A man, his wife, and his mother-in-law
are traveling through the
I can’t help but wonder how this man
would react if his mother-in-law would come back to life. Would the miracle affect him in any way?
Lots of amazing things happened in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago. The blind could see again; the crippled were healed; diseases were cured; people were brought back to life. Jesus did all these things while He walked the earth. This was Jesus. And yet, even after Jesus was gone, these same miracles continued. Who was working all these amazing signs and wonders we read about in the Book of Acts? Who healed the lame beggar outside of the Temple in Jerusalem? That was the question on the mind of many as they gathered in amazement. Was it Peter? Was it John? Who was at work here?
Acts
3:12-19
12 Peter saw his opportunity
and addressed the crowd. “People of Israel,” he said, “what is so surprising
about this? And why stare at us as though we had made this man walk by our own
power or godliness? 13 For it is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob—the God of all our ancestors—who has brought glory to his servant Jesus
by doing this. This is the same Jesus whom you handed over and rejected before
Pilate, despite Pilate’s decision to release him. 14 You rejected
this holy, righteous one and instead demanded the release of a murderer. 15 You
killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. And we are
witnesses of this fact!
16 “Through faith in the name
of Jesus, this man was healed—and you know how crippled he was before. Faith in
Jesus’ name has healed him before your very eyes.
17 “Friends, I realize that what you and your leaders did to Jesus was done in ignorance. 18 But God was fulfilling what all the prophets had foretold about the Messiah—that he must suffer these things. 19 Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away.
For some reason the people thought
that Peter and John had healed this man.
But Peter, seeing a great opportunity, points out that this was Jesus; He did the
healing; they were merely the vessels through whom the Lord worked.
Jesus did the work. Yeah.
Jesus. And Peter, in his loving
and tender way, says, “this is the same guy you had put to death about two
months ago.” But Peter wasn’t trying to
pick a fight with these people.
Actually, he was trying to help these folks see the error of their
ways. They had acted in ignorance (verse
17). I like how it says, “Peter saw an opportunity.” Not
to scold or condemn, but to call these people to repentance.
Permit me to share something here
about the heart of God. God does not desire that
we remain separated from Him or that we spend eternity in outer darkness
(Matthew 22:13). Through the Prophet
Ezekiel, God cries out “As surely as I live, says
the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only
want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live. Turn! Turn from your
wickedness, O people of Israel! Why should you die?”– Ezekiel 33:11.
Because of God’s desire, He would pull
back the curtain and reach into our world making right what was wrong – making
straight that which was crooked and bent.
He did these things
in Old Testament times so the people of this world might stand and take notice…
not to impress the world or to amaze people, but so they might
see, believe, repent, and be saved.
Because of this man's healing in Acts
3, the number of MEN who believed in Jesus grew to 5,000. That’s not counting the women and
youngsters. And it all began because
Peter and John took the time to get involved in one man's life, offering him
healing in the name of Jesus. The
miracle this crippled man experienced was one thing, but it wasn’t the main
thing. For sure the man could now
walk and run, but the physical healing this man received was only temporary. Eventually he would grow old and die. The main thing is where this man would
spend eternity, not that he could now walk.
So, Peter reminds those who have just witnessed a miracle that this was Jesus. The miracle happened not just to heal the lame man but to help people
see, believe, repent, and be saved (Acts 3:19).
The Father in heaven was working then
and even now to catch our attention before it is too late; before the offer of Eternal
Life is gone.
When a miracle happens, Christians
proclaim, this was Jesus. When a life of
bondage is set free, Christians proclaim, this was Jesus. When the church comes together to help those
dealing with a crisis, Christians proclaim this is Jesus. At least they should. Christians should seize the opportunity to
call those who have just witnessed the mighty works of God to believe, repent,
and be saved. That’s the lesson the
Church needs to learn.
Jesus
has done the work, but the Church must be the ones who seize the opportunity.
The Apostle Paul reminds Christians to, “Live
wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity.
6 Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you
will have the right response for everyone.”–
Colossians 4:5-6.
What I have noticed here is that Peter
and John, transformed by the Holy Spirit, saw a man whom others had
overlooked. They saw his need while
others saw his condition. They got involved
while others walked by. Apart from the
miracles, the Church’s greatest witness in the first century was its tendency
to see the needs of others. From the
poor in Jerusalem to the unwanted babies in Ephesus, these first Christians saw
the needs of others and got involved. This
was Jesus as He walked the earth; we should expect His followers to do the
same.
Church, permit me to ask you a
question: What might happen in our communities if we, as Christians, take the
time to get involved in a person's life who is still living in darkness: still
spiritually crippled. Have we become
like the religious folks who continue to walk past those in need, or will we
become like Peter and John and get involved in the lives of those held captive
by sin?
A believer should be
able to see the handiwork of the Lord; a person who doesn’t know Jesus will not
know this… they will not know it was Jesus who just reached into their lives. This
is why the Christians must seize the opportunity that is before them and
tell the World the power they see at work is Jesus.
I have seen my share of miracles in
life. When a young man with severe brain
trauma was healed - even though the professionals figured he would die - that
wasn’t science and technology; that was Jesus.
When twins were born prematurely, and their little heads were no bigger
than a tennis ball, their health and vitality happened because of Jesus. When a former drug addict, being homeless,
finds themselves eventually pastoring a church, that wasn’t because of some
12-step program; that was Jesus. When a
farmer from our own family beats the odds and is healing from cancer, this was
Jesus. When we witness a person’s fear
turn to hope, when their anger turns to love and their sadness turn to joy, it
wasn’t because they purchased a self-help book; that was Jesus. When God pulls back the curtain of Heaven and
makes straight something in your life that was crooked, This was Jesus. But these miracles are not the main
thing. It’s one thing to witness a
miracle, but the main thing is to allow that miracle to point you to
Jesus. In this way, the great miracle you have seen
will complete the work for which it was sent – not to impress or to amaze
– but to help you see, believe, repent, and be saved.
My friend, since God, in His mercy, has reached into your life, make the most of that moment by believing Jesus is who He said He is – God’s only Son through whom you might be saved. “There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”– Acts 4:12.