The Currency of the Kingdom Text: Acts 3:1-10
Introduction: The Church's True Wealth
We live in an age that is perpetually confused about what the Church is for. The world, when it is feeling charitable, views the Church as a benevolent non-profit, a dispenser of alms, a provider of social services. And many churches, tragically, have accepted this diminished role. They measure their success in budgets, buildings, and community outreach programs. They are eager to offer the world silver and gold, or at least a tax-deductible equivalent. But in doing so, they have forgotten their true wealth, their unique and explosive capital.
The book of Acts shows us a church that was cash-poor and power-rich. It was a church that could not offer a man a dollar, but could offer him a new pair of legs. It was a church that understood that the world's deepest need is not for relief, but for resurrection. The world is not just broke; it is broken. It is not just hungry; it is lame. And it is sitting right outside the gates of the temple, begging for what it thinks it needs, utterly blind to what it truly requires.
This story of the lame man at the Beautiful Gate is not a sentimental account of a nice thing that happened one afternoon. It is a foundational statement about the nature of the Christian mission. It is a paradigm for how the kingdom of God breaks into the kingdom of men. It demonstrates the collision of two economies: the world's economy of scarcity, decay, and temporary fixes, and God's economy of resurrection, power, and exuberant life. The apostles Peter and John are about to make a transaction that will utterly upend the spiritual marketplace in Jerusalem.
The Text
Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer. 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. When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he began asking to receive alms. But when Peter, along with John, fixed his gaze on him, he said, “Look at us!” And he began to give them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. 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!” And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened. And leaping up, he stood upright and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God; 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.
(Acts 3:1-10 LSB)
The Piety and the Problem (v. 1-2)
The scene is set with the ordinary faithfulness of the apostles.
"Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer." (Acts 3:1)
The first thing to notice is that the apostles did not see the coming of the Holy Spirit as a license to abandon all discipline and order. Pentecost did not make them spiritual anarchists. They were still devout Jews, operating within the rhythms of their covenantal life. The ninth hour, three in the afternoon, was a set time for prayer. They were not going to the temple to protest or to tear it down; they were going to pray. The new covenant does not obliterate the old; it fulfills it. The power they were about to unleash was not some alien energy; it was the power of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, now fully revealed in His Son.
And there, at the intersection of religious duty and divine power, they encounter a man who represents the world's deepest problem.
"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..." (Acts 3:2)
Luke, the physician, is precise. This man's condition was congenital, chronic, and complete. He was "lame from his mother's womb." This was not a sprained ankle. This was a foundational brokenness. He was a living picture of humanity after the fall: crippled from birth, utterly unable to stand on his own feet, and incapable of entering the presence of God by his own power. He is placed at the gate, the very threshold of worship, but he cannot cross it. The irony is thick. He is a broken man sitting at the "Beautiful Gate." This is the state of every man apart from Christ: surrounded by the symbols of God's glory but personally excluded from it, reduced to a life of dependency and begging.
A Misguided Expectation (v. 3-5)
The beggar operates according to the only system he knows.
"When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he began asking to receive alms... And he began to give them his attention, expecting to receive something from them." (Acts 3:3, 5)
His request is entirely predictable. He asks for alms. He sees two religious men, and his mind immediately goes to his coin pouch. His expectations are tragically low. He is asking for a temporary fix for a surface-level problem. He wants something to get him through the day, not something to give him a new life. This is precisely how the unregenerate world approaches the church. It wants a handout, not a hand up from the grave. It wants charity, not transformation. It wants the church to be a social program, not a divine rescue operation.
Peter and John arrest his attention. "Look at us!" They are demanding his full focus, preparing him for a transaction that will shatter his categories. The man complies, "expecting to receive something from them." He is still thinking in terms of silver and gold. He is about to be gloriously disappointed.
The Great Exchange (v. 6-7)
Here we find the heart of the passage, the declaration of the church's true and only treasure.
"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!'" (Acts 3:6)
Peter begins with a statement of apostolic poverty. "I do not possess silver and gold." This is not an apology; it is a boast. It clears the ground for what he is actually about to offer. The church's power is not found in its financial portfolio. Peter is effectively saying, "We are not in the business you think we are in. We are not here to prop up the old, broken system. We are here to announce a new one."
"But what I do have I give to you." This is a statement of immense spiritual wealth. Peter possesses something of infinitely greater value than all the treasuries of Rome. He possesses the delegated authority of the risen King. And he gives it freely. This is the nature of grace.
The authority is specified: "In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene." This is not a magical formula. The "name" in Hebrew thought represents the person's full character, authority, and power. To act "in the name of" someone is to act as their official, empowered representative. Peter is a royal ambassador. Notice the titles. Jesus: His saving, human name. Christ: He is the Messiah, the anointed King. The Nazarene: This was a term of contempt, a slur. Peter throws it right back in their faces. He is saying, "The one you despised and crucified, the one from the backwater town, He is the one with the power to make this man walk."
And faith acts. It is not just a verbal declaration.
"And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened." (Acts 3:7)
Peter grabs the man. This is a picture of efficacious grace. God does not simply make suggestions. He takes hold of us in our helplessness and raises us up. The healing is instantaneous and creative. "Immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened." The word for "strengthened" implies being made solid, firm. God is not repairing; He is remaking. He is creating ankle bones where there was only weakness.
The Fruit of True Grace (v. 8-10)
The result of this divine power is not quiet, respectable gratitude. It is an explosion of joyful worship.
"And leaping up, he stood upright and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God." (Acts 3:8)
The first thing he does is leap. This is not a cautious, tentative step. This is an eruption of pure, unadulterated joy. This is the joy that Isaiah prophesied: "Then the lame shall leap like a deer" (Isaiah 35:6). And where does he go? He goes straight into the temple, the very place from which he had been barred his entire life. The power of Jesus does not just heal our bodies; it grants us access to the presence of God. He goes in "with them," joining the fellowship of the believers. This is the full picture of salvation: from crippled outcast to leaping worshiper, from beggar to son.
And this miracle is public and undeniable.
"And all the people saw him... and they were recognizing him... and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him." (Acts 3:9-10)
God did this in broad daylight, at the busiest gate, at the hour of prayer. The man was a local landmark. Everybody knew him. There could be no doubt about the reality of the miracle. This is the purpose of signs and wonders. They are not the main event. They are divine signposts. They are designed to provoke "wonder and amazement" and to force a question: "By what power or by what name have you done this?" (Acts 4:7). The miracle created the platform for the sermon Peter is about to preach, a sermon that points away from the healed man and away from the apostles, and directly to the source of all healing and all power: Jesus Christ the Nazarene.
Conclusion: Our Only Currency
The church in the modern West is at a crossroads. We can continue to try to compete with the world by offering a slightly more wholesome version of its own currency, silver and gold, social programs and therapeutic reassurances. We can offer the lame man a better cushion to sit on, a more efficient method for collecting alms. We can try to make his brokenness more comfortable.
Or, we can rediscover our true apostolic wealth. We can confess our material poverty and boast in our spiritual riches. We have been given something to give. We have the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene. That name is the power of God for salvation. It is the power to take a man who has been crippled from birth in his sin and command him to walk. It is the power to raise the spiritually dead, to open blind eyes, and to cause the lame to leap for joy.
We must stop being embarrassed by the supernatural power of the gospel. We must stop offering the world coins when what they need is a whole new creation. Let us, like Peter, look the broken world in the eye and, with full confidence in our King, say, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk."