"The Lame Shall Leap" (Acts 3:1-10)

Transcript:

Well, as we come this morning to this story of healing in the Book of Acts, it is important to understand both when we study miracles of healing in the Gospels and also in the Book of Acts, that we are not simply reading stories of the raw demonstration of power, and neither are we hearing stories that are simply human interest stories. You know, we often learn a little bit about the individuals who are healed, and that certainly is interesting to think about what their lives were like before encountering Jesus and after encountering Jesus. But this is something even more than a human interest piece. Rather, what we are seeing here is a continuation of all that Jesus began to do and to teach. Again, that's what Luke was telling us, that he's writing in the Book of Acts from Acts, chapter one, verse one.

And so it's important to consider the many parallels between this story here and the stories of healings that we read in the Gospels. Now, we have lots of other parallels that Luke is constantly drawing. Just as a brief reminder, remember, just as Jesus had 40 days of preparation in the wilderness before he entered into his public ministry, at the beginning of the Book of Acts, we saw the disciples engaged in a training session of Jesus as he equipped them over 40 days before he ascended into heaven for the public ministry that they would be performing on his behalf and in his name. Furthermore, at Jesus ascension, two men appeared and told them to stop looking into heaven, which paralleled the two men who appeared at the tomb, the empty tomb of the resurrected Jesus. Well, here again, as we think about this story of healing, there is a very clear parallel in the Gospel of Luke.

It's actually contained in Matthew, Mark and Luke, but we'll consider Luke since it's the same author, and this story is of the story of the healing of the paralytic in Luke, chapter 5, verses 17 through 26. And if you remember that story of Jesus healing of the paralytic, there were two key issues that are very important in considering the parallel to this story. First of all, you may remember that there were many barriers. This is the story where there was a man who was paralyzed and his friends wanted to bring him to Jesus for him to be healed. But when they got there, Jesus was surrounded by so many people that those people formed a wall, a barrier that they could not get to Jesus.

And in their faith, they climbed up on top of the roof, removed the tiles of the roof, because they were desperate to get this man to Jesus for healing. So barriers and faith to overcome those barriers play a very important role. The second issue that's very Important in considering our story today is the connection between the physical healing and the spiritual healing. And Jesus performs both. You may remember when this man appeared before Jesus.

Jesus, seeing their faith, said, your sins are forgiven. Now, that strikes people aback for a lot of reasons. First of all, his friends had to be wondering, well, that's all lovely, but we came here to get our friend healed. Why don't you do that? The religious leader said, who does he think he is saying that he has the authority to forgive sins?

Only God has the authority to forgive sins. Well, this became one of the great moments where Jesus demonstrated his identity. Again, he is not a subordinate creature. He is fully God. And so he declared to them, so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.

I say to you, rise, take up your bed and go home. And just like the man in this story, he stands and does exactly that, and he's able to walk out of that room. Jesus did two things. He healed physically in order to prove that he can heal spiritually. And so as we read this story, that has to be our view, that God is the God who heals physical diseases even to this day.

Again, we prayed for Norm, who's having knee replacement surgery this week. And part of that is because we recognize that God alone heals. But as we study this passage, we are also seeking what this says about the spiritual healing that we need. Our theme this morning then is this, that Jesus, our high priest, removes all barriers that keep us from God. Jesus, our high priest, remove all.

Removes all barriers that keep us from God. So the first section, we are going to see powerful barriers. The setting of this story in the first two verses tell us about very powerful barriers that is keeping this man from God. Second, we are seeing the power of Christ, the power of Christ to overcome these barriers. And then third, we are seeing empowered worship.

Empowered worship. The results of this. So we'll start in verses one and two. But before we get to that, I want to look up just a little bit in the page to the previous six section in Acts 2, verse 43, where we read and awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. We knew in this summary statement in the previous passage that many wonders and signs were being performed by the apostles.

And now we have an example of one of these, a narrative that recounts exactly what happened in one of these instances. And so in verse one, we read now, Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. Now, the details that we are given here are more important than we might realize at first. The setting here is extremely important to the. The angle that Luke is giving us.

