Acts 3:1-10 (Good News Translation)
One day Peter and John went to the Temple at three o'clock in the afternoon, the hour for prayer.
2 There at the Beautiful Gate, as it was called, was a man who had been lame all his life. Every day he was carried to the gate to beg for money from the people who were going into the Temple.
3 When he saw Peter and John going in, he begged them to give him something.
4 They looked straight at him, and Peter said, “Look at us!”
5 So he looked at them, expecting to get something from them.
6 But Peter said to him, “I have no money at all, but I give you what I have: in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth I order you to get up and walk!”
7 Then he took him by his right hand and helped him up. At once the man's feet and ankles became strong;
8 he jumped up, stood on his feet, and started walking around. Then he went into the Temple with them, walking and jumping and praising God.
9 -10 The people there saw him walking and praising God, and when they recognized him as the beggar who had sat at the Beautiful Gate, they were all surprised and amazed at what had happened to him.
One day Peter and John went to the Temple at three o'clock in the afternoon, the hour for prayer.
2 There at the Beautiful Gate, as it was called, was a man who had been lame all his life. Every day he was carried to the gate to beg for money from the people who were going into the Temple.
3 When he saw Peter and John going in, he begged them to give him something.
4 They looked straight at him, and Peter said, “Look at us!”
5 So he looked at them, expecting to get something from them.
6 But Peter said to him, “I have no money at all, but I give you what I have: in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth I order you to get up and walk!”
7 Then he took him by his right hand and helped him up. At once the man's feet and ankles became strong;
8 he jumped up, stood on his feet, and started walking around. Then he went into the Temple with them, walking and jumping and praising God.
9 -10 The people there saw him walking and praising God, and when they recognized him as the beggar who had sat at the Beautiful Gate, they were all surprised and amazed at what had happened to him.
The Trinity and the Good News
As we heard in last week’s reading in Acts those following the disciples and the Jesus Way ballooned from 120 to over three thousand to over five thousand. That’s a lot of people! Even for Jerusalem during a festival. So what was it that persuaded people that this was something they wanted to be a part of. What were the disciples telling people, what was the Good News that attracted people to come and listen.
We know a bit of the answer from Acts 2 and Peter’s speech; we know there was a lot about Jesus as Messiah; his death and resurrection, there were pronouncements using words from the prophets, and King David, and there was a renewed call for repentance and when people asked the disciples what they should do:
38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized,
every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ
for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39 The promise is for you and your children
and for all who are far off—for all whom
the Lord our God will call.”
And people responded. People stayed and were baptized, and joined the community in learning from the disciples, sharing in fellowship, and sharing in the fellowship meals and prayers.
Undoubtedly in time, many of the thousands had to return home to their communities, bringing with them these Jesus Way ideas but some people stayed in Jerusalem; selling their goods and living in common as they waited for Jesus’ return.
There was something going on that we can’t quite fathom or understand! Of course, that’s us looking backwards through all the history of Christianity and the world.
But if we look at it the other way from the view of creation, and the rainbow, and Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the Prophets and John the Baptist and Jesus; we see these people as faithful Jews. Faithful Jews who were gathered to celebrate Shavuot and maybe happened upon a man riding a donkey, who was entering Jerusalem with the cheering crowds, and maybe they had heard that this man was crucified but maybe not.
Maybe they just heard the great cacophony of praise on Pentecost as the Holy Spirit descended and whooshed through the crowd with surprising results. Maybe they heard from a friend that there were these people who had some interesting things to say about God working in the world, and…
Well you can tell I’m intrigued, I want to know why and how and who. And Acts 3 is a clue. It a clue about God working in the world, the Spirit at work in the disciples, and what faith in Jesus begins to look like.
So Peter and John are going to the Temple for prayer one afternoon and as usual there sat a beggar at the entry gate asking for money. something I am sure we have experienced. Now, they didn’t have any money on them but Peter has faith in Jesus, and a ministry ordained by God through the Holy Spirit, so he just heals the man.
He heals just like Jesus heals but there’s a difference it is not the beggar’s faith that makes him whole it is Peter’s faith in Jesus.
The story in Acts 3 goes on:
11 While the man held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon’s Colonnade. 12 When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. 16 By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him
that has completely healed him, as you can all see.”
Astonishing, I know, but I’m not just talking about the faith part; as important as that is, I’m interested in this story because it tells us about God. About God’s will for us to whole and holy, for us to be healed. This is Good News for everyone not just a lame beggar who sits by the Temple gate.
The exciting thing for me is that the God, who Jesus calls “Abba” is a dynamic God. A God, we are in relationship with, just like Jesus. One stream in the Torah describes a God who listens to the plight of his people, God who writes a covenant in stone, then 613 “laws” then a covenant written on our hearts. God who includes rather than excludes people.
A God who tries again and again to get people to understand that it is the relationship that’s important; relationship between people and God and the relationship with one another in community. and if you get that to bring about the Kin-dom of God.
Jesus is the person who understood, and tried to not only communicate his relationship with God to others but his life and relationships are a testimony to the both the personal and communal relationship God has with us. For me, Jesus is the center of the Trinity, Jesus is the one I can relate to and with, Jesus is the one I identify with – Jesus is the Word made flesh, the God made human, the Spirit filled person.
