Peter Heals a Lame Man (Acts 3:1-10)

Posted on by

Peter Heals a Lame Man (3:1–10)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, April 14, 2024

In my second year of college, I was at a community college in downtown Dayton called Sinclair Community College. One morning I was walking in between two buildings outside, and a man came up to me and told me a story that he said was true. He said he was trying to register for classes, but the school would not take a check. He asked me to deposit his check and then give him cash. Well, I was young, and I trusted people. So, I did that. I walked to the bank, and this man didn’t go inside with me for some reason. I soon found out exactly why he would not go inside. I went inside, and the bank told me I shouldn’t withdraw money from a deposit until a week afterward. But I had most of the money and trusted people, so I did this. I gave him the cash. I called my bank every day to make sure the check was cleared, and after one week, my bank reported a negative balance. It turns out that the man had stolen a checkbook from a student at the University of Dayton. I was out 425 dollars, and for my age, that was a lot of money. That is a lot of money now. I talked to my dad that night and knew he would go crazy that I did such a dumb thing (he used to be a police officer). Ultimately, my dad gave me 300 dollars to help redeem the difference.

I wonder, do you have any similar stories? Have you ever been taken advantage of when trying to be a nice person?

I used to work with another manager at Mcdonald’s, and his name was Scott. One day, Scott came to work and told me something like this: “Steve, I am not going to help someone again.” I said something like, “What happened?” He responded, “I gave someone money yesterday in Columbus and saw them get in a nice car a while later.” We all hear stories of people cheating on another person, don’t we? We all hear stories that make us not want to trust another person. The bad ruin it for those who need help. There used to be a show about policewomen in Cincinnati. It just so happens that one ex-military policewoman caught a man claiming to be a veteran to receive money, and he was not a veteran at all! How shameful is that? There is also something called “A culture of poverty.” People get used to the same old thing.

In today’s sermon, we will talk about how Peter and John healed a man who had been lame for more than 40 years, but God healed him. Remember the theme of one of my past sermons? The theme was that we serve a “mighty” God. We will see that true today. Let’s read Acts 3:1-10:

Acts 3:1–10 (ESV)

Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. 2 And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. 3 Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. 4 And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” 5 And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. 6 But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” 7 And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. 8 And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. 9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

