Commentary - Acts 3:1-10

Bird's-eye view

In Acts 3:1-10, Luke gives us a snapshot of the early church's power and purpose. This is not just a heartwarming story about a beggar getting his legs back; it is a strategic display of the ascended Christ's authority, performed at the very heart of Old Covenant worship. Peter and John are not simply doing a good deed. They are planting the flag of the kingdom in conquered territory. The miracle serves as the divine summons for the sermon that follows, where Peter will explain that the same Jesus whom Israel crucified is the one now dispensing resurrection life. This event demonstrates that the true spiritual treasury of the church is not in material wealth but in the power of the name of Jesus Christ. The healing is instantaneous, total, and public, creating a stir that provides the apostles with a captive audience to preach the gospel.

The lame man is a living parable of humanity's condition: crippled from birth, helpless, and dependent on meager handouts at the gate of a religious system that cannot truly fix him. His transformation from a stationary beggar to a leaping worshiper is a picture of genuine salvation. He goes from being an outsider looking in to an insider leading the praise. This is what the gospel does. It doesn't just give you a crutch; it gives you new legs to run into the presence of God.

Outline

Context In Acts

This healing follows hard on the heels of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit has been poured out, the church has been born in power, and three thousand souls were added after Peter's first sermon. Luke is now showing us what this new community, filled with the Spirit, looks like in action. This is not a church that huddles in a holy corner; it is a church that marches into the public square. The healing of the lame man is the first post-Pentecost miracle recorded in detail, setting the pattern for how signs and wonders would accompany and authenticate the apostolic message. It directly leads to the conflict with the Sanhedrin in chapter 4, demonstrating that the power of the resurrected Christ is a direct threat to the corrupt religious establishment.

Key Issues

Beginning: A Clause-by-Clause Commentary

1 Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer.

Peter and John, leading men among the apostles, are still operating within the rhythms of Jewish life. They are not going to the temple to offer sacrifices for sin, for they know the final sacrifice has been made. They are going because that is where the people are. The temple was the center of the nation's life, and the apostles understood that the gospel must be proclaimed at the center. The ninth hour, about 3 p.m., was a traditional time of prayer and the time of the evening sacrifice. What a potent time to demonstrate that the Lamb of God has already been offered, and His power is now present to save.

2 And a man who had been lame from his mother’s womb was being carried, whom they used to set down daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, in order to beg alms of those who were entering the temple.

Here is the problem, set in sharp relief. A man lame from birth. His condition is not the result of a bad choice or an accident; it is congenital. He is a picture of fallen humanity, born in sin and utterly unable to walk in God's ways. He is positioned at the "Beautiful Gate," a wonderful irony. All the external glory of Herod's temple, all its religious beauty, could do nothing for the broken man at its door. He is a living indictment of a religion that had become all form and no power. His life consists of being carried by others and begging for scraps. This is what the world offers the helpless: dependency and spare change.

3 When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he began asking to receive alms.

He does what he always does. He sees two more religious men and asks for what he thinks he needs: money. His expectations are low. He is looking for a temporary fix to a permanent problem. How often is this a picture of our own prayers? We ask God for pocket change when He wants to give us the keys to the kingdom. We ask for a palliative when He offers a cure.

4 But when Peter, along with John, fixed his gaze on him, he said, “Look at us!”

Peter stops. He doesn't just toss a coin. He fixes his gaze on the man. He sees not just a beggar, but a man made in God's image, broken and in need of restoration. And he commands the man's full attention. "Look at us!" This is crucial. The gospel demands our attention. You cannot receive what Christ offers with a wandering eye. Peter is about to be a conduit of divine power, and he requires the man to be fully engaged in the transaction.

5 And he began to give them his attention, expecting to receive something from them.

The man obeys, but his expectation is still earthbound. He's hoping for a bigger coin than usual. His focus is on what he can get from them. This is the natural human posture. But God is about to shatter his categories and give him something he never thought to ask for.

6 But Peter said, “I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, walk!”

This is one of the great declarations of the New Testament. Peter first states what the church does not have: worldly wealth. The church's power does not lie in its endowments or its political influence. Then he states what the church does have: the authority of Jesus Christ. "What I do have I give to you." This is not Peter's power. It is a delegated authority. He is an ambassador. And the power is located specifically "in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene." The name represents the person, His authority, His power. And notice the designation: "the Nazarene." This is the Jesus they all knew, the one from the backwater town, the one they despised and crucified. That is the one who now holds all authority in heaven and on earth. The command is simple, direct, and audacious: "walk!"

7 And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened.

Faith is active. Peter doesn't just speak a word from a distance. He grabs the man's hand and pulls him up. This is a picture of God's grace, which does not just command us to do what we cannot, but enables us as we seek to obey. The result is immediate. Not a slow process of physical therapy, but an instantaneous, creative miracle. "His feet and his ankles were strengthened." God does not do shoddy work. The healing is complete and total.

8 And leaping up, he stood upright and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.

The man's response is an explosion of pent-up life. He doesn't just tentatively test his new legs. He leaps. He stands. He walks. And where does he go? Straight into the temple, the very place he had been barred from fully entering. And he goes in with the apostles, "walking and leaping and praising God." This is the proper response to redemption. Not quiet, dignified composure, but exuberant, loud, public praise. True salvation always leads to worship.

9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God; 10 and they were recognizing him, that he was the one who used to sit at the Beautiful Gate of the temple to beg alms, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

The miracle was undeniable. This was no stranger. Everyone knew this man. They had seen him every day for years. His identity was certain, and his transformation was radical. This public verification was essential. God was putting His signature on the apostles' ministry. The result was "wonder and amazement." The crowd is now primed. Their minds are reeling. They are asking, "How did this happen?" And Peter is about to tell them.

The Power in the Name of Jesus

When Peter says, "In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, walk!" he is not using a magical formula. The phrase "in the name of" signifies acting on another's authority, as their representative. Peter is declaring that he is not the source of the power. He is merely an ambassador for the king, Jesus. The power that heals this man is the very same power that raised Jesus from the dead. It is resurrection power, and it is now vested in the exalted Christ, who has delegated its use to His apostles for the establishment of His church. To act in Jesus' name is to act in perfect alignment with His will and for His glory. This is why the subsequent sermon is so crucial; Peter immediately directs all the attention and glory away from himself and John and toward Jesus Christ.

Application

This passage confronts the modern church with a searching question: what is our real treasure? We are often tempted to think our strength lies in our budgets, our buildings, our programs, or our political savvy. Peter reminds us that our true capital is spiritual. We may not have silver and gold, but we have the name of Jesus. The authority of the risen Christ is the church's only essential resource. We must recover our confidence in the power of the gospel, proclaimed in the name of Jesus, to do what no amount of money or human ingenuity can accomplish: to make dead men live and lame men leap for joy.

Furthermore, this story is a model of evangelism. It begins with seeing the individual's need, not just their surface request. It proceeds with a bold declaration of Christ's power. It results in a transformation that leads to exuberant worship. And it creates a public opportunity to explain the gospel to a wondering world. Our task is to go to the crowded places, the "temple gates" of our culture, and offer people not the alms of temporary relief, but the true riches of new life in Jesus Christ.