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Reading Acts 3:11-16 where Peter preaches in the temple, drawing the people's attention again to the fact that they crucified the Christ and they must repent. Visit wwutt.com for all our videos!
Peter and John gave strength to a lame man and made him walk again, and did this so that the people would see the power of Christ, that they would put their faith in Him and live when we understand the text.
This is When We Understand The Text, a daily Bible study in the word of Christ, that men and women of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. Tell your friends about our ministry at www .utt .com.
Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe.
Thank you, Becky. In our study of the book of Acts, we started in chapter 3 yesterday with the healing of the lame beggar at the beautiful gate in Jerusalem. We're going to pick up from there and hear Peter's sermon at Solomon's portico.
I'm reading verses 11 to 21. Hear the word of the Lord. And while he was clinging to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them at the portico called Solomon's, full of wonder. But when Peter saw this, he replied to the people, men of Israel, why do you marvel at this or why do you gaze at us as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk?
The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered and denied in the presence of Pilate when he had decided to release him. But you denied the holy and righteous one and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, but put to death the author of life, whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses.
And on the basis of faith in his name, it is the name of Jesus, which has strengthened this man whom you see and know. And the faith which is through him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.
And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance just as your rulers did also. But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets that his Christ would suffer, he has thus fulfilled.
Therefore, repent and return so that your sins may be wiped away in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord and that he may send Jesus the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from ancient time.
All right, we'll stop there. There's more to the sermon to go, and we won't even get that far. But that's the end of the sentence. I was looking for a period that I could conclude with, and I didn't want to stop at verse eighteen.
So I went through verse twenty one. So once again, yesterday we read verses one through ten, where Peter and John, as they're coming up to the temple at the hour of prayer, they see this lame man who is laying by the beautiful gate.
He would lay there every day. Somebody would bring him to that spot and lay him there so that he could beg for alms as the people went in during the hour of prayer. So Peter and John are coming up and they see the lame beggar there, a man who is not walked.
At all.
He has been lame from his mother's womb, it had said back in verse two. So his muscles were atrophy. They'd never even been used. Basically what it looked like flesh and bone down there in his extremities.
People would have seen his feet and known this guy can't walk. He couldn't walk if we lifted him up and tried to help him do it. His muscles have never worked. The nerves have never been intact. He's never known being on his feet.
And yet here, Peter and John just simply say to him in the name of Jesus Christ, the Nazarene.
Walk.
And he not only gets up and walks, he leaps up and he's walking and leaping and praising God into the temple. So all the people see this, they are amazed at what they are observing. And here, as we come back into this account in verse 11, it says, while he was clinging to Peter and John.
So this man is, is holding onto them like, like he is. You could not imagine the level of elation and gratitude in this man. He is clinging to Peter and John. He was just asking for alms. And what was Peter's response to him?
I do not possess silver and gold. But what I do have, I give to you. And then in the name of Jesus Christ, gives him strong legs upon which he is leaping and walking and running and rejoicing and praising God.
He didn't even have to learn how to use them. It wasn't like Peter just granted him strength in his legs. So now he's got to learn how to walk. This whole miracle was complete. And this man overjoyed is clinging on to the two men who has given him feet upon which he is standing.
And all the people ran together to them at the portico called Solomon's, full of wonder. So Solomon's portico, I've talked about this before. As I have talked about the temple, it's almost like I have never been able to really talk about the temple without emphasizing just how massive the structure was.
I've never been there. I've always wanted to be there at the Temple Mount, but all I'd be able to see is the Temple.
Mount.
Obviously, the temple's not there anymore. All of the pieces of the temple were torn down and thrown off the Temple Mount by the Romans in the Jewish Roman War. The destruction of the temple, as you know, occurred in the year 8070.
This happened as Jesus prophesied that it would. The Olivet discourse that we have in Matthew 24 and 25 or other places like in Mark and Luke where Jesus talks about the destruction that will come upon Jerusalem.
This was a huge structure, and nobody believed Jesus when he said this. Like it's absurd anyway to say when when Jesus would say, I will tear down this building and rebuild it in three days. That would be absurd for anybody to say that, of course, you know, we know what Jesus meant when he said that.
And of course, he had the power that he could have destroyed the temple and rebuilt it if he wanted to. It was such an absurd thing to anybody who heard him say it because of just how big the temple was.
It was so big. It belonged in the list still belongs in the list of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It was that big. Herod's temple and Solomon's portico had 162 columns, 100 feet tall or as much as 100 feet.
Tall.
