The Miracle Message
The Miracle Message
Acts 3:1-26
Sixteen seconds remained. The Buffalo Bills had a one point lead against the Tennessee Titans in the AFC championship game. Sixteen seconds remained. The ageless wonder, Doug Flutie was benched and the backup quarterback Rob Johnson had just drove the Bills down the field taking the lead on a field goal, almost dashing the hopes of the Music City fans. The Bills kicked off and the ball landed in the hands of the burly Lorezno Neal. Neal handed the ball off to Frank Wychek, a lumbering, slow 6’3 253 pounds tight end. Wychek takes a few steps and throws the ball across his body to wide receiver Kevin Dyson. They dubbed the play the “Home Run Throwback” in practice. It is much like a schoolyard trick play you learn in elementary school. Mike Keith announced the play on the Titans Radio Network,
Do the Titans have a miracle left in them in what has been a magical season to this point? If they do, they need it now. Christie kicks it high and short. Gonna be fielded by Lorenzo Neal at the 25, pitches it back to Wycheck, he throws it across the field to Dyson…30, 40, 50, 40..20, 10, 5 – end zone! Touchdown Titans! There are no flags on the field! It's a miracle! Tennessee has pulled a miracle! A miracle for the Titans!
The Titans would go on to lose the Super Bowl the next game to the St. Louis Rams and a former grocery bagger, Kurt Warner, but the Music City Miracle would live on in a generation of Titan fans for years to come.
I remember watching the game live with my college friends shocked that the Titans came back and pulled off the victory. But was it a miracle? Sports fans and sports commentators love that word. Al Michaels asked America after the 1980 US Hockey team beat the highly favored Russian national team after their improbable victory, “Do you believe in miracles? Yes, unbelievable.” The Steelers Franco Harris’s “Immaculate Reception,” against the Raiders in the 1972 playoffs. The famed “Kick 6” victory of Auburn over their hated rival, the Alabama Crimson Tide in the 78th Iron Bowl in 2013. Highly improbable, yes, but are they miracles? No. They are highly improbable, but still possible. They can be explained. A miracle is inexplicable by any natural or scientific laws. A miracle is impossible. A miracle is the work of the divine. If sports fans remember their highly improbable last minute victories, imagine how unforgettable it would be to witness a true miracle by the hands of God?
The Miracle
The Bible is full of many miracles. Some were done privately for individuals while others were done for all to see. In Acts 3, God does a miracle for all Jerusalem. The Day of Pentecost was miraculous when people from a variety of nations heard the works of God in their own languages spoken by Galileans. After that miracle, 3000 people came to faith and were baptized. And yet, one may even say that it could have been possible for those Galileans to have been well traveled and known the languages of all the travelers. But this miracle has no possible scientific or natural explanation. Acts 3:1–2
[1] Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. [2] And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple.
The Temple was the center of life for the Jewish people. There were times of daily prayer. Peter and John were going up into the temple at the hour of prayer. Acts 2:46, says the disciples attended the temple together day by day. It was the custom of the disciples and all of the Jewish people to attend the temple daily. This is important because God was going to do a miracle that everyone would know about for everyone would have seen the lame man asking for alms outside the temple gate.
Day by day, this man, who was lame from birth, would be carried by friends or family or hired hands to lay this man at the temple next to the Beautiful gate. The Beautiful Gate was magnificent in its beauty made of bronze and covered by silver and gold. It separated the court of the Gentiles from the court of the Jews. This poor, lame man was laid next to this beautiful, opulent gate to invoke pity and encourage those passing by to offer a few coins to help.
Everyone would have known this man. He had probably been carried there for the last twenty years sitting by the gate asking for alms. Everyone would have known this man. Peter and John, no doubt, would have walked by this man before. They would have seen his lame legs as they walked past him into the temple as he lay outside by the Gate. Acts 3:3–5,
[3] Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. [4] And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” [5] And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them.
“Look at us.” Peter and John saw the man. They looked at him. They humanized him. They treated him like a person made in the image of God. The lame or crippled were looked at as cursed by God for their sin or their family’s sin. In the minds of the Jews, they were lame for a reason. And he was lame for a reason. He was lame not because of the sin of his parents but to display the power of God.
One of the most powerful things we can do as a church is to see those around us. We need to humanize people. The world dehumanizes people but the saints must see each other's humanity. Pornography dehumanizes men and women to meere objects. Racism dehumanizes men and women as less than human. Abortion dehumanizes children into a mere clump of cells. Stealing and lying dehumanizes people as not deserving property or the truth. The growth in the online world has helped dehumanize the world. It is so easy to speak ill of others who are not sitting across the table with you. Beloved, we must labor to see people with the eyes of God. Every human is made in the image of God and is valuable. Every human. Friends, in what ways are you tempted to dehumanize others? In what ways have you this past week? Let us truly see those around us. To humanize someone is to empathize with them. If someone offends you, instead of being offended, maybe humanize them by asking, “I wonder if anything is going on in their life? One of the gifts of our community is having others truly see us. I am grateful that you see me. I cannot share how many times your words have comforted and encouraged me to press on. How you empathize with me and the other elders in all the complex decisions we have to make for the body. Thank you for humanizing and empathizing with me. I pray we make that our aim with others in our life.
