The Cripple Healed

Introduction vs 1

I have been looking forward to preaching this message for quite awhile because I feel like so many of my messages have tended toward rebuke, but this one leans more towards encouragement. Acts 3 gives us the first actual account of healing by the Apostles though in Acts 2:43 it says the Apostles were already doing miracles right after Pentecost. Jesus had promised while we was still on the earth that those who believed on him would do greater miracles because he was going to heaven and they would remain. John 14:12 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.” In our account today, we see two of those Apostles: Peter and John which would seem to be an odd pairing because Peter tended to be the more put my foot in my mouth type of guy and John from his gospel seems to be the more loving and tender of the two; yet it would be a mistake to caricature John this way because he was also called a son of thunder. We can draw from this point that God often uses people with completely different personalities to accomplish his work because they complement each other. Where Peter is a dynamic leader, John was a tender comforter. Went up together into the temple- It seems that in the early church there was a lot of overlap between the church and their judaism because the church was exclusively Jewish at this time. They could have had at least two possible reasons for going to the temple: 1. worship 2. evangelism. Seeing that it is mentioned that it was the hour of prayer, I feel like worship was the most likely reason for their visit. the hour of prayer being the ninth hour- According to Chabad.org, “Jewish Law makes it our duty to pray three times daily: in the morning, in the afternoon and at nightfall. These prayers are called morning prayer (shacharit), afternoon prayer (minchah) and evening prayer (arvithor maariv ).” this hour of prayer was at the ninth hour approx. 3 pm. The Jewish hours took the hours of daylight and divided them by 12. John 11:9 “Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.”

The Problem vs 2-5

Vs 2 Begins to set the scene for our first miracle in the book of Acts. As we look through this section of the text we will see that the man ultimately had two problems: one was physical and the other was spiritual. We could say he had a handicaped body and a handicapped perspective. First of all his problem was:

A. Physical Problem- A certain man lame- lame in this passage refers to someone who is handicapped and not paralyzed. We have those who face dealing with a physical handicap every day and this story serves to show that God is interested in all people of all types: not just the healthy. lame here refers to being damaged in legs, hips, ankles, or feet. but we see how severe this handicap was in the rest of the phrase: from his mothers womb- this had been a situation he had dealt with his entire life. It was a birth defect. It isn’t like he broke his legs one day playing soccer and never quite healed from it. His body was formed wrong from birth. Not only that but it says that they carried him- he was so handicapped that he couldn’t hobble around on a cane, but had to be carried from place to place. He was utterly dependent on others to do even the most basic things. He was carried about and placed at the Beautiful gate- there is some debate about which gate this was, but suffice it to say it was the one people were entering to go pray. to ask alms- Added to a birth defect and having to be carried around, he was so dependent on others that he had to ask for money to support himself. Some who end up begging on the streets can help themselves and their situations but choose not to. This man was not one of those. People can end up in situations like this because of a lack of a safety net in their lives. Maybe he didn’t have family, or even if he did maybe his family was not able to support another mouth to feed without him providing something; so he was left having to beg for money from people.

B. Mental Problem- We see a little bit about his perspective in vs 3-5. As Peter and John are entering the temple, he begs money from them. The tense of the verb indicates that this was something he did a lot. Peter fixes his eyes on him and focuses on this man- As a side point, do we see these people; the ones who have not only a physical need but also a spiritual need.

but then he grabs the man’s attention by saying “Look on us.” I think of a parent trying to get their child’s attention. Sometimes children are so distracted by all the other things they want that you can’t get their focus without making them look at you. This man was so focused on getting money from other passersbies that he had no clue what was about to happen. Finally, they have his attention in vs 5 because he thinks he is going to receive some money. The man had a problem with his focus and attention. He was so consumed with getting alms from other people.

I remember trying to witness to a man at a temple in Nepal who could not focus on what we were saying to him because he was constantly looking for more money. CS Lewis describes people like this in his famous quote

“If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the gospels, it would seem that our Lord find out desires not too strong but too weak. we are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.”

C. Spiritual problem- an often overlooked feature of this man’s story is the fact that he was outside the gate called Beautiful. There is a reason for this. According to the Jewish ceremonial law of the OT, a man who was damaged could not enter into the temple. To establish this point we are going to look at two passages. The first deals with the priests who were serving in the temple and came into the more intimate sections of the temple.

