Tag Archives: crippled man

THE BOOK OF ACTS – TURN TO FACE GOD

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TURN TO FACE GOD 

“When Peter saw he had a congregation, he addressed the people:

“‘Oh, Israelites, why does this take you by such complete surprise and why stare at us as if our power or piety made him walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, had glorified His Son Jesus. The very one that Pilate called innocent, you repudiated. You repudiated the Holy One, the Just One, and asked for a murderer in His place. You no sooner killed the Author of Life than God raised Him from the dead – and we’re the witnesses. Faith in Jesus’ name put this man whose condition you know so well, on his feet – yes, faith and nothing but faith put this man healed and whole right before your eyes.'” Acts 3:12-16 (The Message).

What an opportunity! Peter made good mileage out of the situation. It was very current. Some of his hearers were still smarting from his last sermon. They had been part of the mob that had bayed for Jesus’ blood and when the Holy Spirit came with indisputable evidence, they were forced to acknowledge their guilt and seek the forgiveness His death offered.

Now it had happened again — another phenomenal miracle which pointed to a Power outside their everyday experience. Peter quickly jumped in with another explanation and another accusation which once again hit home. They had to face the cold, stark fact that they had mindlessly demanded the release of a known murderer and condemned an innocent man to a horrible death, but not only an innocent man, the very Son of God whom they refused to acknowledge.

No one could deny the miracle. This man was so familiar to them that no one would even question that he was once a crippled beggar and now he walked and was whole again. But how did it happen?

Peter explains. “This Jesus you killed is alive again. God raised Him from the dead as a witness to the identity you refused to acknowledge – the Son of God. Through the power of His name, this man was made whole and can walk again. This is the same God you claim to worship – the God of our ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

The evidence was irrefutable. They had only one option – to turn to the one they had spurned and acknowledge that He is Lord. The kingdom He represented is one of mercy and compassion. The Ruler of this kingdom has the power to restore what the devil had lured man into destroying. In spite of what they had done, He offered forgiveness, cleansing, healing and a new life of faith in Him.

The crippled man ,now healed and whole, was a startling declaration that God’s desire is not to condemn and destroy but to restore and heal as a witness to His love and grace. What other God would come Himself to a broken world, pay the debt for man’s sin and offer forgiveness and a new start to anyone who is willing to take up His offer and stake themselves on the reliability of His character and His promise?,

The War Intensifies

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THE WAR INTENSIFIES

‘”But then there was a split in public opinion, some siding with the Jews, some with the apostles. One day, learning that both the Jews and non-Jews had been organised by their leaders to beat them up, they escaped as best they could to the next towns — Lyconia, Lystra, Derbe and that neighbourhood — but then they were right back at it again, getting out the Message.” Acts 14:4-7 (The Message).

What a life! Always on the run! But they had a divine commission to fulfil and a message to deliver and they could not afford to become faint-hearted about it. As long as there was new ground to break they pressed on, their hearts burning with a passion to make Jesus known. Fortunately for them, they never knew what lay around the next corner for them.

“There was a man in Lystra who couldn’t walk. He sat there, crippled since the day of his birth. He heard Paul talking, and Paul, looking him in the eye, saw that he was ripe for God’s work, ready to believe. So he said, loud enough for everyone to hear, ‘Up on your feet!’ The man was up in a flash — jumped up and walked around as if he had been walking all his life.” Acts 14:8-10 (The Message).

All in a day’s work! Whether it was hearts or bodies God was healing, it was all miracle! Paul and Barnabas were on a mission for the kingdom of God and nothing would stop them. Imagine the thrill, in the midst of opposition and the threat of being killed, of seeing God at work like that — a partnership between Him and them that they would not miss for anything in the world.

These two emissaries for the kingdom of God were in the thick of pagan society, surrounded by a culture of godless living and religious superstition and yet they were not deterred from their task of making Jesus known. His power through them was lighting up the darkness, bringing life to those who would believe. One man in the crowd showed a spark of faith and Paul pounced on his opportunity to rescue him from a life of useless disability.

One day Jesus purposefully took His disciples to a place no self-respecting Jew would ever want to visit — equivalent to feasting one’s eyes on the images in “Playboy” magazines — Caesarea Philippi — the red light district of Israel! In full view of the debauchery and sexual orgies on the go there He told them, ‘On this rock I will build my church.’ So confident was He in His power to change people’s lives that He could announce it in the worst possible circumstances.

Paul and Barnabas were personally involved in the fulfilment of Jesus’ promise. No matter where they proclaimed their message, God’s power was there to transform lives. A crippled man, deformed from birth, healed in an instant; history repeating itself in a pagan city! Peter and John had seen the same thing happen at the Beautiful Gate of the temple in Jerusalem with surprising results — the outbreak of opposition against them from the Jewish hierarchy.

Paul and Barnabas were in for a surprise too. Initially it was not rejection but worship!

“When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they went wild, calling out in their Lyconian dialect, ‘The gods have come down! These men are gods!’ They called Barnabas “Zeus” and Paul “Hermes” (since Paul did most of the speaking). The priest of the local Zeus shrine got up a parade — bulls and banners and people lined right up to the gates, ready for the ritual of sacrifice.” Acts 14:11-13 (The Message).

In their pagan ignorance, these people responded in the only way they knew. A miracle had happened, so it must be the work of a god. They mistakenly thought that Paul and Barnabas were gods, not understanding that God really did come, in the person of His son, Jesus. A showdown was about to happen, a clash between the kingdoms of darkness and light. Satan was snatching every opportunity he could to destroy these men because they were a constant threat to his unchallenged rule over whole world.