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Healing the Crippled Man
The ninth hour (3pm) is a significant time in the New Testament.
It is the time when Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the world. .
It was at the ninth hour when the angel came to Cornelius in answer to his sincere prayers. .
Here Peter and John feel the need to give themselves to prayer regularly with the grand work in front of them and the need to have Christ with them at every step.
There are some important lessons we can learn from the healing of the crippled man.
Firstly, there are lessons that we can learn how God works in our lives.
Luke wrote already that signs and wonders were done by the apostles and was a sort of guarantee of the truth they were proclaiming. .
This was now a personal witness of one of those signs and wonders.
It demonstrates the power of God.
This man was lame from birth!
His condition was irreversible in that time and he was completely helpless.
This was now a personal witness of one of those signs and wonders.
Divine power will be manifested when we act in faith.
The lame man needed to will to get up and it was only as he chose to get up, despite his lameness, that divine power invigorated his nerves and muscles and he was given strength and received healing to his feet and ankles, so much so, that he “leaping up stood, and walked."
So with us, we will only receive the grace that is needed in our lives as we move forward in faith notwithstanding our perplexing situations, and it is only as we do this that we can receive the grace that is sufficient for all our needs.
When we put our trust in God, God will give and do more than we can imagine.
The lame man only asked for some money, but in return he received restoration of his body and his soul.
Salvation came to that lame man that day.
It reminds us of the promise that God “is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.” .
Secondly, we can learn how we can work for the restoration of man.
Peter and John were approachable.
reveals that when the man saw Peter and John going into the temple that he asked an alms (donation) from them.
We need to be approachable, people need to see and feel that our presence is a place where they feel secure and can be helped.
Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John… Look on us.
We need to be able to look people in the eye with when presenting the gospel and let the look be one of love, compassion, telling them that we are intentional and are focused one them.
We need to engage people when we talk to them so that they feel as though we have something to offer them.
Much depends upon the manner in which you meet those whom you visit.
You can take hold of a person’s hand in greeting in such a way as to gain his confidence at once, or in so cold a manner that he will think you have no interest in him.
We should not act as if it were a condescension to come in contact with the poor.
They are as precious in God’s sight as we are, and we must act as if we thought them so.
We need the tender sympathy of Jesus; then we can win our way to hearts.
We need the tender sympathy of Jesus; then we can win our way to hearts.
Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee.
Peter didn’t have any material gain to donate to this poor lame man, but one thing he possessed, which all true believers possess, and that was the treasure of heaven; and this he could offer to this man.
Peter was able to bridge from temporal need to spiritual need (money - Christ’s healing power and peace).
Jesus did this often, especially with the Samaritan woman at the well (water - spiritual life).
In the book of Job finding precious metals and stones are compared to finding wisdom and understanding and their worth is far more than gold, silver, precious onyx and the sapphire.
In we gain the answer of wisdom and understanding are, “the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.”
This reveals that the experience of conversion and salvation is of far more worth than anything in this world; the experience of knowing Jesus Christ is worth more than silver and gold.
Much depends upon the manner in which you meet those whom you visit.
You can take hold of a person’s hand in greeting in such a way as to gain his confidence at once, or in so cold a manner that he will think you have no interest in him.
We should not act as if it were a condescension to come in contact with the poor.
They are as precious in God’s sight as we are, and we must act as if we thought them so.
He took him by the right hand, and lifted him up.
In sharing Christ with this lame man, Peter came close to this man taking him by the hand and lifting him.
As we share Jesus with others and as they begin making their first steps toward Jesus Christ, they will need the grasp of a loving hand gently lifting them into the presence of Jesus.
They were filled with wonder and amazement.
What was the cause of this?
Not only the fact that he was healed, but that he was announcing his new found experience by “praising God.” God uses changed lives to draw others to the message of the gospel.
We need the tender sympathy of Jesus; then we can win our way to hearts.
Evidences of Jesus Christ as Messiah
After the amazement and gathering of people around the lame man and the apostles, Peter then uses this opportunity to present the gospel.
With the opportunity in hand, he points the crowd to three areas of Christ’s life.
First.
The Holy One and the Just [Righteous] (v.14).
He points the Christ’s divinity and sinless life.
Second.
Christ should suffer (v.18).
Peter afterwards points to Christ’s suffering and death.
Third.
the Prince of Life, whom God hath raised from the dead.
Peter also points to Jesus’ resurrection.
Peter then in v.16 explains that the lame man was healed and made strong through faith in the name of Christ.
To have faith in the name of Jesus Christ is to receive Him as a personal Saviour, believe His promises, rely upon His grace, and work His works (Steps to Christ, p. 100).
This faith will give any man and woman “perfect soundness.”
Peter makes it clear that the restoration of this man was only possible through faith in Christ, and that that is only possible if Jesus Christ of Nazareth is the divine Son of God, the Messiah who lived, died, and resurrected to give life to the world.
Peter makes his argument of the resurrection of Christ on both objective and subjective points.
Objective: V.15, Peter declares that they are eye witnesses of the resurrection of Christ.
Peter didn’t argue, “I know Jesus is alive because He lives in my heart!”
Instead he shows objectively that Jesus is the Messiah.
Subjective: V.16, On the other hand, Peter does use a personal experience to convince the people of the Messiahship of Christ, namely that the lame man was made whole through faith in the Name that is above all names.
“The faith which is by Him has given him perfect soundness in the presence of you all.”
What can we learn?
Both objective and subjective arguments are important, and should be combined when sharing the gospel.
Evidence of a changed life is powerful, but alone is not necessarily enough to convince that Jesus Christ is real.
However on the other hand, to show that historical evidence for Jesus alone without a personal testimony will not persuade a person either.
That both are important can be seen in the following Scripture:
16-
Peter uses the Scriptures to convince the crowd of the divine nature of Jesus Christ using three aspects:
He points to the Scriptures, and in fact “all His prophets” to prove Christ’s ministry.
V.22 - He quotes Moses that God would raise “a Prophet… unto you of your brethren, like unto me; Him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever He shall say unto you.”
Jesus is the promised Prophet to whom all shall give heed to.
V.24 - Peter points to Samuel and all the prophets after him foretelling the days of Christ.
especially relevant were the prophecies of David in the Psalms.
In , Peter especially turns to David in the Psalms using and speaking of Christ’s suffering and resurrection.
Jesus is the suffering Servant.
V.25 - Peter then goes back to Abraham and that Christ was the promised Seed through whom all the nations of the world would be blessed.
Jesus is the promised blessing.
When Jesus trained the disciples before His ascension, He taught them all the scriptures concerning Himself, especially the writings of Moses, David, and the prophets.
44-
It is important to learn from this, that when we share the gospel from the Old Testament whether in types or in prophecies that we share Christ in those types and prophecies.
All our teaching must be Christ-centered.
When we share Christ as the Prophet that was raised, we are sharing Him as One who has brought to light truth that hitherto has never shined in its brilliancy as it did through Him.
This reveals to us the truth that we always have searched for among the cultures, traditions, misbeliefs, falsehoods we are swamped with on earth.
When we share Him as the suffering Servant of God, we share Him as the innocent One who was prophesied to bare the sins of the guilty that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
This melts our heart and exalts Christ’s majesty and Kingship.
When we share Christ as the promised Seed of Abraham, we share Him as the One through whom we receive every temporal and spiritual blessing.
; ; .
When we share Christ as thus, He becomes to the beholder the One in whom all our hope in centred in.
He becomes our all in all.
Aggressive Evangelism
There are a few lessons that we can learn from this chapter in reference to the evangelistic methods used by Peter and John.
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