It may not have been all equally the same size, but that's how big all of those pillars were 162 of them. That's more columns than were in the temple of Artemis, which is one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.
The temple of Artemis at Ephesus had 127 columns that were approximately 60 feet tall. Solomon's portico was even bigger than that. This outdoor colonnade, which was next to Herod's temple, of course, being the the center of worship in Jerusalem, then you had like the temple courtyard and then it's surrounded by Solomon's portico.
It was it was described as a porch. I know that we think of a porch is like, you know, you go out on the on your porch in front of your house and maybe you've got eight to 12 columns or something like that holding up your porch.
If you got one of those southern style front porches. But the porch extended about 800 feet with 162 columns, some of which as much as 100 feet tall. And Jesus was walking in that portion of the temple.
It talks about that in the Gospel of John during the Feast of Dedication, when he was confronted by some Jewish leaders who were telling him, hey, speak to us plainly if you are the son of God. And that's where Jesus was.
So Jesus had walked around in Solomon's portico. This is now where John and Peter are when this lame man is with them and clinging to them and the people are running to them to see what it is that has happened.
Thousands of people, you would have thousands of people inside the temple. And I mentioned this, too, at the end of of the second chapter of Acts, because after all these people come to faith in Christ and the first church begins, where do you fit 3000 new souls who have just come into the church?
Well, they would be in the temple. This was the biggest structure that they could go to. And then the apostles would be there preaching. And if you could get it quiet enough, you would be able to hear there with all of the stone in the masonry and underneath the portico, especially how that would echo.
You would definitely be able to get that message, that word out. It would broadcast quite well in there. So that's a good place for the church to gather. And this is where Peter and John are, where Peter is now going to preach from this place.
And and the people are full of wonder, it says into verse 11, verse 12. But when Peter saw this, he replied to the people, he's he's seeing the people running to him in shock and in awe. And he says to them, I and frankly, I really find Peter's response weird.
I mean, it's he's right. And it's still bizarre to me. Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? And when he says that, I'm just going, are you kidding me? This guy was lame. He had no working legs. He's never had working legs.
He was sitting outside the beautiful gate. And you're asking these people, why are they so why are they marveling at the fact that he can now stand up and walk? I suppose the reason why Peter says this to the people is because many of them had seen Jesus.
Most of them had. They had seen Jesus or they had seen him perform a miracle or they knew somebody who had been made well by one of his miracles. So here are his disciples that are doing that very thing.
So that Peter has to say to them, why do you marvel at this? It's like Peter is getting his opportunity to respond like Jesus did to the disciples. If you'll recall, Jesus fed the five thousand and then he fed the what was it, the four thousand after that.
And the disciples still marveled at the fact that he did this, even though they saw him feed five thousand. It was almost like they didn't expect him to duplicate this miracle again. And then he did it.
And Jesus would say to them, why do you marvel at this? When you went and picked up the baskets of the leftover pieces, how many did you gather up? Twelve. OK, and then the next time, how many did you gather up?
Seven. All right. So so Jesus is is trying to get them to understand. Do you not see what is being done before your very eyes? Through the one whom Peter proclaimed to be the Christ, the Messiah. So, of course, he's performing these great things.
They're still thinking at that time, though, they're thinking of Jesus as an emancipator. He's another David. He's a military leader who is going to lead us. And so probably for that reason, it's like we didn't really expect our military commander to to perform all these miracles like this.
But given that all these people have now seen this and it's been talked about far and wide throughout Israel and Judah. So, Peter, now he gets his opportunity to stand before them and say, why do you marvel or why do you gaze at us as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk?
The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered and denied in the presence of Pilate when he had decided to release him. Peter's going hard now.
This is this is a fire and brimstone sermon is where this is going. Now, of course, Peter had preached this at Pentecost. So why is he preaching it again? Well, remember, three thousand people came to faith in Jesus Christ at Pentecost.
Three thousand were baptized that day. Now you have a megachurch of three thousand plus. But that's not everybody that was in Jerusalem. And I mentioned that with the numbers last week, that even though three thousand come to faith in Jesus Christ, you still had probably a million people that were there in Jerusalem for the festival.
This is Pentecost. It's the Feast of Weeks. They're there for they've been there even since Passover. So the people of of Israel, of Judah are still present. They're they've still been witnessing these things ever since Pentecost is over, but there's still many, many more people that are there.
Not everybody heard Peter preach. So he's having this opportunity to preach to even more people. Why do you marvel at this? Why do you gaze at us as if by our own power we made him walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus.
