ac 3:1–16.
If something like this happened today in our church, would it surprise
you?
That brings me to another question, do these kinds of miracles exist
or happen today? Why or why not?
How would you define a miracle? I and Pastor Tim have discussed
this, and we think for something to be a miracle, it has to happen
outside of the explanation of or constraints of space, time, energy or
matter. Something that couldn’t happen in the natural or has no
natural explanation.
What was the main reason for miracles in the Bible?
John 9:3 3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this
happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.
Matthew 9:4 Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil
thoughts in your hearts? 5Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or
to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 6But I want you to know that the Son of Man has
authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up,
take your mat and go home.” 7Then the man got up and went
home. 8When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they
praised God, who had given such authority to man.
 Bradley Eli, M.Div., Ma.Th.  •  ChurchMilitant.com  •  March 17, 2017 says people inside and
outside the Church are seeking signs and wonders — miraculous phenomena — because
they lack faith in God.

In Matthew 12:39–40, Jesus declared, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign: and
a sign shall not be given it, but the sign of Jonah the prophet."

Signs, wonders, miracles are not for the Christians who already believe, they
accompanied the Gospel and were done in the presence of the unbelievers to have
them believe in the message.
God used miracles to validate the gospel and confirm God power.
Share the story of Ang’s parents in a hospital with their dying baby and next to
them was a very sick and dying baby of another family. The problem was the
family was obviously not believers in Jesus. Ang’s sister and the daughter of her
folks die but the unbeliever’s child was healed.
Why was Peter quick to

correct them? Acts 3:12 (NIV)

12 
When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise
you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made
this man walk?

Peter began his address to the people by deliberately turning their attention
away from himself, denying any special power or godliness. Instead he focused
their attention on the God that they worshipped already and God’s approval
and resurrection of Jesus.2
Then Peter goes on to “burn” them with this statement;
Acts 3:13–16 (NIV)
13 
The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has
glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you
disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go.
14 
You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a
murderer be released to you. 15 You killed the author of life, but God
raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. 16 By faith in the
name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It
is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has
completely healed him, as you can all see.
One more question, how would you interpret the term “author of life”?
What does it mean to be an author of something? A song, a book

2 Conrad Gempf, “Acts,” in New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition, ed. D. A. Carson et al., 4th ed.
(Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994), 1072.