Acts · chapter 3 of 28
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Acts 3 tells how Peter and John, going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, heal in the name of Jesus Christ a man lame from birth who was begging at the Beautiful Gate. As the crowd gathers in amazement in Solomon's Portico, Peter explains that the power comes from Jesus, whom they rejected and God raised, and calls them to repent so that their sins may be blotted out.
After the birth of the church in Acts 2, this chapter shows the apostles' first public miracle. As in Jesus's ministry, a healing opens the door to preaching. Peter's second sermon is addressed to Israel and ties Jesus to the promises made to Abraham and to Moses.
Peter and John go up to the temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer. At the gate called Beautiful, a man lame from birth, who is carried there every day to beg, holds out his hand to them. Peter looks at him and says he has no silver or gold, but he gives what he has: in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk. He takes him by the right hand and lifts him up, and at once his feet and ankles are made strong. The man enters the temple with them, walking, leaping and praising God, and everyone recognizes him.
The people run together in amazement to Solomon's Portico. Peter makes clear that it was not by their own power or godliness that the man was healed, but by the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who has glorified his servant Jesus. He reminds them that they handed him over, denied him before Pilate and killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. Peter acknowledges that they acted in ignorance, and that God thereby fulfilled what the prophets had announced about the suffering of his Christ.
He then calls them to repent and turn back so that their sins may be blotted out and times of refreshing may come from the Lord. He cites Moses, who foretold a prophet like himself whom they must heed, and recalls that all the prophets announced these days. He ends by saying they are sons of the prophets and of the covenant with Abraham, in whose offspring all the families of the earth would be blessed, and that God, having raised his servant, sent him first to them to bless them by turning each of them from his wickedness.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Peter says he has no silver or gold but gives what he has: in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, let the man walk. The church does not offer wealth but the power of Jesus's name, which heals what money cannot.
Peter calls Jesus the Author of life, whom they killed but God raised, and affirms that the apostles are witnesses. The healing points to the resurrection: Jesus lives and acts through his name.
Peter calls them to repent and turn to God so that their sins may be blotted out and times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. Forgiveness is not earned by effort; it is received through repentance and faith in Jesus.
Peter reminds them that they are heirs of the covenant with Abraham, in whose offspring all the families of the earth will be blessed, and that God sent his servant to them first to turn them from their wickedness. God's blessing for the nations comes through Jesus.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: At the temple gate called Beautiful. — Acts 3:2
Answer: That he had no silver or gold, but in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth he should rise up and walk. — Acts 3:6
Answer: He entered the temple walking, leaping and praising God. — Acts 3:8
Answer: The name of Jesus and the faith that comes through him, not the apostles' own power or godliness. — Acts 3:12-16
Answer: Repent and turn back so that their sins would be blotted out. — Acts 3:19
Answer: Moses, who spoke of a prophet like himself whom they must heed. — Acts 3:22-23
The lame man expected money and received far more. We often ask God for small things, and he wants to give us a deeper healing. In your group, ask what concrete need you can bring today in the name of Jesus, without hiding or minimizing it.
Peter also shows how to use an opportunity. When the crowd is amazed, he does not seek fame; he turns their eyes to Jesus and calls for repentance. When God does something good in your life, the believer's task is to point to Christ, not to himself.
Acts 3 ends with Peter announcing that God sent his servant to bless his people. The healing and the sermon do not go unnoticed: in Acts 4 the temple leaders arrest Peter and John, and the council wants to silence the name of Jesus.
He was a man more than forty years old, lame from his mother's womb, who was carried every day to the temple gate to beg. His age is mentioned later, in Acts 4:22, and many in Jerusalem knew him, which is why the healing was a public sign that was hard to deny.
Peter speaks of seasons of rest and renewal that come from the Lord's presence as a fruit of repentance. Many Christians connect them with the return of Jesus and the restoration of all things that the same passage mentions.
Peter acknowledges that the people and their rulers did not understand who Jesus was. He does not excuse them, since he calls them to repent, but he shows that God used even the cross to fulfill what the prophets had announced about the Christ's suffering.