  1. Notice first the context of this section.
    1. Verse 1 simply starts by stating, “Now…” It is as if this is one illustration of something happening in the early church, and I think that is correct. This is one illustration. Do we remember Acts 1:8? Jesus says they will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon them. Well, they now have the Holy Spirit, and powerful, amazing, awesome things have happened. Acts 1:8 is pretty much a theme for the whole scroll of Acts.
    2. Back in February, we talked about the model church in Acts 2:42-47. Verse 43 says that “everyone kept feeling a sense of awe and many signs and wonders began taking place through the apostles.” (NASB)
    3. This section follows up on those two verses. It is an example of the Holy Spirit-empowered church.
    4. Things happen in Acts for a reason, and this is no different. We will soon see how this event leads to an amazing sermon by Peter in verses 11- 26. Then, in chapter 4, Peter and John are arrested and beaten. After that, they are released and have an amazing prayer meeting with the other disciples. All of this begins with the healing of a lame beggar.
  2. Now, the event.
    1. It is now three in the afternoon, and Peter and John are going to the temple. It was a normal time of prayer. The text says that it was the ninth hour. This would mean that we start counting hours from 6 A.M., and at 3:00 in the afternoon, it is the ninth hour. This was a time of prayer. They had times of prayer that were specified in the morning and evening offerings, so this would be going into the evening offerings.
    2. What is about to happen is when they are on their way to a corporate spiritual discipline. Have we ever had something happen when going to a corporate spiritual discipline? I think Peter and John had their eyes opened, ready for God to have them do something, and because of that, they were ready for this event.
    3. Do we have our eyes opened? What about after church when we go to lunch? Are we ready? God may give us an awesome opportunity to pray for a waitress; don’t miss it. Pray that God will open our eyes.
    4. I heard something interesting on the Christian Radio program Chris Fabry Live. Chris interviewed Paul Baloche. Paul wrote the song Open the Eyes of My Heart Lord. Paul explained the background to that great Christian prayer song. He said that when he wrote the song, he was working hard, trying to raise a family. They were living in poverty in a trailer and, of course, going to church. Many times, the pastor would invite people to stay for prayer after the service. Based on Ephesians 1 the pastor would talk about God opening their eyes and so he started playing with those words on his guitar and then we end up with that song: Open the eyes of my heart Lord, Open the eyes of my heart, I want to see you, I want to see you. To see you high and lifted up [Isaiah 6], shining in the light of your glory, pour out your power and love, as we sing holy, holy, holy. That song has now been sung in many different languages. I heard Paul sing it in French.
    5. Are our eyes open to see the major things the Lord will do?
    6. Peter and John enter the temple for prayer. Now, you must know that they are not in the temple building yet. The noun used to describe the temple means the outer courts and the whole area.
    7. Verse 2 tells us that a man who had been lame from birth was being carried. These people would carry him and lay him down before a gate to beg for alms. The word translated as “alms” means “acts of mercy.” He was begging for money or food.
    8. By the way, Acts 4:22 says that he had been lame since birth, and he was over 40 years old. This man has never walked, never stood up, nothing, and he is over 40 years old.
    9. The rabbis taught that there were three pillars of the Jewish faith—the Torah, worship, and the showing of kindness or charity.[1]
    10. Now, verse 4 tells us Peter and John looked straight at him. They notice him.
    11. When we see people, do we notice them?
    12. I must think that this man probably was amazed when Peter and John looked at him. I bet that a lot of people would simply pass by. I bet many people would look away or fake like they were doing something. Maybe people would text message on their scrolls, or I don’t know, but they would try to do anything but notice the poor beggar. I certainly know that is something that I struggle with. I don’t want to give people money and enable some bad habits. I don’t want to give them gift cards that they can sell for their habit. It is hard to know how to help someone. Peter and John help differently. But right now, he is leaping inside with excitement because he has been noticed. I wonder if he knew who they were. I mean, Pentecost has happened; there was a large stir in the area. Chapter 2 says that the disciples shared with one another.
    13. Verse 5 tells us that he gave them his attention as he expected to receive something. Oh, he will receive something for sure.
    14. Verse 6: Peter makes no excuse. Peter does not pretend to have money. Peter says that he does not have money. But Peter commands him to walk. Now, notice that Peter does this in Jesus’ authority. He says, “In the name of Jesus Christ.”
    15. Verse 7: Peter takes his hand and stands him up. The man’s feet and ankles were strengthened.
    16. The man didn’t need any rehabilitation. He did not have to strengthen or wait for those muscles to be strengthened. He was immediately healed.
    17. Verse 8 tells us, “he jumped to his feet.” Wow! This is amazing. We serve a strong and mighty God!!!
    18. Now, he enters the temple. He praises God for his healing.
    19. According to Leviticus 21, he would not be allowed to enter the temple because he was lame, but now he could. Look at an Old Testament passage with me: then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert…(Isa. 35:6)
    20. Verses 9-10 show that everyone saw this, and everyone was amazed and wondered about this because they knew that he had always sat there and begged for mercy.
  • Some applications:
    1. Peter and John were going to the temple to pray. We must also be active in the corporate spiritual disciplines.
    2. This event happened on their way to a corporate prayer meeting.
    3. This made a ready atmosphere for them to be used by the Lord. We must also be ready to be used by the Lord.
    4. To do this, we must keep our eyes open for events like this. We must be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s lead.
    5. Peter and John didn’t ignore the beggar. I am sure they had seen many before, and maybe they had seen this beggar before, considering Acts 4:22 says that he was more than 40 years old. We must notice people.
    6. Granted that they might have looked at him because they knew the Lord would work through them, but they still did notice, and we must also notice people.
    7. Verse 6: Even if we cannot help people with money, we still can help through prayer and other means (spiritual counsel).
    8. We must remember that we serve a Lord who is at work in mighty ways. This was a miracle and a mighty one at that.
    9. Verse 10: We must also be filled with wonder and amazement at what God does. God has regenerated us!

Close:

Are we ready for God to work through us? I want to come back to the lyrics of that song:

Open the eyes of my heart, Lord

Open the eyes of my heart

I want to see You

I want to see You

Open the eyes of my heart, Lord

Open the eyes of my heart

I want to see You

I want to see You

{Chorus}

To see you high and lifted up

Shining in the light of Your glory

Pour out Your power and love

As we sing holy, holy, holy

Pray

[1] Polhill, J. B. (1995). Acts (Vol. 26, p. 126). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

Leave a comment