Walking in the Name of Jesus
(1-2) Let’s set the scene here before we get into some of the meaning and application we see from this narrative. There are two sets of people who are on the scene. There is Peter and John, and there is a man who was lame from birth. Some things to know about Peter and John…they were disciples of Jesus, and they were eyewitnesses to his resurrection...John even beat Peter in a foot race to the empty tomb![1] Not only that, but there’s something important for us to see regarding their actions. They were living their regular life in worship to God. We’re going to see them meet someone’s need, but we must see that they encountered this man when they were going to their regular time of prayer. But they stopped and noticed. They were available to God in their everyday life. Hear how one commentator describes this setting:
“It was one of the two major periods of worship, and many would have come to the temple at precisely this time to express their devotion to God. It was prime time for receiving alms. The rabbis taught that there were three pillars for the Jewish faith—the Torah, worship, and the showing of kindness, or charity. Almsgiving was one of the main ways to show kindness and was thus considered a major expression of one’s devotion to God. With their minds set on worship, those who entered the temple for the evening sacrifice and prayer would be particularly disposed to practice their piety by generously giving alms to a lame beggar.”[2]
The location of this interaction is likely the temple’s main and largest gate, Nicanor Gate, which was made of the most expensive bronze, more beautiful than gold.[3] It was opulent and beautiful. That leads us to the next character in this story. There was a man who was the opposite of this beautiful gate. The man is not even named. He was a lame man. That’s probably what he went by. He’s been lame his whole life, not able to walk. BUT, God doesn’t leave us as we were!
Jesus changes lives. (3-7) Immediately, he was made well! What had plagued him for his entire life was now gone. He was made whole. Remember, it is Dr. Luke that is describing these events. Hear how one commentator describes what we’re reading in the original language.
“Perhaps only medical men can fully appreciate the meaning of these words; they are peculiar, technical words of a medical man. The word translated feet is only used by Luke, and occurs nowhere else. It indicates his discrimination between different parts of the human heel. The phrase ankle-bones is again a medical phrase to be found nowhere else. The word “leaping up” describes the coming suddenly into socket of something that was out of place, the articulation of a joint. This then is a very careful medical description of what happened in connection with this man.”[4]
This is no psychosomatic pseudo-healing. Some people can be given a placebo and feel like they are healed because they think they are healed, but really, they just ate a skittle instead of taking a pill…maybe that would make me feel better too. No, what had plagued this man for his entire life was now literally and physically gone.
Jesus still heals people and works miracles today, too. He does it often through the prayers of His people.[5] But what I want to focus on this morning is not so much the physical healing (we will talk about miracles tonight in our Bible study), but we need to see the life change that comes from Jesus. Here’s what the Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:17: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” And for someone who has been lame from birth…which you and I are spiritually, that is reason to rejoice. And that’s precisely what this man did.
Live as a walking testimony of God’s power and grace. (8-11)
Imagine a lame person leaping up! Imagine a dead person coming back to life! That’s what Jesus does in us! And it’s for the world to see! The world takes notice! Remember, this was that lame man. That’s how they knew him. But he’s not that anymore! He’s the leaping and dancing man! Something’s different with him! The world takes notice when they see your changed life. If you don’t have a changed life, what does that say about you? You likely haven’t experienced the Jesus that changes lives.
“He gave evidence of what God had done by “walking, and leaping, and praising God” (Acts 3:8) and by publicly identifying himself with the apostles, both in the temple (Acts 3:11) and in their arrest (Acts 4:14). Now that he could stand, there was no question where this man stood!”[6]
Where does your life show that you stand? Take to heart the convicting words of J.C. Ryle:
“The eyes of many are upon you, and if the watching, envious world sees you a mere idle Christian, thinking only of your own enjoyment but never trying to do good, the world will think little of your religion. But when they see you walk in the steps of the Savior, striving to make all around you happy, it sets the world thinking. There is no book or set of lectures that ever does so much good to skeptics as a Christlike life.”[7]
It wasn’t just with these two men, Peter and John, that this man stood. But he stood with who they represented. He stood with Him who changed him. He stood with Jesus.
The name of Jesus has power. (12)
“In his sermon at Pentecost, Peter had to refute the accusation that the believers were drunk. In this sermon, he had to refute the notion that he and John had healed the man by their own power.”[8]
But in whose name had the healing come? In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth (vs 6). The emphasis in Acts 3 and 4 is on the name of the Lord Jesus.[9] It’s not the name of Peter or John that he was made whole. It’s not by any other means that we can be made whole other than the name of Jesus. It’s not this church name. The name of this church has no power…apart from the name of Jesus. It’s not the name of your mom or dad or grandparent, no matter how long they have attended here. It’s not your name. You can’t save yourself. It is only by the name of Jesus that you can be saved.