Again, this isn't simply the narration of a great feat of power, although it is that. But there's a specific message that Luke is trying to get across in the way he narrates this story based on the details that happened when this happened in history. The first thing he tells us is that this happened at the temple. But he also tells us the time at the temple, that this was the ninth hour of the day, the hour of prayer. Now, the reason this was the hour of prayer is not that this was simply sort of a.

A random prayer meeting that happened to be scheduled in the life of the. Of the church in that day. This was an hour of prayer because the ninth hour of the day, they started their counting from 6am so this was 3pm in the afternoon. That ninth hour was the time of the evening sacrifice. The evening sacrifices would have been when Scripture was read, when prayers were offered.

Indeed, and when God's people were gathered to worship the Lord. Morning and evening, day after day, they were gathered to worship the Lord. Now why are we told this? Well, in part, we know from Acts 2:46 that for a time the early church continued attending the worship services of the temple. We read in 2:46.

And day by day attending the temple together, or literally devoted to, to the temple with one mind. So the early church was continuing to worship in the ways they had been accustomed to. So that's part of it. But also because at the time of the sacrifices, there were the largest crowds there. This became a very important place, especially in Acts chapter 3, 4 and 5, for evangelizing in Jerusalem.

The temple was a center for evangelism that they were doing. But still we might ask, what were they doing there during the sacrifices? Did they not understand that Jesus was the once for all sacrifice and they did no longer need the Old Testament sacrifices? Well, certainly they understood that, and we will see that in part in the sermon that Peter is going to preach in response to this miracle in the next passage, which, Lord willing, we will look at next week. So they understood this perfectly.

But what's happening in this scene is that part of the angle that Luke is taking on telling us this story is he's highlighting the powerlessness of Old Testament worship. He's highlighting the powerlessness of these sacrifices that were offered day after day, morning and evening, year after year, that ultimately had no power to forgive sins and had no power to heal those in need of healing. Which brings us to verse two, where we come to the man who is in need of healing. We read in a man lame from birth all these years, lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the beautiful gate to ask alms, or he was begging for money out of their pity on him of those entering the temple. Now, this is very important.

First of all, we read that he was laid daily here. Now again, why would he be laid daily there? Well, again, this is the time for the largest crowds. The time of the sacrifices would be when most of the people would have been there. This was prime time for him to be begging for alms.

But notice also they laid him at the gate. Now, again, this makes sense. If strategically, you were trying to get in front of the most people. You want to come to the point through which the most people have to pass. You want to sit at the gate as people pass you by to ask them for alms.

But notice what this implies. If daily, day after day, he's laid at the gate, where does he not go? He never enters in. All these people passing by him day by day by day by day. And it says specifically that they are there to enter the temple.

He was asking alms of those entering the temple, but he himself did not go in. Day after day, all these sacrifices, morning and evening, day after day, year after year, for every year of this man's life. And none of these sacrifices had power to do for this man what he most needed. None of these had the power to heal him. Now we need to ask, why couldn't this man enter?

Well, it's actually very helpful to reflect that there are different kinds of barriers here because Jesus is going to overcome all of those barriers in this passage. First of all, there's a very powerful physical barrier. Very simply, physically, he could not walk into the temple. And you were not allowed to bring things like crutches into the temple. So he would have been had to be carried in if he was allowed at all.

We'll get to that in one moment. Materially, this was his prime opportunity to ask for alms from as many people as possible. He couldn't worship because he needed to work to pay his bills. He needed to work to meet his daily needs. He couldn't worship because he gained so little from these alms that all of this time had to be taken up and begging for money from those who were passing by him.

Physical barriers, material barriers, but also spiritual barriers. This is a man with a disability and the Old Testament law is very clear that the temple was supposed to be a recreated Eden. It was supposed to be a place that God's perfection dwelled. And therefore any hint of death or any kind of deformity or disability, any blemish, was considered unclean and excluded from the temple. Now, there's some debate about whether this applied to every single person or whether it only applied to the priest, because very much, if you were lame as a priest, you could not enter into the temple to offer the sacrifices in priestly duties.

