What does God do?

“Now a man crippled 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”

(Acts 3:2).

This is a passage reflecting on previously overlooked parts of the Bible.  It's a verse that was read casually without attaching any special meaning to it, a passage that was simply passed over.  The specific verse mentioned is Acts 3:2a - "Now a man crippled from birth …."  Until now, I had only thought of the story as Peter and John going up to the temple and instructing the man who was unable to walk from birth to rise and walk in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth (v. 6).  However, during a recent early morning prayer meeting, I was reminded of John 9:1, which speaks of a man blind from birth.  Perhaps the reason for this connection is that the Acts 3:2 passage caused me to think of the man blind from birth from John 9:1, which had been meditated upon earlier.  As a result, I began to contemplate whether there might be a connection between these two biblical stories.  In particular, while meditating on the man blind from birth, I considered three teachings about what God intended by saying, "but that the works of God might be displayed in him" (v. 3): (1) The Lord intended to strengthen the disciples' weak faith by giving sight to the man blind from birth, (2) The Lord intended to reveal the sin of unbelief among the Jews and Pharisees who doubted the man's healing, (3) The Lord intended to save the soul of the man blind from birth by granting him sight.  Then I ponder why God chose to have the man who was unable to walk from birth in Acts 3:2-8 walk through the apostle Peter and reflects on what God might have intended by this act.  I am curious about what God's purpose might have been in this particular case.

In Acts 3:2, the man who was crippled from birth, like the man born blind in John 9:8, was a beggar.  In other words, both were poor individuals.  They were considered disabled.  The man born blind from birth sat by the road and begged (v. 8), while the man who was crippled from birth couldn't walk at all, so every day he was carried to the temple gate to beg from those entering the temple (Acts 3:2).  Given that he was around forty years old (4:22), it seems he had spent quite a long time sitting at the temple gate in Jerusalem, begging from people.  So, when he was able to walk after being helped by Peter and John to enter the temple, and even leaped and praised God (3:8), all the people (v. 9) living in Jerusalem were amazed when they saw him.  They recognized him as the one who used to sit and beg at the temple gate, and they were greatly astonished at what had happened to him (v. 10).  This led to a large crowd gathering in Solomon's Colonnade (v. 11), where Peter preached to them (vv. 12-26).  In his sermon, Peter urged the gathered crowd to pay attention to him and John (v. 12), but they rejected (v. 14) the One whom they had killed, the Author of life, but whom God raised from the dead (v. 15).  He then emphasized to them, ‘By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus' name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see’ (v. 16, modern Bible).  While saying this, Peter boldly called on the gathered people to repent and turn to God, so that their sins may be wiped out (v. 19).  When Peter preached in this way, about five thousand of the men who heard the message believed (4:4).  How amazing is the work of God, the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and the power of God's Word?  In Acts 2, when Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, preached, those who accepted his message, that is the number of believers totaled about three thousand (2:41).  However, in Acts 3, as we've just seen, about five thousand men came to believe in Jesus.  This is nothing short of the power of the Gospel, the work of the Holy Spirit, and the divine purpose that God intended through the man who was lame from birth.  It is undoubtedly a remarkable work of God's astonishing salvation.