Acts 4:12 – “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
“Because Christ gave the faith and worked the miracle, his name alone is exalted.”[10] The focus now turns from this man who is no longer the lame man, but is now the leaping man, and it turns to the crowd who is witnessing this miracle, because a miracle of similar fashion is being offered to them…and to you. But before they can take hold of this miracle, they must see that they have just as great…really even greater…a need than this lame man did.
Conviction must precede salvation. (13-15) Hear what George Whitefield said about conviction of sin. “Conviction of sin will always precede spiritual conversion. You may be convicted without being converted, but you cannot be converted without being convicted.”[11]
“Consider all the indictments Peter makes against his audience:
Verse 13: You handed over Jesus.
Verse 13b: You’re worse than Pilate.
Verse 14: You traded the Holy and Righteous One for a murderer.
Verse 15: You killed the one who gave you life.
Verse 17: You’re ignorant.
Verse 18-25: You don’t understand the Bible.
Verse 26: You denied your privilege.
Verse 26b: You’re wicked.”[12]
We must all come to the place where we understand that we are all lame beggars before we can be made whole by Jesus. I love how Warren Wiersbe explains this:
“It is easy to see in this man an illustration of what salvation is like. He was born lame, and all of us are born unable to walk so as to please God. Our father Adam had a fall and passed his lameness on to all of his descendants (Rom. 5:12-21). The man was also poor, and we as sinners are bankrupt before God, unable to pay the tremendous debt that we owe Him (Luke 7:36-50). He was “outside the temple,” and all sinners are separated from God, no matter how near to the door they might be. The man was healed wholly by the grace of God, and the healing was immediate (Eph. 2:8-9).”[13]
We must understand that we are great sinners before we will cry out in faith to the Great Savior. If you’re not in peril, you’re not going to cry out for help. But each one of us, apart from Christ, is in the greatest peril imaginable! If you are here today and have not placed your faith in Jesus, the full condemnation for your sins rests on you. And you cannot bear that burden! You are helpless! Spiritually lame from birth! You must see that you stand condemned before you will stand with Jesus. But, there’s hope.
“Having announced the crime, presented the evidence, and explained the nature of their sin, Peter then offered them pardon (Acts 3:19-26)! What a strange thing for the prosecuting attorney to become the defense attorney and the pardoning judge!”[14]
Our faith must be in Jesus. (16)
“Peter’s point is clear: we aren’t saved by the quality of our faith but by the object of our faith!”[15] It doesn’t matter how sincere your faith is. You can be sincerely mistaken. You can sincerely live your life on a trajectory for hell. What matters is what our faith is in. And in order to be saved, your faith must be in Jesus.
Ephesians 2:8 – For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.
You must turn from your sin and turn to Jesus, because He alone can save you.
We must repent in order to experience salvation. (17-24)
“What did he tell them to do? First of all, they had to repent of their sins (see Acts 2:38; 5:31; 17:30), which means to have a change of mind about themselves, their sin, and Jesus Christ. Repentance is much more than “feeling sorry for your sins”…True repentance is admitting that what God says is true, and because it is true, to change our mind about our sins and about the Savior.”[16]
The systematic theologian Louis Berkhof explains repentance perfectly:
“We distinguish three elements in repentance: First, an intellectual element: there is a change of view, a recognition of sin as involving personal guilt, defilement, and helplessness. Second, an emotional element: there is a change of feeling, manifesting itself in sorrow for sin committed against a holy and just God. Third, a volitional element: there is a change of purpose, an inward turning away from sin, and a disposition to seek pardon and cleansing.”[17]
All who turn to Jesus are blessed. (25-26)
“If the healing of the man’s body was such a source of joy, what must the healing of the soul be? The truth is that sin is the one source of all the misery that is upon earth, and the restoration of men to a measure of their pristine holiness in paradise will restore them also, in the same proportion, to their pristine happiness.”[18]
Will you turn and walk toward Jesus today?
[2] John B. Polhill, Acts, The New American Commentary (Nashville: B&H, 1992), 126.
[3] Josephus, Jewish War, 5.201-4).
[4] G. Campbell Morgan, The Acts of the Apostles (Westwood, NJ: Revell, 1924), 47.
[6] Warren W. Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: New Testament (Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2007), 330.
[7] J. C. Ryle, “The Example of Christ” [March 2, 1884]
[8] Warren W. Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: New Testament (Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2007), 330.
[9] Acts 3:6, 16; 4:7, 10, 12, 17-18, 30
[10] Tony Merida, Exalting Jesus in Acts, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary (Nashville: B&H, 2017), 50.
[11] George Whitefield, “Repentance and Conversion”
[12] Tony Merida, Exalting Jesus in Acts, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary (Nashville: B&H, 2017), 53.
[13] Warren W. Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: New Testament (Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2007), 330.
[14] Warren W. Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: New Testament (Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2007), 330.
[15] Tony Merida, Exalting Jesus in Acts, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary (Nashville: B&H, 2017), 52.
[16] Warren W. Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: New Testament (Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2007), 331.
[17] Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology.
[18] Charles Simeon, Horae Homileticae
