One day Peter and John went to the Temple. On their way, they saw a crippled man begging for money
Peter looked at him and said, “I do not have any money to give you. But what I have I will give you. In the name of Jesus Christ, get up and walk!”
Peter “appeared” to be poor but easily was the wealthiest person there. He had the riches of Jesus Christ in his heart. Today, some people are so poor, all they have is money.
The man was immediately healed, and he began walking and jumping around, praising God. The people in the Temple were amazed.
A crowd quickly formed. Peter said to them, “Why are you amazed that this man is healed? It was not through our own power or goodness that he was healed, but by the power of Jesus Christ.”
Today many people still think that healings and miracles were for 2,000 years ago. Not true.If it were so, if miracles were not possible, the bible would be false. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today and forever. Heb.13:8. Today, the Lame walk, the deaf hear and the blind see (literally) by the Grace and Power of our miracle-working God, Jesus Christ.
“You asked that Jesus be killed. You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. This is how God fulfilled the prophecies that the Messiah would suffer and die. But now, repent and turn to God so that your sins will be washed away.”
The leaders of the Temple were greatly annoyed at what Peter and John were saying. So they arrested them and threw them into prison. But many of the people believed what they had seen and heard and the Church grew to 5,000 men, plus women and children.
Jesus had reserved His harshest words for these church leaders. He called them hypocrites, vipers, white-washed sepulchers, bright and clean on the outside, rotten on the inside. The theologians could quote any passage and knew the law by rote… but they didn’t know Jesus. They crucified Him. Thankfully, He said, “Follow Me”, not ‘follow them’. Regarding them, He said, “Do as they say, not as they do”.
The next day, the Jewish leaders brought Peter and John before the high priest* and his family. They asked them, “By what power did you do this?”
Peter responded, “It is by the name of Jesus the Messiah. You crucified him, but God raised him to life again! You rejected him, but there is no other way to be saved except through the name of Jesus!”
*High Priest: Jesus had ascended to sit down at the right hand of His Father. For a priest (Jesus is our “High Priest”) to “sit down” was to symbolise “It is finished” as Jesus said on the cross. The Holy place where the High Priest went to worship, where the Ark of the Tabernacle was, had NO seats. They always stood because they were always worshiping God, always presenting sacrifices for the atonement of sins. But in Hebrews 9.25 – 10.11, you can see that Jesus atoned for all sin “Once and for all time”. In those days if the High Priest was not holy and went into Gods presence, God struck him dead, that’s why the priest had bells on his garments and a rope around his waist. The bells tinkled while he walked and prayed. If they stopped, his congregation knew to pull him out by the rope. Perhaps that’s where the saying “Hes a bit ropey” came from! :- )
Psalm 118:8 It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.
The leaders were shocked because they could see that these men were common men who were not well-educated. They also realized that these men had been with Jesus. After they had threatened Peter and John, they let them go.
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