So there's some debate about whether he was permitted in as just a private citizen. But for sure, this man would have been a social and religious outcast, and he probably was considered to be unclean. There were powerful barriers, physical, material and spiritual, that kept this man from entering into the worship of God in the temple. He only came so far as the gates. And again, in the face of all of these barriers, the Old Testament test, our temple and sacrificial system was powerless to heal him.

Because what the Old Testament sacrificial system could do with its priests and its sacrifices is that it could expose a problem. It could expose the major issue of uncleanness that God's people had. It could judge and discern between those who had disabilities and those who didn't. It could discern and distinguish between the clean and the unclean for the purposes of excluding those whom God did not permit and allowing those whom God did permit to enter in. And if someone who had some of these issues, leprosy, a disability, if some of those people could somehow find a way to be cleansed, to be healed, well, then the priests could judge and acknowledge that something had happened and now they were qualified to enter into the temple.

But the thing that the priests did not have, and this is the power that Jesus is constantly showing in the Gospels, when he heals those who are unclean, when he touches the sick, when he touches the lepers, he's showing that what the Old Testament priests could not do, he had come to be the ultimate high priest who not only judges and discerns and excludes, but heals and cleanses in order to bring near those who have been far off from God. Now, Old Testament worship was God given, and therefore it was good and it was true, but it was limited. Its main purpose was to highlight limitations, gaps, gaps that existed because of powerful physical, material and spiritual barriers. We're told in the New Testament that the law's purpose was to function as a tutor, a teacher, where the main lesson was, however, you sliced it as you considered all the various parts and aspects of your life. Is that you, because of your uncleanness, because of your iniquity and your sins, you are not worthy to enter into the presence of a holy God.

And as a tutor, the law's main purpose was to prepare God's people to await, in desperation, the one who could qualify the disqualified, so that they might enter in before God. But this brings us to the second section. If this is the problem, if this is the bad news, if this is the law, now we come to the gospel, the power of Christ, in the second section in verses three through seven. Now I want to read verses three through five again. And I want to listen.

I want you to listen for all the words related to sight, to seeing, to looking. Listen to this. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, look at us. And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them.

Now, this is a really interesting part of how Luke is telling this story. He really wants us to see what these two sides are seeing. And part of that is because when we see something, it has our attention. There's a level of attention. And really what you're seeing is a difference highlighted of expectations.

We see a very common word for seeing this man. As he had seen so many people pass by him to enter into the temple. He sees Peter and John, and so once again, he asks for alms. Alms for the poor, alms for the poor, alms for the poor. He sees them, but he barely notices them.

Now, by contrast, Peter and John really notice this man. They fix their attention on him. They fix their gaze at him. Excuse me. Both Peter does.

And we also see that John did as well. And they're saying, look at us. In other words, something important is about to happen and we want your full attention. You saw us ask for alms. We see you because God is about to perform something extraordinary in your life.

So look at us. We want to deliver this message to you. Now. Well, right after this, the man does fix his attention on them. But notice that his expectations are still on this world, expecting to receive something from them.

Now, certainly he would. But what Luke means here is that he's expecting to receive something material. He's expecting to receive some large financial gift. Maybe every once in a while he'd get a very large gift. And he was hoping this would be the day that he could receive that from them.

But he had to be instantly deflated when the first words out of Peter's mouth were, I have no silver or gold. Maybe his eyes had turned down in shame and sorrow. Maybe he had looked to the next person, hoping that maybe the next person would be the one who could give him what he needed. We don't actually know, we're not told. But you can think about perhaps your reaction to a disappointing new message like that.

But very quickly, Peter says something more. He says, but what I do have, I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. Now. By speaking of the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, he's citing and asserting the authority of Jesus.