Peter and John saw this lame man as a human being made in the image of God. The language in the Greek intensifies both Peter and John's look and this man’s look in response. He was expecting to receive something, but he was not expecting the something he got. Acts 3:6–7
[6] But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” [7] And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong.
This is a miracle. This man was lame for 40 years and day by day had to be carried to the temple. Forty years his ankles could not support his weight. Not at five, not at 10, not at 20, not at 40 years old. And in an instance, inexplicable by the laws of nature, this man was raised up and walked. This was a miracle but do not miss the reason for the miracle, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” The power is in the strong name of Jesus Christ.
The famed theologian Thomas Aquinas visited Pope Innocent II and was surprised at how opulent the Vatican was in that day. The pope proudly said to Aquinas, “No longer do we say, ‘silver and gold have we none.” Thomas replied, “Maybe that is why we can no longer say, ‘Rise up and walk.” We cannot have two masters. We cannot serve both God and money. The church has always battled greed and the desire to have the things of the world, but our desire is to live in the strong name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. We do not have the power to tell the lame to rise up and walk, but we do have the power to tell lame and crippled hearts to find peace in Christ.
This miracle had a purpose. The purpose was not merely to make a lame man walk but to display how the age of the Messiah had come. Acts 3:8–10
[8] And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. [9] And all the people saw him walking and praising God, [10] and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
Notice that everyone recognized the man. Remember they would have walked by this man, day after day after day. There would have been no doubt who this man was which is why they all were amazed. This was a miracle.
Luke knows his Old Testament well and gives a clue to the reader with the double use of the word, “leaping” in verse 8. One of the challenges for us as modern-day readers of the Bible is we do not know the culture of the original audience. When the original audience heard verse 8 they would have remembered Isaiah 35 and the promise of the Messiah. The Messiah was going to come and save them and the signs of salvation were given in Isaiah 35:5–10,
[5] Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
[6] then shall the lame man leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.
For waters break forth in the wilderness,
and streams in the desert;
[7] the burning sand shall become a pool,
and the thirsty ground springs of water;
in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down,
the grass shall become reeds and rushes.
[8] And a highway shall be there,
and it shall be called the Way of Holiness;
the unclean shall not pass over it.
It shall belong to those who walk on the way;
even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.
[9] No lion shall be there,
nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;
they shall not be found there,
but the redeemed shall walk there.
[10] And the ransomed of the LORD shall return
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain gladness and joy,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Luke was highlighting in a neon sign, “The time has come!” “The lame is leaping like a deer.” We shall have everlasting joy in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
This miracle is a turning point in salvation history. Salvation is being offered beyond the boundaries of the temple. There was a reason the lame man sat outside the gate. He was unclean. The lame could not enter into the temple. Greek highlights this difference:
V. 1 - Peter and John were going up into the temple (eis to hieron)
V. 2 - The man was carried to the (Beautiful) gate of the temple (pros ten thyran you heirou)
V. 2 - The man used to beg from those going into the temple (eis to heiron)
V. 3 - Peter and John were about to enter into the temple (eis to heiron)
V. 4-7 - The man is healed
V. 8 - The man went with them into the temple (syn autois eis to heiron)
v.10 - He used to sit begging at the gate of the temple (epi te…plye tou hierou)
The man was lame and excluded from the temple. To be excluded from the temple meant he was excluded from the presence of God. And now through the strong name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth this man leaps over the barriers of exclusion and enters into the temple with Peter and John. Beloved, this is a miracle. And this miracle is not only for his man, but a sign of blessing for all who trust in the name of Jesus Christ.
We are all lame. We are all despised and excluded from God’s presence because of our sin. Our salvation was not only improbable, but impossible. But God in his kindness sent Jesus Christ who, Hebrews 13:12, “suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood.” Jesus suffered for the spiritually lame and crippled. His blood shed on the cross has made us holy through faith in him. We can rise up and walk because God first said to Jesus after he was dead and buried, “Rise up and walk.” And he did. Jesus walked out of the tomb. He is alive. The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the greatest miracle of all miracles. Friends, we can be made holy: forgiven for our sins and made right with God and able to enter his presence through the shed blood of Christ.
Friend, if you are here with us and not a follower of Jesus, please know God loves you and does not want you to sit crippled outside his presence. He wants you to leap like a deer in his presence. He wants to give you joy, true eternal everlasting joy through his Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus came to die for you and to be raised for you. His resurrection is a promise that all who turn to him in faith will not be excluded and sent to hell outside of his presence, but will be welcomed into his holy place. The entrance into God’s place is not your good works or a change in your behavior, but the miraculous power of God to make you believe. You must change your allegiance from self to the Savior. You must turn to Jesus Christ for it is only by his wounds we are healed from a lame and crippled heart. Look at me, silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give to you, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!
