Acts 3:6-8 - Silver and gold have I none

3:6

Peter continues to take a very direct approach, commanding him in Jesus name to get up and walk. We do not appreciate the force or meaning of “in the name of Jesus”. To us it is often more of a mantra, a religious thing you add on to prayers. Peter was moving in the authority of Jesus, and the command was given in the authority of Jesus. The man had gone looking for money. However, his need for money, genuine as it was, was a symptom or a consequence of his condition. Peter (and, of course, Jesus) saw the real problem, his inability to walk. Moreover, he could do something about the real problem. There are at least two things we can learn from this. One is our need to better appreciate the power and meaning of “in the name of Jesus”. The second is to ask ourselves: how often do we seek to deal with the secondary problem, the symptom, because we do not believe that Jesus, or Jesus working through us, can address the root problem?

3:7,8

Peter then took the man by the hand and raised him up. The man was healed immediately. Perhaps he needed Peter to lift him up to demonstrate the truth of what was happening because having been crippled for so long (from birth, in fact) he could not  conceive of being able to walk normally. A feature of this whole incident is that it could very well have fitted in one of the gospels. The man was overjoyed and leapt up. He then began to walk with the disciples and entered the temple. In Leviticus 21:17-23 there were restrictions put on people who had physical defects. We naturally recoil at this, thinking it cruel. However, we need to consider the purpose of the Law (which is very complicated and multifaceted, and what I say here looks only at one aspect). Part of the purpose is painting a picture of perfection. In heaven there will be no lame, for we will all be whole. So, in one sense the Law is saying this is how things should be (or even will be), but gives no means of actually achieving that goal. When Jesus came He was full of grace and truth (John 1:17). The truth remained the same, but Jesus came with grace to enable us to be righteous. This man could now approach God, which is part of the reason that he was praising God.