3 One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. 2 Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. Acts 3
Peter and John were going up to the Temple at the time of Prayer, a set time of the day. They may have seen the man before, but this time they stopped with him. None of us sees things first time, every time! The great apostle Paul was followed for many days by a woman with a spirit;
17 She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” Acts 16
She kept doing it for many days until Paul took authority and rebuked the spirit and it left her.
Peter spoke to this man who was unable to walk and told him to give them his attention. He told the man to fix his attention on them. He had to become focused to receive his miracle;
6 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.”7 Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. Acts 3
There would never have been a problem if they’d given the poor beggar money, the currency of this world, but he received something totally unexpected. They used the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Neither the religious leaders, nor the powers of darkness wanted that name made public in any way. They’d killed Jesus and thought that was an end to it, but now His disciples were using His name with exactly the same results, outstanding miracles.
9 When all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. Acts 3
‘When all the people saw him’; the people saw the miracle and came to find out what had happened the man who’d been crippled for over forty years. Acts 4:22
Peter and John had a willing audience, followed by another confrontation with the religious hierarchy. A miracle, a message and a showdown. Peter was used to demonstrate the first physical miracle in Acts and then to bring the Good News of Christ to the people of Jerusalem. He had to be willing to stand up for the Name of Jesus publicly and before those who wanted to hide that name. God is going to move and reveal His power again in a greater measure than in the early Church. May we have boldness like Peter to use His name and stand for Him in our day.
God bless and keep you today.