Acts of the Apostles (7)
Introduction
Faith in the power of Christ is not at all the same thing as faith in the power of faith. In this passage, Peter says explicitly that it was not through their own power or holiness that this remarkable healing was accomplished. Rather it was the power of the risen Christ that did it, using the faith of Peter and John as His instrument.
The Text
“Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple; Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms. And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them. Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ancle bones received strength. And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God: And they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him. And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon’s, greatly wondering. And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk? The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses. And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers. But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled” (Acts 3:1–18).
Summary of the Text
Peter and John were going up to the Temple at “the hour of prayer,” which was 3 pm (v. 1). There was a beggar there, lame from birth, who would be carried to the gate that was called Beautiful in order for him to beg (v. 2). For various reasons, we have not been able to identify which gate this was. He saw Peter and John about to enter the Temple grounds, and asked them for alms (v. 3). Peter looked at him directly, together with John, and told him to look back at them (v. 4). The man did so, expecting to be given some money (v. 5). Peter then made his famous statement, “silver and gold have I none,” and commanded him to rise and walk in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth (v. 6). He took him by the right hand and lifted him up, at which point he was immediately healed (v. 7). The man jumped up, and went into the Temple with them, walking, leaping, and praising God (v. 8). Everybody saw him (v. 9)—it was something of a spectacle. They all knew who it was, and so naturally they were stupefied (v. 10). The healed man was hanging on to Peter and John, and so everybody gathered in Solomon’s portico, filled with amazement (v. 11). Solomon’s portico was a long colonnade along the eastern side of the Temple complex. Peter saw the wonder of the people, and asked them why they were so amazed. It was not as though they did this thing through their own power or holiness (v. 12).
Peter then comes right to the convicting point. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the “God of our fathers,” had glorified His Son Jesus—the one you all delivered up (v. 13). You denied Him before Pilate, when Pilate wanted to release Him (v. 13). But you people denied the Holy and Just One and you demanded that a murderer be released instead (v. 14). So Barabbas went free, and you people killed the Prince of Life—the one that God raised from the dead, as the apostles can witness (v. 15). It is the name of this Christ and faith in the name of this Christ that restored the cripple, a lame man that all of you recognize (v. 16). Peter acknowledges that their crime against Christ was done in ignorance, as also it was done in ignorance by their rulers (v. 17). But all the things that all the prophets had said would happen in the suffering of the Christ had now in fact happened (v. 18).
Silver and Gold
One legend had it that Thomas Aquinas was once talking with the pope, who was counting out a large sum of money. The pope said, “You see, Thomas, the church can no longer say, ‘Silver and gold have I none.’ Thomas replied, ‘That is true, holy father, but neither can she still say, ‘Arise and walk.’’” So just remember that it is extremely difficult to keep money from doing what money always does.
Faith and the Faithfulness of the Object
The miracle was accomplished by the name of Christ and by faith in the name of Christ. This was the faith of Peter and John, not the cripple’s faith, because the healing of the lame man obviously overtook him from behind. He was expecting something else entirely.
Now faith needs to be understood as the inevitable response to the perceived faithfulness of God (Heb. 11:11). By faith Sarah “considered him faithful.” When God is understood to be faithful, such understanding is what faith is. Faith has no power or virtue in itself to suspend itself in mid-air. Faith in faith is impotent and empty. Always look away.
You all believe your chairs will continue to hold you, but it is the chair that is doing the holding, not your faith. You all believe that the roof is not going to fall in, but it is the steel beams that hold the roof up, not your faith. You have all seen those early reels of inventors, pre-Wright brothers, jumping off bridges with Batman wings. How much faith did they have, and did it keep them from crashing into the river? And you all know about nervous passengers on a jet, terrified at every moment, and yet their fear doesn’t make the plane crash. If you have faith the size of a mustard seed (Matt. 17:20), placed in the right object, then mountains will move (Matt. 21:21). But we cannot just select random things we want—there must be warrant from the Word as we decide what we are going to ask for. Remember, Jesus was not talking about mountains generally. He told the disciples “this mountain,” where Jerusalem was. That city was doomed.
Whom You Crucified
Now this is the second random crowd of Jerusalem inhabitants that Peter accuses of murder. He did it twice in his address to the people who had assembled at random in response to the gift of tongues (Acts 2:23, 36), and he does it four times here. A random crowd at the Temple gathered in response to a lame man being healed, and Peter charges them with the murder multiple times (Acts 3:13,14,15,17). He wants them to know that Christ is the one who healed this man, of course, but he also wants them to know that it was the same Christ that they had delivered over to death just a few months before. If they do not want to be represented by the wicked and murderous men who did this thing, then they must accept the terms that the apostle was offering them.
Peter allows that they did it in ignorance, just as their rulers did it in ignorance (Acts 3:17). At the same time, the ignorance was culpable in that it was shaped by envy (Matt. 27:18). This accords with what Jesus said from the cross—“they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). The obstinacy and high rebellion really begin at the resurrection. When the rulers obtained a guard for the grave, they were not trying to prevent the resurrection. They were trying to prevent a fraud. But they were so dedicated to this that they promptly became the fraud.
So these events, the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, constituted the condemnation of Jerusalem, that bloody city. These same events were also salvation—if the people repented and believed—from the consequences of this awful murder. The same event was their crime, and also their salvation.
And so the same application can be made for each of us. It was our sin that put Christ on the cross, and Christ on the cross is our deliverance from our sin. So when you look at the cross, you should see your crime. And when you look at the cross you should see your salvation. Only faith can see both at the same time, in the same moment. Both what? The impaled bronze serpent (John 3:14) and the Prince of Life (Acts 3:15) are both there. Faith can see a twisted and defeated devil and a blood and victorious savior, all in the same moment.