The Miracle Message
After the people witness this miracle, a crowd gathers and Peter again rises up and explains what happened and by whom. Acts 3:11–16
[11] While he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s. [12] And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? [13] The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. [14] But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, [15] and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. [16] And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.
Peter takes full advantage of the opportunity. While the man is clinging to him, Peter decides to directly attack his audience. Jesus is the Holy and Righteous One. He is the servant promised in Isaiah who was going to save his people from their sins. He is the author of life. And you delivered him. You denied him. You chose a murder over him. You killed the Author of life. Salvation comes through judgment. God saves us because Jesus was judged. We cannot experience salvation unless we understand our sin. We are like Peter’s audience. We killed Jesus. We denied him. We delivered him to death because of our sin and rebellion. And remember as Peter says those words, “you denied the Holy and Righteous one,” that he himself denied Jesus Christ three times. It is easier to speak to sinners when we ourselves understand our own sin. We are not righteous in ourselves, but deniers, deliverers and murderers. But Peter and John also testified to seeing Jesus raised from the dead. “To this we are witnesses.” Peter is not ending in judgment but in salvation. We deserve judgment for our denial but God has offered us life. He has offered us a miracle. He has offered us full and eternal healing forever. Verse 16 says, “And his name–by faith in his name—has made his man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given this perfect health in the presence of you all.”
The people have seen a miracle and now they will be offered a miracle. Peter continues, Acts 3:17–26,
[17] “And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. [18] But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. [19] Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, [20] that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, [21] whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. [22] Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. [23] And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’ [24] And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days. [25] You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ [26] God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”
Peter was on the mountaintop with John when they heard the words from heaven, “This is my beloved Son, Listen to Him.” Peter heard those words and now testifies how Moses prophesied that God would raise up a prophet and that we must listen to him. Jesus is the Son. He is the servant. He is the seed of Abraham. He is the Son of David. Peter refers to Jesus with 8 different titles in this sermon.
God is offering a miracle to all who listen. The age of refreshing promised in Isaiah 35 has begun in Christ. The age of the Messiah is here. The refreshing will not come through the physical temple, but the one who has become God’s temple. Jesus Christ who tabernacled among us has come to give us life. Verse 19-20 and 26 offers an astounding miracle to the Jews who denied and delivered Jesus to death,
“Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send Christ appointed for you, Jesus.”
And,
“God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”
Can you imagine reading a list of your sins? Can you imagine standing in God’s presence reading when you lied? Reading when you lusted or when you intentionally hurt your friends or spoke harshly to your parents? Imagine the condemnation you would feel. And what if someone were to give you a permanent black sharpie where you could redact all your sins? What if someone didn’t just hand you the sharpie but they took the sheet of paper listing your sins and started to blot out every single one. Imagine standing in God’s presence and there are no sins to read because they have been blotted out?
God is offering a miracle. Every sin blotted out. Every sin, forgotten and remembered no more. Every. Single. Sin. Miraculous. This is the offer God is making to you in Jesus Christ. And how do we receive this offer? Repentance. We repent of our sins. We admit our guilt and our deserved condemnation and we turn to God.
But it gets even better than just being forgiven. Salvation is not merely forgiven, it is restoration. We repent and turn back to God so our sins may be blotted out and times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. God forgives and cleanses us. He restores us. I have the picture in my head of a particularly demanding day of work and labor where you fall into your bed exhausted. Or it could be a particularly demanding day of spiritual exhaustion when you feel very acutely the condemnation we deserve for our sin. We fall into bed physically and spiritually exhausted. And we sleep and sleep and sleep and we awake to the new mercies of God. Our bodies rested and restored afresh. Our souls reminded and renewed the promise of the gospel.
God wants to bless you and restore. The gospel is far better than we will ever fully realize. For God is working to restore us and refresh us here and now, but promises a day when all things will be made new. When all the effects of sin on his cursed world will be erased. For Jesus Christ is coming again. He is in heaven now interceding for us, advocating for us, and waiting until the time is fulfilled when he will restore all things.
Friends, the more you study the gospel, the better it gets. Beloved, it is a miracle that God saves us at all. And he does. It is a miracle that God sanctifies us. And he does. It is a miracle that God perseveres with us. And he does. It is a miracle that God saves others through us. And he does. It is a miracle that God sanctifies others through us. And he does. And we know he does because there was a man lame who was leaping like a deer. We know because there is an empty tomb. The gospel is a miracle. It cannot be explained by the laws of science or even logic. That God would send us his Son to die a bloody death outside the gate so we could enter his presence.
Don’t miss the opportunity today to leap and to shout and to rejoice in what God has done. After the “Music City Miracle,” Tennessee Titans’s fans were jumping and leaping and shouting for a victory in a game that means very little in the grand scheme of eternity. For us in Christ, have experienced a far better, a longer lasting and more glorious miracle. Our dead hearts are alive. We are forgiven. Set apart as holy. Restored. Renewed. Waiting for a day when God will fully and finally restore all things. If you have experienced the miracle of regeneration, jump and dance and leap and shout, and pick up your cross daily then in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.