Sunday Re Cap (29th July 2012)

Jesus Name Made This Man Strong-Part 3

Acts 3:1-16

1. The content of the word;

2. The content of the wonder;

3. The relationship between the wonder and the word of God preached—is it a pattern that God wants us to use today?

1. The Content of the Word (Acts 3:13-15)

a. Five Exaltations of Jesus

b. Four Charges against the People

2. The Content of the Wonder

In verse 12 "Why do you stare at us as though by our power or piety we had made him walk?". It was not Peter’s power or piety that healed this man.

First, notice that the faith to heal is "through Jesus"—that is Jesus gave it. It came through the working of Jesus. The living Jesus did something in Peter, and Peter knew it was the day. Jesus gave the faith to heal, and Peter acted on it.

But the first part of v 16 says, "Jesus' name, by faith in his name has made this man strong." So here the healing agent is said to be the NAME of Jesus.

So if we put the two statements together (16b: faith has given the man health; and 16a: the name of Jesus has made him strong) the point becomes this: the faith Jesus gives to heal is effective because it is faith in the NAME of Jesus; and, in fact, the NAME of Jesus is bringing about healing.

How is that? Because the name of Jesus stands for the reality of Jesus. His name stands for who he is. When I speak in his NAME, with the faith that HE has now given me for your healing, HE is acting not me."

So who stretches out his hand to heal? God the Father. And through what means? Through the NAME of his holy servant Jesus. The Father is the ultimate source of all healing. Through Jesus the Father does his healing will. Jesus, in agreement with the Father's will, gives the faith to Peter. Peter recognizes that this is the time for the man to be healed. And by the faith given him, he speaks the healing in Jesus' name. And God gets the praise.

3. The Relationship between Wonder and Word

The relationship between the wonder and the word of God preached is that the wonder attracts the crowd to hear the word (3:11) and the wonder testifies to the living truth of the exalted Jesus in the word. In other words, the wonder is a powerful pointer to the truth that Jesus is alive and that he is all Peter says He is.

We believe that one of the forms this pattern (of the HOLY SPIRIT through Peter) takes today is in the exercise of the spiritual gifts given to the church according to 1 Corinthians 12—including gifts of faith, healings, and miracles (1 Corinthians 12:9–10). The church is called to desire the spiritual gifts:

1 Cor 12:31; 1 Cor 14:1 The gifts are not an end in themselves, they testify and point to Jesus!

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