So he's now convincing them again, making these apologetic appeals to help them to see and understand that everything that had been said in the law and the prophets was about him, Jesus. And when he preached, some of them were probably there who heard him preach, who heard Jesus preach, that he did not come to abolish the law or the prophets, but to fulfill them.
And so Peter is helping them connect the dots on all of this. You have heard this teaching. You've heard us talk about it. You heard Jesus talk about it. You had seen the miracles that Jesus had performed.
This is the one whom God glorified. Now, Jesus was glorified. Though you delivered and denied Jesus in the presence of Pilate, Pilate had agreed to release him. And yet, what did you want? Verse 14, you denied the holy and righteous one and asked for a murderer to be granted to you.
That was Barabbas. So Pilate, trying to satisfy the crowd like he is, he is trying to appease their wrath, their anger. It was a custom for him to give up a criminal at the Passover, at the major Jewish feast and festival.
So here he is offering to the people, what if I released you, Barabbas? I mean, which one would you rather have? This Jesus, who's perfectly innocent, has never done anything wrong. The people identified that they could even find some charge to bring against him.
What they were putting him to death for was because he claimed to be the son of God. And here Peter is saying, well, that's because he is. Jesus was glorified by the God of our fathers. But you delivered him over and denied him in the presence of Pilate.
Instead, you wanted a murderer to be granted to you. The people shouted, give us Barabbas. They would rather have the murderer than the man who was perfectly innocent, had never done anything wrong. The holy and righteous one, even Pilate had to acknowledge, I find no charge against this man.
Verse 15, Peter says, but you put to death the author of life. Oh, man, he is he is really piercing here. He is going for the jugular or straight to the heart with the word that he is preaching. The author of life, Jesus is God incarnate.
He is the one who is given life. He has not only breathed life into man and made him a living person. But he is also the one who gives life to the dead, raises them up. And has given life to our mortal bodies through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us as talked about in Romans chapter eight, we have been raised from death to life in Christ Jesus.
We hear in Hebrews chapter 12 how we are to put off sin and every weight which so easily entangles and run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the author and the perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
He is the author of life, the one whom God raised from the dead, Jesus gave life once he gives life again, new life to those who believe in him, that our sins may be washed away and that dead man that we once were would be raised to life, new life in Christ.
God raised him from the dead. Jesus raises us from the dead when we put our faith and trust in him. And now the judgment of God that was upon us when when we were sinners and rebellious against God, by faith in Jesus Christ, God's wrath has been appeased.
Pilate couldn't appease the wrath of the crowd. Jesus has satisfied the wrath of God that was burning against us. And so by faith in him, we are forgiven and are given new life. So God raised him from the dead, a fact to which we all are witnesses, Peter says, and on the basis of faith in his name.
It is the name of Jesus, which has strengthened this man whom you see and know this miraculous power that has been worked in him is because of Christ. Peter and John are not taking any credit for this at all.
They are giving all glory to Christ. And it is because of Christ this man walks again. This incredible miracle that you see, it's all of Christ. It's so that you would know Christ. And then the rest of this verse and the faith, which is through him, that's in reference to Jesus, has given him the lame man, this perfect health in the presence of you all.
So the faith, which is through him, remember what we read in Ephesians 2, 8, it is by grace you are saved through faith. And this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not a result of works so that no one may boast.
Romans 10, 17, faith comes by hearing and hearing through the word of Christ. So it is by faith that this man has been lifted up through Jesus, who gives it. The faith, which is through Christ, has given him this lame man, this perfect health in the presence of you all.
And again, this miracle is done so that the people would recognize the power of Christ, though Christ is not with them in body anymore. He has ascended to heaven. He is seated at the right hand of God, yet he is still present.
And all those who believe in him will not perish, but have everlasting life. And we will continue with more of this sermon tomorrow, finishing up the rest versus 18 through 26. Let me finish here with prayer.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for the healing that you have given to us dead in our trespasses and sins in which we once walked. You did not leave us in that place. But by grace, we have been saved through faith.
And so, Lord, I pray that we would fix our eyes on Christ and we would walk in a manner that is worthy of the calling that we have received, that we would be holy and righteous before you, knowing that you have given your son for us, that we might be raised from death to life and restored to you, reconciled to God with whom we are in relationship and will live forever in glory.
It's in Jesus' name that we pray.
Amen.
Pastor Gabe keeps a regular blog, sharing personal thoughts, alerting readers to false teachers, and offering commentary on the church and social issues. You can find a link to the blog through our website, www .utt .com.
Thank you for listening and join us again tomorrow as we continue our study in God's Word, when we understand the text.