Lev 21:16-23 “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron, saying, Whosoever he be of thy seed in their generations that hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God. For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous, Or a man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded, Or crookbackt, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken; No man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the Lord made by fire: he hath a blemish; he shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God. He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy. Only he shall not go in unto the vail, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries: for I the Lord do sanctify them.” If you had a handicap, you could not be involved in the service of the Lord to offer sacrifices. This prohibition had to do with the holiness and purity of the Lord and the worship of the Lord. It was a ceremonial picture that no unclean thing could come before God’s presence. This is the same with the sacrifices that were to be offered. The lambs that were slain had to be spotless, perfect. Anyone who approached God with one of these handicaps profaned the temple. profane means to treat as common. Not to value it the way it should be valued. This list included: the blind, the lame, flat nosed, those with unhealed wounds, broken bones, hunched back, dwarfs, eye problems, diseases like scurvy, and the impotent (unable to reproduce).

The second passage dealt with entrance into the temple. 2 Sam 5:6-8 “And the king and his men went to Jerusalem unto the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land: which spake unto David, saying, Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither: thinking, David cannot come in hither. Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion: the same is the city of David. And David said on that day, Whosoever getteth up to the gutter, and smiteth the Jebusites, and the lame and the blind, that are hated of David’s soul, he shall be chief and captain. Wherefore they said, The blind and the lame shall not come into the house.” The context deals with David’s conquering Jerusalem.

According to Josephus, the Jebusites were so confident they could beat David’s army that they put blind and lame men on the walls. The house is translated as the house of the Lord in the LXX showing the belief that this referred to the temple. It is also significant that he was laid at the Beautiful gate which most likely was the gate which led from the court of the women to the court of the Gentiles. This seems to be as far as he was allowed to go.

This man’s spiritual problem was he did not have access to God. This point could be made broadly of all before Christ because not just anyone could enter into the holy of holies. Only one man could enter once a year. The room was separated by a large curtain. And that one man if sin was found in him would fall over dead because God’s presence or holiness was deadly.

Kinda like trying to approach the sun. The sun is great : it gives us light and heat, but if you were to fly to the surface of the sun, you would be consumed by the heat.

As unsaved men and women, we are all in the same situation that this man was in. We do not have access to God.

Isaiah 59:2 “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, And your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.” Just like this man had a physical impurity that denied him access to a relationship with God, we have a spiritual infirmity that denies us access to a relationship with God. That barrier is created by sin.

Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” Every one of us has sinned and are all in the same predicament. We cannot have a relationship with God.

Rev 21:27 “And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” speaking of the city in the future that God will dwell with men in, says that nothing unclean enter into it.

So like this man, we have a spiritual problem that must be healed.

The Healing vs 6 -7

Peter doesn’t offer him money but he does offer him something better. Peter heals this man in the name of Jesus Christ. Peter here reaches out to the man, but does not meet the man’s need for money. Rather he gives him something more. In healing this man, he enabled him to meet his own needs in the future. There is a principle here that can be drawn for how the church interacts with need. It is not that we don’t seek to help those in need, but we want to meet their greater need. Set them up on their feet so they can take care of themselves. But an even greater need was met here: the need for a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Some have imagined that praying in the name of Jesus or healing in the name of Jesus is like a magical incantation that is going to accomplish whatever you throw the name at. The force of this phrase though is not a magical incantation but rather that Peter was performing this miracle under the authority of Jesus. We have previously seen that Jesus promises his disciples would do more than he was able to do because He was going to heaven. But Peter did not do this in his own strength or authority. This is actually the central lesson of the miracle and the sermon that follows.

Rise up and Walk- a response is expected to the offer of healing in the name of Jesus and one does not do so without a measure of faith that it can be done. Notice here that “walk” is also in the imperfect tense. This healing was not temporary. Once healed he would continue to walk. Some miracles performed by faith healers are claimed to be gradually in coming on or only temporary in their effects, but that is not the example of this healing here.

Acts 3:16 “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.” perfect soundness is the word in the LXX for ceremonial cleanness Isaiah 1:6 “From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; But wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: They have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.”

