Tag Archives: Peter and John

ACTS THE SEQUEL…THE SMELL OF SMOKE! – 5

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“One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts.”

The peaceful scene was about to be shattered! Jerusalem…the city of God’s throne…alive with Jesus’ new life…would again become the battle ground. His enemies smelled smoke…the evidence of a fire burning somewhere. 

The disciples still functioned in the temple. After all, the temple was Jesus’ arena, the place He loved…His Father’s house. They gathered for prayer in “the house of prayer”. 

Someone was waiting there to set another fire ablaze…innocently…but arranged by Jesus …to set His church on a new trajectory…into the heart of enemy territory. 

A man sat at the entrance gate, helpless, unable to walk, his useless legs twisted underneath him…begging for a coin or two to sustain himself. It was a daily struggle.  People were so used to his presence that they walked past him, unseeing…ignoring his plight…but two men heard him. 

“When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them. Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk.”

The disciples had finally got it. The penny had dropped! They were the mouthpiece of Jesus…to speak on earth what He had spoken in heaven. They were the heralds of God’s kingdom, not only spreading the good news of Jesus’ reign on earth but confirming the message with the same signs Jesus had done when He was with them. 

At Peter’s command, the lame man leapt to his feet, his crooked legs now straight and strong. he began to leap and dance, shouting his praise and thanks for all to hear. 

“Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. When all the people saw him walking and praising God, they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭3‬:‭1‬-‭10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The people were gobsmacked. What was this? Jesus was no longer around. Had He, somehow, miraculously returned? They knew this man. He was the guy who sat begging at the gate…but now he was walking! They shook their heads…and shared his joy. 

The miracle of what had just happened spread like a prairie fire. Just like the miracles Jesus had done, this marvellous event caught the imagination of the people. Jesus had been crucified…but rumours that He was alive had surfaced all over Jerusalem and beyond. Could it be true that He was back? How was this possible?

Now a lame man had been miraculously healed! What a platform to share the message! People had gathered from all over the city to see the man who had sat at the entrance of the temple, crippled and helpless, begging for a few coins to keep himself alive. 

Peter was quick to seize the opportunity. “No, people! This is not about us. This about Jesus, the one you crucified.”

“The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭3‬:‭13‬-‭15‬ ‭NIV‬‬

But God…

”You tried to outwit God…but it didn’t work! Jesus is alive. He did this, not us.” Peter gave it to them…in the clear language of Biblical prophecy…just like Jesus had taught them. He became the relay station for the words and works of Jesus. 

Just as, on the day of Pentecost, Peter opened up the Word of God…offering grace and forgiveness to all who would return to the Lord. 

“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord…Indeed, beginning with Samuel, all the prophets who have spoken, have foretold these days. “…When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭3‬:‭19‬, ‭24‬, ‭26‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The outcome was electrifying, to say the least…

To be continued

THE BOOK OF ACTS – JOYFUL GENEROSITY

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JOYFUL GENEROSITY

“The man went into the Temple with them, walking back and forth, dancing and praising God. Everybody there saw him walking around and praising God. They recognised him as the one who sat begging at the Temple’s Gate Beautiful and rubbed their eyes astonished, scarcely believing what they were seeing.

“The man threw his arms around Peter and John, ecstatic. All the people ran up to where they were at Solomon’s Porch to see it for themselves.” Acts 3:9-11 (The Message).

What a commotion! What a sensation! The healed beggar was certainly creating enough noise to attract the attention of the worshippers in the Temple.

The Healer had come and gone, and life in Jerusalem had settled down to business as usual. There was this new sect that had arisen around Him but they seemed quite harmless. They were joyful and generous, doing life together, sharing their resources, spending a lot of time with their leaders and just generally being pleasant to be around. They weren’t militant. They were no activists, stirring up trouble, and the people of the city had grown used to them.

Now this! A man crippled from birth, a familiar face at the gate of the Temple, suddenly gets up and walks. And, what’s more, two of Jesus’ disciples are in the mix and, mysteriously, the name of Jesus of Nazareth had reappeared as the one responsible for this miracle.

