Big Healing Book - Acts 3:1-16

Acts 3:1-16:

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.

Notes on Acts 3:1-16:

The man himself did not appear to be expecting a miracle. He was looking for a handout as usual. We do not know whether or not the man had heard the teaching of the apostles, either directly or secondhand from those who went in and out. Whatever the case, he rose up healed. This was a sign that resulted in the salvation of a large number of people in one day! Jesus said that signs would follow the preaching of the gospel and that He would give the disciples power to be witnesses. This word was proved true. However, being healed as a sign is NOT the norm and should not be the way you seek healing.

Today, people would probably think it was humbler to say, “DON’T look at us; look only upon Jesus,” but that’s not what Peter said here. Peter was bold because he knew he had something. You have something too if you’re born again and Spirit-filled.

It’s not up to YOUR power and godliness to see a miracle, as Peter made clear in the passage above. It’s God’s power working through you, not your own power. God can use you even though you aren’t perfect, just as God used Peter when he was far from perfect. If you’ll believe and be available, God will use you, too!

It’s interesting to note the way Peter exercised faith here. Did you notice that he took the man by the right hand BEFORE his feet and ankles got strong? Most of us would have waited for the man to confirm that his feet and ankles were strong before starting to hoist him up.

Peter attributed this act to “the faith which is by Him [Jesus],” not “the faith we worked up ourselves.” This is consistent with the idea that Jesus is the Author and Finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).

It is a subject of debate among believers in divine healing whether this instance is an example of the “gift of faith” in operation or the operation of Peter’s general faith (which all of us have). This is an important issue, because we will be left with one of two conclusions: Either this is not something we can expect to do as a matter of course because special faith has to be given to do it, or this is something we can expect to do because we have the “like precious faith” that Peter had (2 Peter 1:1). The phrase “faith which is by him” has been used to prove that this was special faith given by the Lord for this instance. However, I would lean toward the opposite conclusion for two reasons. First, Peter said that it was faith in the name of Jesus as opposed to just faith, and we can all exercise faith in the name of Jesus at any time. Second, it was faith by HIM (Jesus) as opposed to faith given by THE SPIRIT, which is what Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians 12:8-11 concerning spiritual gifts. That might seem like splitting hairs, but I think it’s a valid distinction. If Peter’s faith were by JESUS, He is the Author and Finisher of our faith, and that refers to our general faith, not special faith given to accomplish only a specific task.

If people all over town could get saved because of one miracle, it’s still possible for something like that to happen today. Let’s not limit God!