Some Thoughts on Acts 3:1-11.
“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.” Acts 3:10-11, KJV
They were “filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him“ (Acts
3:10). That is how Luke describes the reaction of the people who
firsthand observed the apostolic healing of a man who had been
congenitally lame for more than forty years (Acts 4:22). His lower
extremities were but skin and bones, and worshippers at the temple saw
him begging in that condition for most of his life. Healed by Peter “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,” the miracle stunned Jews who saw him “walking, and leaping, and praising God”
(Acts 4:22; 3:8-11). Luke heaps up words to describe the reaction of
the witnesses to the miracle, “wonder . . . amazement . . . wondering . .
. marvel” (Acts 3:10-12). Have you ever asked why claimed healings
today do not make a similar impression upon outsiders?
The healing of the lame man by Peter provides an interesting contrast
for what passes for faith healing today. Temple worshippers knew this
man’s case. His illness was real, not faked. They did not have to take
somebody else’s word about what was wrong with the man. His medical
problem was not some vague or self-testified-to internal illness, but
rather a verifiably external one. For years with their own eyes, they
had observed the man’s paralysis.
Note too that the man was healed in a public place. He was not healed
in the friendly confines of a rented arena during a carefully scripted
and choreographed service where candidates are interviewed, then
selected, and finally brought to the stage by the healer’s handlers.
Rather, in the very circumstance in which he found him, in a public
place and in a spontaneous moment of time, Peter spoke a sovereign
healing word to the lame man.
Look at it like this: a particular evangelist claims to possess power
from God to heal people. Then, we ask, why doesn’t he go to public
hospitals or physical rehab facilities and call the sick and the lame
out of their beds? If the pretend healer did, can you imagine the
amazement that would fall over all the nurses, doctors, workers and
other patients? So why don’t the charismatic healers leave the friendly
confines of planned meetings in rented auditoriums and go to the
hospitals? Why don’t they just do it? Maybe they don’t do it because
they can’t. And if they can’t, when in fact they put on airs they can,
then they are liars. But if like Peter they really can but won’t, then
“these healers” are cruel. So their failure to heal in public places
like hospitals strikes at the heart of their credibility. By failing to
go to hospitals and heal, are they violating their “hypocritical” oath.
In either case, they stand exposed as either liars or loveless.
Healers protest this dilemma. “It takes faith for a person to be
healed,” they say, “and not all sick people have faith, and therefore it
is not possible to heal people in a public places.” Contrast this
defense with the case of the man born lame. Healing was the furthest
thing from the man’s mind when he begged from Peter and John. All he
wanted was money, but Peter had no money. (Oops! There goes the wealth
gospel too.) So according to Peter’s faith in the risen Lord Jesus
Christ, he delivered to the lame man a sovereign surprise. In the name
of the Lord Jesus, Peter healed the man through his (Peter’s) own faith,
that faith “which comes through Him [i.e., Jesus]”
(Acts 3:16). In other words, it was Peter’s own faith which rested in
the faithfulness of Lord Jesus Christ that healed this man.
Sometime ago this question appeared in a local newspaper. It read:
“Why don’t televangelists go to hospitals and cure people instead of
just a few on TV?”[1] Good question. To validate their message as being
from God, Jesus, Peter and the other apostles healed unbelievers
wherever they encountered them. Maybe today’s so-called healers don’t
heal in public places like hospitals because contrary to their claims,
they really can’t heal. Their ministry is more for show than for go.
Why are unbelievers not amazed by the miracles that faith healers
pretend to do? As in Acts 3:1-11, why are people not “wondering” after
the sick and lame who are healed? Perhaps it’s because there’s really
nothing happening to wonder about.
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Endnotes
[1] “Let It Out,” The Indianapolis Star, February 2, 1999, E 2.
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