Inigo Montoya Series: Peter's Shadow Healed The Sick?

Peter’s Shadow Did Not Heal the Sick

Remember in Acts chapter 5 when Peter's shadow healed all those sick people?

That's a very good answer.

Inconceivable!

You keep using that word. I don't think it means what you think it means.

Introduction and the Misreading of Acts 5

You keep using that verse. I do not think it means what you think it means. Hello, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Justin Peters, and I hope that you and your family are doing well today. I want to thank you very much for joining me for this podcast.

So you might have heard that somewhere in the book of Acts, Peter's shadow healed a bunch of sick people. Well, not so much. Let's look at the text, okay? Let's go to Acts chapter 5. The pertinent verses are 15 through 16, but we'll back up to verse 12 for a little bit of context.

All right, beginning of verse 12. Luke, the author of Acts, writes,. Now at the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were happening among the people. Now, I want to pause right there just for a second.

Notice the specificity of the Holy Spirit as he inspires his word. Signs and wonders were not taking place among Christians in general. They were taking place at the hands of the apostles. We see that here in Acts 5.

We see it also in 2 Corinthians 12, verse 12, where Paul refers to the signs of the apostles. So signs and wonders, miracles, were only taking place at the hands of the apostles. And with a couple of exceptions, just Stephen and Barnabas and both of these men were very close associates with the apostles.

But you don't see signs and wonders taking place among Christians in general. That's why Paul refers to them as the signs of the apostles. So anyway, anytime you hear somebody say, Oh, all Christians should be able to perform signs and wonders.

That wasn't even happening in the apostolic age, much less now. So let's go back to the text. And they were all with one accord in Solomon's portico, but none of the rest dared to associate with him. However, the people were holding them in high esteem.

And more than ever, believers in the Lord were added to their number, multitudes of men and women, to such an extent that they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and mats so that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on any one of them.

Now, notice the text does not say that Peter's shadow healed anybody. It doesn't say that at all. It just says that people were bringing the sick out into the streets in hopes that Peter's shadow might fall on any one of them.

So a couple of points here. One, the text doesn't say that, that Peter's shadow had anything to do with it. Two, there were no instructions from the apostles for the people to bring the sick out into the street.

There was no apostolic instruction for them to do so. They just kind of did it on their own. And also, verse 16 makes it very clear that a lot of people were, in fact, being healed. Now let's look at verse 16.

It says,.

Also, the multitude from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing people who were sick or afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all being healed.

Okay.

Clearly, a lot of people were being healed. Obviously, not all of those people, all of that multitude of sick people who were being healed, were in the shadow of Peter. There were a lot of people being healed who were not in Peter's shadow at all.

So Peter's shadow, in and of itself, had nothing at all to do with it. Here's another point. What if it had been overcast that day? What if it was drizzling and there was not a shadow from Peter or from anyone else, for that matter?

Would nobody have been healed if it had been an overcast day? No, that's not the point. Peter's shadow had nothing to do with it one way or the other. The point was, is that people knew that God was performing incredible signs and wonders at the hands of the apostles.

And so when they got word that Peter was coming through town, they took the sick. They brought them out into the streets just in hopes just to get them close to Peter and the apostles. Because everybody knew, everybody knew that God was doing incredible signs and wonders through the apostles.

Signs and Wonders at the Hands of the Apostles

So why did Peter and the apostles have this reputation? Well, let's back up a couple of chapters to Acts chapter 3. Luke writes, in order to beg alms of those who were entering the temple. When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he began asking to receive alms.

But when Peter, along with John, fixed his gaze on him and said, look at us. And he began to give them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. Peter said, I do not possess silver and gold.

But what I do have, I give to you in the name of Jesus Christ, the Nazarene, walk. A couple of points I want to make here. Notice that Peter says, I do not possess silver or gold. Contrast that with the prosperity gospel preachers out there bragging about how wealthy they are.

Kenneth Copeland and Jesse Duplantis bragging about their uber wealth and their fleet, literally, of private jets. Well, Peter and John said, silver and gold have I none. I've actually seen, there's an old video clip of Oral Roberts, and he's actually mocking this statement.

And he says, of themselves, referring to himself and the other false teachers around him. He says, silver and gold have we plenty.

Brother Copeland, would you come and stand in my place? Laurie, would you come and stand in Evan's place? Evan, would you come stand by me? Now, Brother Copeland and your dear wife, Laurie, would you look at us?

Look on us. Silver and gold have we plenty.

Quite the contrast between true apostles, Peter and John, and false apostles like Oral Roberts and Kenneth Copeland and Jesse Duplantis and Benny Hinn and all the rest of them. Now, let's look at verse 7.

And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up, and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened. And leaping up, he stood upright and began to walk. And he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.

True Miracles Versus Modern Fraud

Friends, what a contrast between what we see in God's inspired, infallible, all-sufficient, authoritative word, Scripture. What a difference between what we see with true apostles and the signs and wonders they performed and the false apostles that we see today.

When Peter and John and the apostles, when Paul healed someone, it was instant. It was undeniable, and it was complete. This was a man who had been lame from his mother's womb. Okay, this was not someone with a ringing in their ears.

This was not someone with back pain or bursitis in their right shoulder. These were undeniable miracles. They were undeniable, they were complete, and they were instantaneous. And that stands in stark contrast to what you see from so-called apostles today.

When Peter and John healed someone, when Paul healed someone, or even on occasion raised them from the dead, these miracles were complete, undeniable. Everybody recognized them as the power of God being done through the apostles.

What do we see today with people who call themselves apostles today, like Todd Bentley and Todd White and these fake signs and wonders? Kenneth Copeland and Bill Johnson, you don't see someone who has been lame from his mother's womb instantly jumping up and running like a deer, like we saw in the book of Acts.

You don't see that today. What do we see today? We see Todd White going up to people on the street at random and lengthening their leg by just about that much. That's a trick. That's sleight of hand. I know how it's done.

It's been exposed, and I'll go more in depth into that in a future video, Lord willing, and we'll look at that more in depth. And they're complete frauds. They're complete charlatans. You don't see true signs and wonders being done by these so-called prophets and apostles today.

They're false prophets. They're false apostles. In fact, let's go back to the text here. Look at verse 9.

It says,.

Referring to the man born lame, of course. And all the people saw him walking and praising God. And they were recognizing him that he was the one who used to sit at the beautiful gate of the temple to beg alms.

And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. When I see these so-called signs and wonders from these so-called apostles and prophets today, I'm not filled with amazement and wonder.

The only amazement and wonder that I'm filled with is I'm amazed and I wonder how anybody today could be duped by these manifestly obvious charlatans and frauds and hucksters. Like Todd Bentley, Todd White, Kenneth Copeland, Bill Johnson, Cheyenne, Chris Vallotton, fill in the blank.

There's hundreds of them. That's what amazes me, that people today are actually duped by these charlatans. All right, dear ones. Thank you very much for joining me. I hope that this has been helpful for you and maybe cleared up a verse that is often taken out of context and misinterpreted.

Until our next time together, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of His Holy Spirit be with you all.