Vs 7 Peter takes him by the hand and helps him stand up for the first time. Something that would have taken several months is now accomplished in a moment. Muscles that had shriveled over time from lack of use were strengthened. received strength is passive because God gave him the strength to walk, not the muscles that he already had. Notice the medical detail that Luke puts into this account of the healing. Luke as a doctor would have known these things and later on in Paul’s travels would have been able to confirm the healings were real.

1 Peter 2:24 “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” Just like this cripple, you might find yourself too broken, an outcast, to far gone a sinner; but Jesus can heal even that. Jesus Christ is dying on the cross took on himself the punishment for all of our sin and by his death and resurrection we are healed.

The Results vs 8-11

When this man was healed we see immediate results. The text says that five things resulted from his healing:

stood

Walked

Access to the temple- entered with them into the temple. This is the main point of the message today, that when we are healed by Christ when he has saved us from our sins, we have access to God. Hebrews 4:14-16 “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Jesus Christ as our great High priest made the sacrifice on our behalf for our sins. This high priest is touched with our infirmities, he is moved with compassion toward us and has been where you have been. He has faced the same temptations you have faced, but he was victorious and never sinned. Because he has cleansed us made us pure with the shedding of his blood Hebrews 9:22 “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.” We have access to a relationship with God. Vs 16 is the key here Let us therefore come boldly- we don’t have to fear screaming and yelling. We don’t have to fear we are going to be cast out because we don’t have access to God based on the good things we have done. That right was earned for us by the perfect Son of God and His righteousness. We can come boldly not out of disrespect but knowing that we belong here. unto the throne of grace- The throne where God sits is now no longer a throne of judgment but one of grace. and in coming to it we receive mercy and grace to help whenever we need it. So as a word of encouragement today: we can have access to a relationship with God because of Jesus if we will place our faith in him. You might have had a father who was distant, cold and never wanted anything to do with you. Maybe he wasn’t even there. Maybe you feel like you have been rejected all of your life. Sin separates us from God, but God has made a way so you can come near and when you do, he will never cast you out.

Joy- leaping and praising God- For the Christian, notice his final response: Joy. Where is the Joy? We have access to an infinitely powerful, yet merciful, gracious God. We do not have to fear being cast out. Our response should be joy not glum attitudes because we are a Christian. We have been healed praise God. Let’s leap and jump for joy. Rejoice!

wonder- the final result of his healing was that the world was left in wonder at what had happened. The world will not understand what has happened to us when we get a real glimpse of the privilege we have to come before God’s presence. The true joy we can experience because our spiritual legs have received strength. The scales have fallen off our blind eyes.

Conclusion

Let’s rejoice today in the privilege we have in Christ. Sometimes we have failed to avail ourselves of the access we have to God. We feel inherently that when I have sinned God must be mad at me and not want anything to do with me. Dane Ortlund in his book Gentle and Lowly asks the following questions:

He eagerly suffered for us when we were failing as orphans. Will he cross his arms over our failures now that we are his adopted children?

His heart was gentle and lowly toward us when we were lost. Will his heart be anything different toward us now that we are found?

He loved us in our mess then. He will love us in our mess now.

and in the words of AW Tozer

No Talebearer can inform on us, no enemy can make an accusation stick, no forgotten skeleton can come tumbling out of some hidden closet to abash us and expose our past; no unsuspected weakness in our character can come to light to turn God away from us, since He knew us utterly before we knew Him and called us to Himself in the full knowledge of everything that was against us.

As a believer, we have been granted access to God not on our own merits but those of Jesus Christ and it is at those moments when we are in sin that God wants us to avail ourselves of that access the most. You come in the mess of your life and He is waiting there with open arms to receive you. It is like a child who has broken a window, but knows when they go tell their father that he will be there to love them still.

Revelation 22:17 “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”

if you do not know the lord Jesus as your saviour. You can change that today. Maybe you are sitting outside the gate begging for scraps from people who pass by. Maybe you are content to make mud pies when God is offering you so much more. We are going to sing a hymn in a minute, if you need someone to show you how to know Jesus Christ as your saviour come forward and see me. If your a man, we will have a man take you aside and show you how you can be saved; if a woman we will have a lady show you how to be saved. Now is the time, come. If we could sing, Jesus I Come pg 334