Acts 3
3
Peter Heals a Beggar Who Can’t Walk
1One day Peter and John were going up to the temple. It was three o’clock in the afternoon. It was the time for prayer. 2A man unable to walk was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful. He had been that way since he was born. Every day someone put him near the gate. There he would beg from people going into the temple courtyards. 3He saw that Peter and John were about to enter. So he asked them for money. 4Peter looked straight at him, and so did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” 5So the man watched them closely. He expected to get something from them.
6Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold. But I’ll give you what I do have. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk.” 7Then Peter took him by the right hand and helped him up. At once the man’s feet and ankles became strong. 8He jumped to his feet and began to walk. He went with Peter and John into the temple courtyards. He walked and jumped and praised God. 9All the people saw him walking and praising God. 10They recognized him as the same man who used to sit and beg at the temple gate called Beautiful. They were filled with wonder. They were amazed at what had happened to him.
Peter Speaks to the People at the Temple
11The man was holding on to Peter and John. All the people were amazed. They came running to them at the place called Solomon’s Porch. 12When Peter saw this, he said, “Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us? It’s not as if we’ve made this man walk by our own power or godliness. 13The God of our fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has done this. God has brought glory to Jesus, who serves him. But you handed Jesus over to be killed. Pilate had decided to let him go. But you spoke against Jesus when he was in Pilate’s court. 14You spoke against the Holy and Blameless One. You asked for a murderer to be set free instead. 15You killed the one who gives life. But God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. 16This man whom you see and know was made strong because of faith in Jesus’ name. Faith in Jesus has healed him completely. You can see it with your own eyes.
17“My fellow Israelites, I know you didn’t realize what you were doing. Neither did your leaders. 18But God had given a promise through all the prophets. And this is how he has made his promise come true. He said that his Messiah would suffer. 19So turn away from your sins. Turn to God. Then your sins will be wiped away. The time will come when the Lord will make everything new. 20He will send the Messiah. Jesus has been appointed as the Messiah for you. 21Heaven must receive him until the time when God makes everything new. He promised this long ago through his holy prophets. 22Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me. He will be one of your own people. You must listen to everything he tells you. 23Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from their people.’ (Deuteronomy 18:15,18,19)
24“Beginning with Samuel, all the prophets spoke about this. They said these days would come. 25What the prophets said was meant for you. The covenant God made with your people long ago is yours also. He said to Abraham, ‘All nations on earth will be blessed through your children.’ (Genesis 22:18; 26:4) 26God raised up Jesus, who serves him. God sent him first to you. He did it to bless you. He wanted to turn each of you from your evil ways.”
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Acts 3: NIrV
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Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
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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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