It’s a mystery isn’t it? A wild and wonderful mystery! I know there are lots of different ideas and opinions about God, about Jesus, about the Spirit and how this Holy Trinity works in our lives and the world.
We sometimes get to a place and time where we think we know all the right answers, or that our ideas about God, Jesus, the Spirit, Scripture, the Church, theology are right and set in stone but for me these are all ideas that are at best an open dialogue.
A dialogue with scripture, a dialogue with our own experiences and a dialogue with each other that impacts on how I think about God, about Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
It’s a process and a journey with no set destination that we can name except to ask and pray that on the way we come closer to God and closer to our best selves.
Let us become like the beggar outside the Temple rejoice and jump for joy and proclaim that God is at work in our lives and that we are healed by the Spirit because Jesus’ relationship with God has revealed to us the Kin-dom of God.
May it be so. Amen
As we heard in last week’s reading in Acts those following the disciples and the Jesus Way ballooned from 120 to over three thousand to over five thousand. That’s a lot of people! Even for Jerusalem during a festival. So what was it that persuaded people that this was something they wanted to be a part of. What were the disciples telling people, what was the Good News that attracted people to come and listen.
We know a bit of the answer from Acts 2 and Peter’s speech; we know there was a lot about Jesus as Messiah; his death and resurrection, there were pronouncements using words from the prophets, and King David, and there was a renewed call for repentance and when people asked the disciples what they should do:
38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized,
every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ
for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39 The promise is for you and your children
and for all who are far off—for all whom
the Lord our God will call.”
And people responded. People stayed and were baptized, and joined the community in learning from the disciples, sharing in fellowship, and sharing in the fellowship meals and prayers.
Undoubtedly in time, many of the thousands had to return home to their communities, bringing with them these Jesus Way ideas but some people stayed in Jerusalem; selling their goods and living in common as they waited for Jesus’ return.
There was something going on that we can’t quite fathom or understand! Of course, that’s us looking backwards through all the history of Christianity and the world.
But if we look at it the other way from the view of creation, and the rainbow, and Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the Prophets and John the Baptist and Jesus; we see these people as faithful Jews. Faithful Jews who were gathered to celebrate Shavuot and maybe happened upon a man riding a donkey, who was entering Jerusalem with the cheering crowds, and maybe they had heard that this man was crucified but maybe not.
Maybe they just heard the great cacophony of praise on Pentecost as the Holy Spirit descended and whooshed through the crowd with surprising results. Maybe they heard from a friend that there were these people who had some interesting things to say about God working in the world, and…
Well you can tell I’m intrigued, I want to know why and how and who. And Acts 3 is a clue. It a clue about God working in the world, the Spirit at work in the disciples, and what faith in Jesus begins to look like.
So Peter and John are going to the Temple for prayer one afternoon and as usual there sat a beggar at the entry gate asking for money. something I am sure we have experienced. Now, they didn’t have any money on them but Peter has faith in Jesus, and a ministry ordained by God through the Holy Spirit, so he just heals the man.
He heals just like Jesus heals but there’s a difference it is not the beggar’s faith that makes him whole it is Peter’s faith in Jesus.
The story in Acts 3 goes on:
11 While the man held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon’s Colonnade. 12 When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. 16 By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him
that has completely healed him, as you can all see.”
Astonishing, I know, but I’m not just talking about the faith part; as important as that is, I’m interested in this story because it tells us about God. About God’s will for us to whole and holy, for us to be healed. This is Good News for everyone not just a lame beggar who sits by the Temple gate.
The exciting thing for me is that the God, who Jesus calls “Abba” is a dynamic God. A God, we are in relationship with, just like Jesus. One stream in the Torah describes a God who listens to the plight of his people, God who writes a covenant in stone, then 613 “laws” then a covenant written on our hearts. God who includes rather than excludes people.
A God who tries again and again to get people to understand that it is the relationship that’s important; relationship between people and God and the relationship with one another in community. and if you get that to bring about the Kin-dom of God.
Jesus is the person who understood, and tried to not only communicate his relationship with God to others but his life and relationships are a testimony to the both the personal and communal relationship God has with us. For me, Jesus is the center of the Trinity, Jesus is the one I can relate to and with, Jesus is the one I identify with – Jesus is the Word made flesh, the God made human, the Spirit filled person.
It’s a mystery isn’t it? A wild and wonderful mystery! I know there are lots of different ideas and opinions about God, about Jesus, about the Spirit and how this Holy Trinity works in our lives and the world.
We sometimes get to a place and time where we think we know all the right answers, or that our ideas about God, Jesus, the Spirit, Scripture, the Church, theology are right and set in stone but for me these are all ideas that are at best an open dialogue.
A dialogue with scripture, a dialogue with our own experiences and a dialogue with each other that impacts on how I think about God, about Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
It’s a process and a journey with no set destination that we can name except to ask and pray that on the way we come closer to God and closer to our best selves.
Let us become like the beggar outside the Temple rejoice and jump for joy and proclaim that God is at work in our lives and that we are healed by the Spirit because Jesus’ relationship with God has revealed to us the Kin-dom of God.
May it be so. Amen
