The healing of a lame man 3:1-10

 

Luke had just referred to the apostles' teaching, to the awe that many of the Jews felt, to the apostles doing signs and wonders, and to the Christians meeting in the temple (2:43-44, 46). Now he narrated a specific incident that included these elements. The Gospel writers also chose a healing to illustrate the nature of Jesus' early ministry (Matt. 8:2-4; Mark 1:40-45; Luke 5:12-16, 24; John 4:46-54). The healing of this man resulted in the leaders of the Jews changing their attitudes toward the disciples from favorable to antagonistic (4:1-4). The Christians were not able to continue to enjoy favor with all the people (2:47).

3:1-2 The John in view was undoubtedly the writer of the fourth Gospel, the brother of James. The temple was Herod's temple, and the Jewish hour of prayer was 3:00 p.m. (cf. 10:9, 30; Dan. 6:10; 9:21). The early Jewish Christians continued to follow their former habits of worship in Jerusalem. The lame man had been in his condition for over 40 years (4:22). Furthermore he had to be carried by others. His was a "hopeless case."

The term "Beautiful Gate"is descriptive rather than specific. We do not know exactly which of the three main entrances into the temple from the east Luke referred to.¹⁹⁶He could have meant the Shushan (or Golden) Gate that admitted people into the Court of the Gentiles from the outside world.¹⁹⁷He could have meant the Corinthian Gate that led from the Court of the Gentiles into the Women's Court.¹⁹⁸Another possibility is that it was the Nicanor Gate that led from the Women's Court into the Court of Israel.¹⁹⁹Josephus' descriptions of the temple do not solve the problem since he described both of these latter gates as very impressive.²⁰⁰The last two of the above options appear more probable than the first.

3:3-6 "In the East it was the custom for beggars to sit begging at the entrance to a temple or a shrine. Such a place was, and still is, considered the best of all stances because, when people are on their way to worship God, they are disposed to be generous to their fellow men."²⁰¹

Peter told the beggar to look at him and John so Peter could have his full attention. Peter than gave him a gift far better than the one he expected to receive. This is typical of how God deals with needy people.²⁰²The name of a person represented that person. When Peter healed this man in the name of Jesus, he was saying that it was Jesus who was ultimately responsible for the healing, not Peter. Peter healed him in the power of and with the authority of Jesus of Nazareth (cf. v. 16).

This was the first of three crippled people that Luke recorded the apostles healing in Acts (9:32-34; 14:8-10; cf. John 5; 9). The gift of healing as it existed in the early church was quite different from the so-called gift of healing some claim to possess today. Examples of people using this gift in the New Testament seem to indicate that the person with this gift could heal anyone, subject to God's will (cf. Matt. 10:1, 8; Acts 28:8-9; et al.). The sick person's belief in Jesus Christ and in God's ability to heal him or her also seems to be a factor (v. 16; cf. Mark 6:5-6).²⁰³Jesus Christ gave this gift to the early church to convince people that He is God and that the gospel the Christians preached had divine authority. He gave it for the benefit of Jewish observers primarily (1 Cor. 1:22).

"The New Testament gift of healing is a specific gift to an individual enabling him to heal. It is not to be confused with the healing performed by God in answer to prayer.

"There is little correspondence between modern-day charismatic healings' and the healings recorded in the New Testament. The differences are so vast that many of today's healers are careful to point out that they do not have the gift of healing, but are merely those to whom God often responds with healing."²⁰⁴

3:7-8 Peter evidently did not touch the lame man to heal him as much as to help him to his feet. God healed this man completely and instantaneously. The healed beggar began to test the capability of his strengthened limbs immediately. He evidently followed Peter and John into whatever part of the temple they were entering praising God.

3:9-10 Almost everyone in Jerusalem would have known this beggar since he had sat for so long at an entrance to the temple. Jesus had undoubtedly passed this man many times as He walked in and out of the temple. There would have been no doubt about the genuineness of his healing. Peter performed this sign (a miracle with significance) as Jesus had healed lame people before His crucifixion. By doing it in Jesus' name it would have been evident to all that the power of Jesus was now at work through His apostles. Isaiah had predicted that in Israel's future "the lame will leap like a deer"(Isa. 35:6). The healing of this lame man, as well as the healing of other lame people in the Gospels and Acts, indicated to the Jews present that the Messiah had come. Peter claimed that Jesus was that Messiah.

". . . the similarity between Jesus' healing of the paralytic and Peter's healing of the lame man lies less in the healing itself than in the function of these scenes in the larger narrative. In both cases the healing becomes the occasion for a fundamental claim about Jesus' saving power, emphasizing its importance and general scope (on earth,' Luke 5:24; under heaven,' Acts 4:12). In both cases the healing leads to proclamation of a saving power that goes beyond physical healing. In both cases the claim is made in the face of new opposition and is directly related to the mission announced in the Scripture quotation in the inaugural speech."²⁰⁵

This incident and the other miracles recorded in Acts have led readers of this book to wonder if God is still working miracles today. He is. God can and does perform miracles whenever and wherever He chooses. Regeneration is one of God's greatest miracles. Perhaps a better question would be, does God still give the gift of working miracles to believers today as He gave this ability to Peter, Paul, and other first-century apostles?

Significantly each of the three periods of biblical history when God manifested this gift dramatically to selected servants was a time when God was giving new revelation through prophets.²⁰⁶Each period was brief spanning no more than two generations of people. When the miraculous gift was present not even those who had it healed everyone who could have benefited from it (e.g., Mark 6:5-6; Phil. 2:27; 2 Tim. 4:20; et al.).