A man who had never walked is now leaping through the temple courts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Naturally, a crowd comes running. The people stare at Peter and John, and they want an explanation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Peter gives them one. However, he does not stop at explaining the miracle. He uses it to bring his listeners face to face with Jesus. Then he calls them to repent and return to God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Luke records this second sermon for readers who faced a real temptation. Whenever God works through a person, others tend to admire the person. Consequently, the early churches needed to learn how a faithful servant handles attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition, many of Luke\u2019s readers wrestled with a painful fact. The Jewish leaders, and much of the nation, had rejected the Messiah. So they asked whether God had finished with those who rejected His Son.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Peter\u2019s message answers both concerns. First, he refuses the credit and points to Christ. Second, he tells the very people who disowned Jesus that God still invites them. If they repent and return, He will wipe away their sins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nActs 3:11-26 NASB
While he was clinging to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them at the portico named Solomon\u2019s, completely astonished. But when Peter saw this, he replied to the people, \u201cMen of Israel, why are you amazed at this, or why are you staring at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made him walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His Servant Jesus, the one whom you handed over and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him. But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, but put to death the Prince 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 comes through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all. \u201cAnd now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers also did. But the things which God previously announced by the mouths of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has fulfilled in this way. 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 mouths of His holy prophets from ancient times. Moses said, \u2018The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your countrymen; to Him you shall listen regarding everything He says to you. And it shall be that every soul that does not listen to that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.\u2019 And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken from Samuel and his successors onward, have also announced these days. It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God ordained with your fathers, saying to Abraham, \u2018And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.\u2019 God raised up His Servant for you first, and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nKey Focus of the Passage and Jesus\u2019 Character<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The focus is the glory of Jesus, the guilt of those who rejected Him, the mercy God still extends, the call to repent and return, and the promise of restoration.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Peter gives Jesus more titles in this sermon than in almost any other passage in Acts. Therefore, we see Him here as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
- the Servant whom God glorified,<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- the Holy and Righteous One,<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- the Prince of life whom death could not keep,<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- the Christ who suffered as the prophets foretold,<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- the Prophet like Moses whom everyone must hear,<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- and the promised Offspring of Abraham who brings blessing to the world.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nThe People in the Interaction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
- Peter<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- John<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- The healed man, who holds on to them<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- The crowd in Solomon\u2019s portico<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Abraham, Moses, Samuel, and the prophets, whom Peter cites<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nWhat Happened in the Scene<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The healed man clings to Peter and John, and the astonished crowd runs to them in the portico of Solomon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Peter sees this, he speaks. First, he asks why the people stare at the apostles, as though their own power or godliness made the man walk. Instead, he says, the God of their fathers has glorified His Servant Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Next, he confronts them. They handed Jesus over and disowned Him before Pilate, even after Pilate decided to release Him. They asked for a murderer in His place. In fact, they killed:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\u201c\u2026the Prince of life\u2026\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
However, God raised Him from the dead, and the apostles saw it. Faith in His name has made this man strong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then Peter\u2019s tone softens. He calls them brothers and says he knows they acted in ignorance. Moreover, God used their act to fulfill what the prophets said about the suffering of the Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Therefore, he urges them to repent and return. If they do, God will wipe away their sins, send times of refreshing, and one day send Jesus again to restore all things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally, Peter appeals to Scripture. Moses promised a Prophet whom the people must hear. All the prophets announced these days. And God promised Abraham that all families of the earth would be blessed through his offspring. Accordingly, God sent His Servant to them first, to bless them by turning them from their wicked ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nA Crowd in Solomon\u2019s Portico<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Luke tells us exactly where the crowd gathered. The people ran together in the portico called Solomon\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This covered walkway ran along the eastern side of the temple courts. Teachers often met their students there. More importantly, Jesus Himself had walked in that same portico. During the Feast of Dedication, the leaders surrounded Him there and demanded to know whether He was the Christ. On that day, He told them that His sheep hear His voice<\/a>, and they picked up stones to kill Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, only months later, His apostles stand in the same place. A healed man clings to them, and a crowd listens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The setting carries a message. The leaders tried to silence Jesus in this portico. Nevertheless, His voice still sounds there through His witnesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\u201cWhy Do You Gaze at Us?\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Peter begins by correcting a mistake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The people stare at him and John. They assume that these two men possess unusual power or exceptional holiness. So Peter asks why they look at the apostles as though their own power or piety had made the man walk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is a critical moment. Peter could have accepted the admiration. After all, the crowd offered it freely. Instead, he turns it away at once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every servant of God faces this test sooner or later. When God uses us, people may begin to look at us. Then we must choose. We can enjoy the attention, or we can redirect it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Peter shows us the right response. He denies two things. First, he denies that he has power of his own. Second, he denies that his godliness earned the miracle. In other words, God did not act because Peter was strong or because Peter was good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That truth protects us from pride when God works through us. It also protects us from despair when we feel weak. The work never depended on us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nThe God of Our Fathers Has Glorified His Servant<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Having turned the attention away from himself, Peter directs it to God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He speaks of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of their fathers. By using these names, Peter makes an important point. He is not announcing a new religion. On the contrary, the God who made promises to the patriarchs has now acted to keep them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then Peter says what God has done. He has glorified His Servant Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The word \u201cServant\u201d would have stirred the memory of anyone who knew Isaiah. The prophet described a Servant of the Lord who would be despised, pierced for the sins of others, and afterward exalted. Peter now identifies Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Therefore, the healing of one lame man points to something much larger. God has lifted up the One whom people cast down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nYou Disowned the Holy and Righteous One<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Next, Peter states the charge, and he states it plainly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n