Acts 3
3
Peter Heals a Crippled Man
1One day Peter and John went to the Temple at three o’clock, the time set each day for the afternoon prayer service. 2There, at the Temple gate called Beautiful Gate, was a man who had been crippled all his life. Every day he was carried to this gate to beg for money from the people going into the Temple. 3The man saw Peter and John going into the Temple and asked them for money. 4Peter and John looked straight at him and said, “Look at us!” 5The man looked at them, thinking they were going to give him some money. 6But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold, but I do have something else I can give you. By the power of Jesus Christ from Nazareth, stand up and walk!” 7Then Peter took the man’s right hand and lifted him up. Immediately the man’s feet and ankles became strong. 8He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk. He went into the Temple with them, walking and jumping and praising God. 9-10All the people recognized him as the crippled man who always sat by the Beautiful Gate begging for money. Now they saw this same man walking and praising God, and they were amazed. They wondered how this could happen.
Peter Speaks to the People
11While the man was holding on to Peter and John, all the people were amazed and ran to them at Solomon’s Porch. 12When Peter saw this, he said to them, “People of Israel, why are you surprised? You are looking at us as if it were our own power or goodness that made this man walk. 13The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, gave glory to Jesus, his servant. But you handed him over to be killed. Pilate decided to let him go free, but you told Pilate you did not want Jesus. 14You did not want the One who is holy and good but asked Pilate to give you a murderer instead. 15And so you killed the One who gives life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses to this. 16It was faith in Jesus that made this crippled man well. You can see this man, and you know him. He was made completely well because of trust in Jesus, and you all saw it happen!
17“Brothers and sisters, I know you did those things to Jesus because neither you nor your leaders understood what you were doing. 18God said through the prophets that his Christ would suffer and die. And now God has made these things come true in this way. 19So you must change your hearts and lives! Come back to God, and he will forgive your sins. Then the Lord will send the time of rest. 20And he will send Jesus, the One he chose to be the Christ. 21But Jesus must stay in heaven until the time comes when all things will be made right again. God told about this time long ago when he spoke through his holy prophets. 22Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will give you a prophet like me, who is one of your own people. You must listen to everything he tells you. 23Anyone who does not listen to that prophet will die, cut off from God’s people.’ 24Samuel, and all the other prophets who spoke for God after Samuel, told about this time now. 25You are descendants of the prophets. You have received the agreement God made with your ancestors. He said to your father Abraham, ‘Through your descendants all the nations on the earth will be blessed.’ 26God has raised up his servant Jesus and sent him to you first to bless you by turning each of you away from doing evil.”
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Acts 3
3
Cure of a Crippled Beggar. 1#3:1–4:31] This section presents a series of related events: the dramatic cure of a lame beggar (Acts 3:1–10) produces a large audience for the kerygmatic discourse of Peter (Acts 3:11–26). The Sadducees, taking exception to the doctrine of resurrection, have Peter, John, and apparently the beggar as well, arrested (Acts 4:1–4) and brought to trial before the Sanhedrin. The issue concerns the authority by which Peter and John publicly teach religious doctrine in the temple (Acts 4:5–7). Peter replies with a brief summary of the kerygma, implying that his authority is prophetic (Acts 4:8–12). The court warns the apostles to abandon their practice of invoking prophetic authority in the name of Jesus (Acts 4:13–18). When Peter and John reply that the prophetic role cannot be abandoned to satisfy human objections, the court nevertheless releases them, afraid to do otherwise since the beggar, lame from birth and over forty years old, is a well-known figure in Jerusalem and the facts of his cure are common property (Acts 4:19–22). The narrative concludes with a prayer of the Christian community imploring divine aid against threats of persecution (Acts 4:23–31). Now Peter and John were going up to the temple area for the three o’clock hour of prayer.#For the three o’clock hour of prayer: literally, “at the ninth hour of prayer.” With the day beginning at 6 a.m., the ninth hour would be 3 p.m. 2#14:8–10. And a man crippled from birth was carried and placed at the gate of the temple called “the Beautiful Gate” every day to beg for alms from the people who entered the temple. 3When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked for alms. 4But Peter looked intently at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” 5He paid attention to them, expecting to receive something from them. 6#The miracle has a dramatic cast; it symbolizes the saving power of Christ and leads the beggar to enter the temple, where he hears Peter’s proclamation of salvation through Jesus. Peter said, “I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have I give you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, [rise and] walk.”#4:10. 7Then Peter took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles grew strong. 8He leaped up, stood, and walked around, and went into the temple with them, walking and jumping and praising God.#Is 35:6; Lk 7:22. 9When all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10they recognized him as the one who used to sit begging at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, and they were filled with amazement and astonishment at what had happened to him.
