The Beautiful Gate and Better Gift (Acts 3:1-10)
Introduction
We have a tendency toward being shortsighted in identifying our needs. This translates into the church’s mission. We can try to take the quick path: give money, alms, or some other quick solution. These are not necessarily bad things as we walk beside someone going through a tough season of life. However, earthly provisions will never satisfy the deeper needs. The Fall brings eternal consequences. The Fall brings deep spiritual problems. The Fall demands a divine solution. The man at the Beautiful Gate appears to have a financial crisis, but something bigger is at stake. What is the bigger issue?
The Scene Setting
The church is gathering, praying, and growing. The apostles head to the temple at the 3 p.m. hour of prayer. This is a reminder that, as the sacrificial system is concluded, there is a precedent where the Apostles still use a building to facilitate fellowship.
As the apostles enter the temple for a 3 PM prayer time, they walk through the beautiful gate. This would most likely be the Nicanor gate, which was a rather impressive gate. There is a shift in focus. We look at the way from the gate, and we see the irony of the gate. We see a human being who is crippled from birth. The gate’s name is almost cruel. Here is a man situated before a gate that celebrates beauty only to see a stark reminder that this fallen world is cruel. We might assume this man has done something to deserve this suffering. However, we must remember that a fallen world is far more complex than simple cause-and-effect connections. The Lord is angry with Job and the counselors for promoting such simple ideas as the righteous always receive blessings and the sinners always receive judgment. The Fall makes our lives more complicated. We do not know why this man is crippled, but we know that God will be glorified. We know that this man will be made whole.
The Invitation to Fix Their Gaze
Peter calls the man to look at them. We might think that Peter is doing this to build a cult of personality around himself. Peter could be calling the crippled man to find his hope in the apostles. We need to be careful not to build the church around personalities, and this is not what Peter is doing.
Peter is inviting this man to see that they hold out something greater than alms or a charismatic personality. They hold out the Gospel. Their miracle is not testifying to their power, but to their credibility. Miracles testify that the apostles have the same authority as Moses. Moses was given miracles to testify to his credibility. When he asks, “How will they know you sent me?” The Lord gives him miracles. Miracles do not testify to the man, but to the true Lord who sends his man to be his mouthpiece. Moses was sent from God, and so are the Apostles. They both testify to the same Gospel message.
Peter heals this man in the name of Jesus of Nazareth. This echoes back to the blind beggar in Luke’s gospel who knows that Jesus of Nazareth is the son of David. Life is not in the Apostles, but in the Apostolic Gospel that testifies to Christ being the Christ or the Messiah promised in the Old Testament. Truly, the apostles and prophets stand together testifying to the same glorious gospel message.
The Glorious Result
The man doesn’t just walk, but he leaps. A man who has never used his legs can now use them to their full potential. Peter does not prescribe physical therapy or training to help him make his legs whole. No, this miracle testifies that our wholeness comes in Christ.
And he praises God, not Peter and John. The miracle accomplishes its purpose: credibility for the apostles as Gospel vessels. The man properly points his focus, giving glory to Christ. The crowd’s wonder mirrors Acts 2. The man who was most conscious of his brokenness most clearly understands the gospel’s gift. This means that we need to understand our brokenness to see that we need the Gospel gift. The miracle pictures the whole intention of Christ. Christ does not come to tear down, but to build up. The gospel makes us whole, no matter how broken we are.
Conclusion
What is the bigger issue? What were the apostles truly offering? The gospel. The crippled man thinks that he really needs a temporary provision: money, but he sees the greater provision: life. The Apostles do not merely bring poverty relief or simple social solutions, but the redemptive work of Christ. Christ’s work makes broken people whole. The church’s call is to bring the gospel first, then to share one another’s burdens. We walk alongside people, resisting hasty judgment, remembering that apart from grace we are nothing. Acts keeps pressing this point: in Christ we have life, joy, and restoration. The Gospel goes out to broken people. We were once not a people. We have been made people. Let us live for that Redeemer as we walk in His power.