Sermon Idea: Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promises, so that in the name of Jesus, there is forgiveness of sin, refreshment in the present, and the restoration of all things in the future.
Introduction: As John the Baptist was in prison and approaching the end of his life, he sent messengers to Jesus to ask him a question.
19 calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” (Lk 7:18–19)
This is an important question, but it strikes us as odd coming from John. After all, John the Baptist prepared the way for the coming of Jesus as the Messiah, identified him as such, and baptized him. But John is now in prison, and like many of the Jews in his day, did not yet have the complete picture as to the true nature of the Kingdom of God.
Jesus answers by first performing more signs and miracles, but not just any signs and miracles. Jesus, as he does throughout the gospels, performs expected and anticipated signs characteristic of the age of the Messiah.
In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. 22 And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. 23 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” (Lk 7:21–23)
When Jesus performs these signs, and his apostles after him, they are not arbitrary displays of power. They are purposeful and particular. They are signs of the kingdom, miracles which bear witness that the Messiah has come.
The Old Testament expectation for the age of the Messiah included the promise of the blind seeing and the lame walking.
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. (Isaiah 35:5-6)
John the Baptist would not only have known these texts, but he would have cherished them. Before his death, these signs of the kingdom served as the final assurance that the kingdom was indeed coming on earth as it is in heaven.
This story serves as a positive counterexample to the Jews who rejected Jesus and put him to death. They, too, should have known the Scriptures, cherished them, and seen the signs and wonders for what they were: evidence of the Messiah’s presence and the coming kingdom of God.
When Jesus heals the lame beggar at the Temple gate through the Apostle Peter, it is not an arbitrary display of power, but a sign that affirms that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah in whose name is salvation.
The signs are not an end in themselves, but signify something about Jesus of Nazareth. This is why Peter doesn’t just heal the man, but follows the miracle with a strong Christ-centered sermon.
The content of that sermon is Christ and him crucified. Jesus is not presented as a mere miracle worker or a moral teacher. Jesus is the servant of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is the Holy and Righteous, whom Peter called the Author of Life. This Jesus was the one whom they crucified, but God raised him from the dead. And the risen Lord Jesus was the one who healed the lame beggar.
What Peter shows the Jews in Jerusalem is that Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promises, so that in the name of Jesus, there is forgiveness of sin, refreshment in the present, and the restoration of all things in the future.
I.) The Work of Christ (Acts 3:1-10)
The scene begins with the disciples going to the Temple. The significance of the location can be seen in the four references to the Temple in the first three verses.
Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. 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. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. (Ac 3:1–3)
When something is repeated so often in such a short period, we should pay attention and reflect on what the Bible is teaching us. For example, the lame man is not inside the temple but outside the gate. This is noteworthy because the law not only prohibited a lame man from serving as a priest but also forbade offering blemished animals or lambs as sacrifices. It may have been culturally taboo for him even to enter the temple.
Since birth, he has been an outsider, a beggar, unable to help himself and dependent on the money someone might give as they pass by. It would have been appropriate for the disciples to give money if they had any.
15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. (Jas 2:15–17)
But Peter knew he could offer a gift that far surpassed any amount of money he could have received. In the name of Jesus, Peter is going to heal the lame man and ultimately extend to him salvation.
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. 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. 8 And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. (Ac 3:3–8)
The change is immediate. He stands, leaps, and walks into the temple praising God. How was he restored? Not by the power of Peter, nor the power of the man’s faith. He was restored by he power and work of the
ascended Lord Jesus.
It is an incredible scene, and it becomes even more meaningful when we remember the promises of the Old Testament.
19 Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth (Zep 3:19)
In Scripture, God’s grace overcomes the boundaries that keep us from him. In Jesus, everything that separates us from God is done away with. That’s our story, isn’t it? We were Gentiles who were once far from God, but now we have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Don’t miss the significance of “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.” The name of Jesus is going to be the predominant theme throughout Peter’s sermon. It is in the name of Jesus that the lame beggar was healed, and it is in the name of Jesus that lame sinners are saved.
II.) The Wonder of Men (Acts 3:11-16)
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. (Ac 3:11–16)
- Divine Soverignty and human responsibility.
- Wonder is not enough. They need true saving faith: Knowledge, assent, and trust.
- Ignorance is not an excuse for wickedness.
20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. (Ro 1:20)
3. An emphasis on the name of Jesus, again—faith in his name.
III.) The Word of God (Acts 3:17-26)
“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. (Ac 3:17–22.)
1.) That your sins may be blotted out.
2.) Those times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.
3.) The restoration of all things.
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.” (Ac 3:20–26)
Nathaniel R. Martin 