In the midst of this amazing work of God's salvation, there was also the work of Satan.  The work of Satan can be seen when Peter and John were speaking to the people and praising God for the man who had been crippled from birth, now walking (3:9).  This astonished all the people gathered at Solomon's Colonnade (v. 11).  The priests, temple guards, and the Sadducees (4:1, modern Bible) were greatly angered when they saw the apostles teaching and proclaiming the resurrection of the dead through Jesus (v. 2, modern Bible).  From the perspective of the Sadducees, who did not believe in the resurrection of the dead (Mt. 22:23; Acts 23:8), they naturally would not have been pleased with the apostles' teachings and were likely to have disliked them (Acts 4:2).  So, they arrested Peter and John and kept them in custody until the next day (v. 3).  The following day, Jewish leaders, elders, and scholars (experts in the law) gathered in Jerusalem (v. 5).  Among them were Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and others from the high priest's family (v. 6).  They confronted Peter and John, asking, "By what power or what name did you do this?" (v. 7).  At that moment, Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, boldly preached to them as well (vv. 8-12).  In his sermon, Peter told the gathered assembly, ‘You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead’ (v. 15, modern Bible).  He also declared, "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved" (vv. 11-12).  Upon hearing Peter's sermon, the high priests, members of the high priest's family, Jewish leaders, elders, and scholars were amazed (v. 13).  The reason for their astonishment was that they considered Peter and John to be uneducated, common men, yet they spoke boldly (v. 13, modern Bible).  Seeing the healed man standing with Peter and John, they had nothing to say in opposition (v. 15).  They couldn't deny what had happened because the miraculous sign performed by Peter and John was known to all who lived in Jerusalem (v. 16).  So, they threatened Peter and John, commanding them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus (v. 18).  This is indeed the work of Satan.  Satan despises Jesus' disciples speaking and teaching in the name of Jesus.  Satan hates Jesus' disciples preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.  The reason is that he hates people being saved in the name of Jesus.  Therefore, from Acts 5:17 onwards, we see that the high priest and the Sadducees greatly opposed the apostles, arrested them, and put them in jail (vv. 17-18).  They sternly warned Peter and the other apostles not to teach or speak in the name of Jesus (v. 28, modern Bible).  Yet, despite this, Peter and the other apostles proclaimed that Jesus, who was crucified, was raised back to life by God, and that God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior to grant repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel (v. 31, modern Bible).   When they heard this, the leaders were furious and wanted to put the apostles to death (v. 33, modern Bible).  Thus, Satan's followers not only strongly oppose the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ but also vehemently hate and despise the Savior Jesus Christ.  They not only crucified Jesus on the cross, but also sought to kill Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead (Jn. 12:11), and even plotted to kill the apostles of Jesus (Acts 5:33).  The reason for this is that many Jews were leaving them and believing in Jesus because of their testimony (Jn. 12:11).  This is the evil work of Satan.

Even in the midst of such wickedness from Satan, Peter and the other apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit, boldly proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ (Acts 4:13).  Despite the opposition from the high priests and the Sadducees who disliked their preaching (4:2), and even being threatened and warned by them (17, 18), Peter and John declared before them and a multitude of others (vv. 1, 6) the following words: "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God.  For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard" (vv. 19-20).  Moreover, when they were filled with jealousy (5:17), arrested, and put in prison (v. 18), and subsequently brought before the high priests and those allied with the Sadducees for questioning (v. 27), Peter and the other apostles proclaimed in their defense: "We must obey God rather than men!” (v. 29).  As a result, the apostles were flogged and ordered not to speak in the name of Jesus, and then released (v. 40).  However, the apostles, upon being released, rejoiced that they were considered worthy to suffer for the sake of Jesus' name, and they left the Sanhedrin (v. 41).  They continued to teach and preach that Jesus is the Christ, whether in the temple or in their homes, day after day (v. 42).  This is indeed the astonishing work of the Holy Spirit of God.

I have been pondering the passage that I have read and passed by many times, the part that says the man who was crippled from birth in Acts 3:2, and I have been reflecting on its connection to the man born blind from birth in John 9:1.  In the process, I found myself contemplating what God was doing through the man who was lame from birth.  Through this valuable contemplation, as I read and meditated on Acts 3-4, I came to the conclusion that the work of God through the man who was crippled from birth was none other than the salvation of his soul.  God enabled the apostles to make the man who was crippled from birth walk in the name of Jesus Christ, and as a result, they gathered many people, empowering the apostle Peter to boldly proclaim the gospel to them.  Consequently, God caused around 5,000 men to believe in Jesus Christ and receive salvation among those who heard the word.  Even in the midst of Satan's wicked work, God performed His amazing work of salvation through the astonishing work of the Holy Spirit among the disciples of Jesus, who were filled with the Holy Spirit.  I believe that this astounding work of God's salvation will continue until the day when Jesus returns, and it will be completed.  Spiritually, I am grateful for the immense and astonishing grace and love of God, who enables even someone like me, who is not naturally bold, to do the work of God in the name of Jesus Christ.  With a heart of gratitude, I acknowledge this great and wondrous grace and love of God.

In Christ,

James Kim

(With gratitude, believing in God's ongoing and ultimate work of salvation through Spirit-filled disciples of Jesus until the day of His return)