Peter’s Speech. 11As he clung to Peter and John, all the people hurried in amazement toward them in the portico called “Solomon’s Portico.”#5:12; Jn 10:23. 12When Peter saw this, he addressed the people, “You Israelites, why are you amazed at this, and why do you look so intently at us as if we had made him walk by our own power or piety?#14:15. 13The God of Abraham, [the God] of Isaac, and [the God] of Jacob, the God of our ancestors, has glorified#Has glorified: through the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, God reversed the judgment against him on the occasion of his trial. Servant: the Greek word can also be rendered as “son” or even “child” here and also in Acts 3:26; 4:25 (applied to David); Acts 4:27; and Acts 4:30. Scholars are of the opinion, however, that the original concept reflected in the words identified Jesus with the suffering Servant of the Lord of Is 52:13–53:12. his servant Jesus whom you handed over and denied in Pilate’s presence, when he had decided to release him.#Ex 3:6, 15; Is 52:13; Lk 23:14–25. 14You denied the Holy and Righteous One#The Holy and Righteous One: so designating Jesus emphasizes his special relationship to the Father (see Lk 1:35; 4:34) and emphasizes his sinlessness and religious dignity that are placed in sharp contrast with the guilt of those who rejected him in favor of Barabbas. and asked that a murderer be released to you.#Mt 27:20–21; Mk 15:11; Lk 23:18; Jn 18:40. 15#The author of life: other possible translations of the Greek title are “leader of life” or “pioneer of life.” The title clearly points to Jesus as the source and originator of salvation. The author of life you put to death, but God raised him from the dead; of this we are witnesses.#4:10; 5:31 / 1:8; 2:32. 16And by faith in his name, this man, whom you see and know, his name has made strong, and the faith that comes through it has given him this perfect health, in the presence of all of you. 17Now I know, brothers, that you acted out of ignorance,#Ignorance: a Lucan motif, explaining away the actions not only of the people but also of their leaders in crucifying Jesus. On this basis the presbyters in Acts could continue to appeal to the Jews in Jerusalem to believe in Jesus, even while affirming their involvement in his death because they were unaware of his messianic dignity. See also Acts 13:27 and Lk 23:34. just as your leaders did;#13:27; Lk 23:34; 1 Cor 2:8; 1 Tm 1:13. 18but God has thus brought to fulfillment what he had announced beforehand through the mouth of all the prophets,#Through the mouth of all the prophets: Christian prophetic insight into the Old Testament saw the crucifixion and death of Jesus as the main import of messianic prophecy. The Jews themselves did not anticipate a suffering Messiah; they usually understood the Servant Song in Is 52:13–53:12 to signify their own suffering as a people. In his typical fashion (cf. Lk 18:31; 24:25, 27, 44), Luke does not specify the particular Old Testament prophecies that were fulfilled by Jesus. See also note on Lk 24:26. that his Messiah would suffer.#Lk 18:31. 19Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away,#2:38. 20and that the Lord may grant you times of refreshment and send you the Messiah already appointed for you, Jesus,#The Lord…and send you the Messiah already appointed for you, Jesus: an allusion to the parousia or second coming of Christ, judged to be imminent in the apostolic age. This reference to its nearness is the only explicit one in Acts. Some scholars believe that this verse preserves a very early christology, in which the title “Messiah” (Greek “Christ”) is applied to him as of his parousia, his second coming (contrast Acts 2:36). This view of a future messiahship of Jesus is not found elsewhere in the New Testament. 21whom heaven must receive until the times of universal restoration#The times of universal restoration: like “the times of refreshment” (Acts 3:20), an apocalyptic designation of the messianic age, fitting in with the christology of Acts 3:20 that associates the messiahship of Jesus with his future coming. of which God spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old. 22For Moses said:#A loose citation of Dt 18:15, which teaches that the Israelites are to learn the will of Yahweh from no one but their prophets. At the time of Jesus, some Jews expected a unique prophet to come in fulfillment of this text. Early Christianity applied this tradition and text to Jesus and used them especially in defense of the divergence of Christian teaching from traditional Judaism.
‘A prophet like me will the Lord, your God, raise up for you
from among your own kinsmen;
to him you shall listen in all that he may say to you.#7:37; Dt 18:15, 18.
23Everyone who does not listen to that prophet
will be cut off from the people.’#Lv 23:29; Dt 18:19.
24Moreover, all the prophets who spoke, from Samuel and those afterwards, also announced these days. 25You are the children of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors when he said to Abraham, ‘In your offspring all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’#Gn 12:3; 18:18; 22:18; Sir 44:19–21; Gal 3:8–9. 26For you first, God raised up his servant and sent him to bless you by turning each of you from your evil ways.”#13:46; Rom 1:16.
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