The beggar’s reaction sure got the attention of the people. People are the same everywhere, inquisitive; any commotion is sure to draw a crowd. This is not what the disciples intended. They were not out to get attention. Their action was purely out of compassion for the crippled man. What happened next was more than they bargained for.

The crippled man’s actions were quite amusing. He went “ballistic”! Wouldn’t you? He had never walked. His legs were shrivelled and weak from lack of exercise. He had always viewed life from ground level. He had always been treated with pity or contempt.  He always depended on others for help. There was no wheel chair to get him around. Wherever he was dumped for the day, he had to stay put. What a life! One shudders to think about everyday things like going to the toilet, or washing his hands.

In an instant everything changed for him. A new and unfamiliar life had begun. He was walking — it was that simple and yet it opened up a whole new life of learning and possibility.

That’s what Jesus does. It’s not always about a physical miracle, though He does that too. Jesus is about setting people free. It’s His passion. There are many ways in which we are held captive to a life that has only one perspective, ourselves. We are crippled by bitterness, unforgiveness, small-mindedness, selfishness, greed, anger, guilt, shame, fear; everything that robs us of the freedom to realise our potential as beloved children of God.

He came to reconcile us to the Father so that we can enjoy freedom from the crippling enslavement to ourselves that robs us of really living. Living is about loving others for God’s sake. Only Jesus can set us free from loving ourselves for our sake into the same life of joyful generosity that Peter and John were living.

It takes a miracle to do that!

He Saw And Believed!

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HE SAW AND BELIEVED!

“Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put Him.'” John 20:1-3a NIV.

John’s story sounds so true-to-life, doesn’t it?

Mary Magdalene is so distraught about the death of her Master that she can’t sleep. She gets up before daybreak and hurries noiselessly through the dark streets of the city until she comes to the tomb. What is she going to do there? She probably doesn’t know. She just wants to be there one more time, to be near her beloved Master.

In the light of the full moon, as she nears the tomb she notices that something is amiss. Instead of the huge round stone sealing the entrance, it has been rolled away, leaving a gaping hole. She stops for a moment to assess the situation and then turns and runs, as fast as her legs can carry her, back to the city. Her first thought? ‘I must tell Peter! He’ll know what to do.’

With rasping breaths she gasps out her story. ‘He’s gone! They’ve taken Him away. I don’t know where He is.’ That’s all. The stone has been moved. Something’s wrong.  Without even going inside the tomb to check whether He is still there, the only conclusion she can come to is that His body has been stolen.

“So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there, but he did not go it.

“Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple who reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead) Then the disciples went back to the others where they were staying.”  John 20:3b-10 NIV.

Peter and John wrap their cloaks around them and rush off to see what the woman is talking about. By this time it is beginning to get light. John, the younger man, outruns Peter and reaches the tomb first. The stone has been rolled away, just as Mary had said. He stops at the entrance, hesitant to go in. He bends down and peers into the gloom. As his eyes become accustomed to the dark, he sees something strange. The grave clothes are still lying there, intact but empty. The body has gone.

Peter arrives, panting and, true to character, goes straight into the tomb. He also sees empty grave clothes but sees something else even more puzzling. The cloth over Jesus’ face is lying, not with the grave clothes but by itself, almost as though the body had melted out of it, leaving it in place where the head had been.

John joins Peter in the tomb and stares at the strange sight. Slowly the truth begins to dawn on him. This is no act of grave robbers. No one can remove a body without disturbing the grave clothes. Why would they take the corpse and leave the burial cloths behind? He hears the echo of Jesus’ words in his mind, “…Rise again on the third day! …Rise again on the third day,” and at last it all begins to make sense.

Finally everything Jesus had told them fell into place and John believes. What a life-transforming experience! “He saw and believed!” The evidence is beyond dispute. He is an eyewitness to the most earth-shattering event in history. A dead man comes back to life as He had predicted. That can mean only one thing — everything else He had said was true.

Many people have made outrageous claims about themselves and their beliefs and, on the strength of those claims have started religious systems which others had devotedly followed. One thing is missing, though — the evidence. Jesus alone produced the proof that He is who He said He is, and that faith in Him is the only way to the Father.