Peter (Jesus) Heals a Lame Beggar

 Meditations on The Acts of the Apostles

January 18, 2021

Peter (Jesus) Heals a Lame Beggar

Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”

Acts 3:6

Read: Acts 3:1-10

Three things caught my attention in today’s passage. First, Peter and John looked intently at the lame beggar. They told the man to look at them. Then after speaking to the man, Peter took the man by the hand and helped him up. Only when honoring the Centurion’s request did Jesus heal someone from afar. Otherwise, Jesus was up close and personal. So also, Peter and John.   

I recall participating in a district clergy team meeting on church revitalization. We had been meeting for about forty-five minutes when I observed, “We’ve been here quite a while, and the name of Jesus has yet to be spoken. If we aren’t going to talk about Jesus, I don’t expect we are going to revitalize many churches.” Peter was very clear. He wasn’t offering a new program, he was offering Jesus: “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” (v. 6)

The desktop background on my computer is a photograph I took standing in front of the Church of All Nations and looking across the Kidron Valley to the Beautiful Gate to the Temple in Jerusalem. The healing of the lame beggar was outside of the Temple. This reminds me of a sign I saw at a church. As you drive out of the parking lot there is a sign post: The Church Has Left the Building. The healing of the lame beggar was proclaiming a new center for the people of God: “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” (Matthew 18:20)

My Takeaway: I believe the true strength of a local church is not so much what happens on the church campus. Rather, it is in what is happening in the name of Jesus outside of its campus.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2021 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.