Again, there's a continuity. What Jesus did personally and directly and bodily in the Gospels, Jesus is continuing to do by his apostles, as they're not performing these miracles on their own strength, they are rather performing these miracles in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Now, by calling him Jesus of Nazareth, he is asserting that we are not talking about some myth, some great story of a great man who lived long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away. And isn't that a wonderful story? He's talking about a real man who lived in space and time, Jesus of Nazareth, but he also calls him the Christ by calling him the Christ.

Again, this is not his last name. This is a title, a title that represents a role, an office that he held and as the Christ or the Old Testament would have called this in Hebrew, the Messiah. Both words mean the Anointed one. The anointed One who is prophet is the one who directly spoke to us God's word, and not only spoke it, but fulfilled God's word. For all God's promises, find their yes and amen in Jesus Christ.

He is also the ultimate king, the one whom we read in Acts 1 and 2 was ascended to his throne in heaven, where he is seated on the throne of David at his Father's right hand in heaven. He is the prophet, he is the king, but he is also the anointed priest. And that is what's important here. Because whereas the priests of the Old Covenant administration the covenant of grace, offered sacrifices day after day, morning and evening, again and again and again, they never had the power to heal this man. They could judge him, they could exclude him according to the provisions laid down in the law, but they could not meet his deepest need.

And while Peter is the instrument of this man's healing, he heals him in the name of the great high priest, the high priest who can truly heal Jesus Christ of Nazareth and So he tells this man, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. And took him by the right hand and raised him up. And immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. Because Jesus, our high priest, removes all barriers that keep us from God. Now, as John Calvin notes in his commentary on this passage, we need to see a spiritual truth in this physical healing.

Again, Jesus is the one who made the connection. So that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins. I say to you, rise, take up your bed and go well, once again, we are seeing here a spiritual parable, a spiritual representation. The real spiritual power is in Christ's ability as the final high priest who offered himself as the final sacrifice to atone for the sins of his people. And one of the ways that this is reflected, that this picture of physical healing reflects forward on spiritual healing, is in this language of rising up.

He rise up and walk. And then he took him by the right hand and raised him up. This is the common word that describes resurrection. It's the word used to describe the raising up of Jesus not just from the ground where he couldn't walk, but from the tomb. And in 1 Corinthians 15, it's used throughout 1 Corinthians 15 to insist that if Christ was raised up so, so too will we be raised up with him on the last day.

That is true spiritual power.

Well, there's a result of all this. What then is the result of Christ's healing, Christ's raising up of this man? Well, in the third section, we see the response of this man and the response of the wider community. It's that of empowered worship. Empowered worship in verses 8 through 10.

Now, in verse 8 we read, and leaping up he stood and began to walk. And entering the temple with them, walking and leaping, there's that word again. And praising God. Now, as I mentioned earlier, as we were singing, over a thousand tongues to sing. That's important language.

From Isaiah 30:5. The idea of Isaiah 30:5,6 describes the time, the Messianic age, when then shall the lame man leap like a deer. And it's a fairly rare word in the Greek Old Testament, but it's that word that is used here twice. We're seeing a fulfillment of prophecy of the blessings brought by the Messiah, the one whom God made, both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom these people had crucified. And now we are seeing the response to this Messianic age of leaping and walking.

But not only a physical healing. We see also that he is praising God in verse nine. And all the people saw him walking and praising God and recognized him as the one who sat at the beautiful gate of the temple asking for alms, that he recognized who he was. But also they notice that he is no longer sitting at the gate of the temple asking for alms. Where is he?

Well, look at the beginning of verse eight. Leaping up, he stood and began to walk. And what did he do? For the first time, he entered the temple. The physical healing of this man allows him to enter into the courtyards where he can bring his sacrifice, his sacrifice of praise and come before God and be reconciled to God in a way that all of these barriers kept him from doing all the days of his life, when he daily was laid at the gates, morning and evening, morning and evening, day after day, until Jesus the great high priest, finally healed him.

Well, the reaction is widespread. After recognizing him, we read at the end of verse 10, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. Now, if you remember the day of Pentecost In Acts, chapter 2, verses 12 and 13, there was widespread confusion. Some said this must be something great happening. Others said they must be drunk.

No one had any idea what was happening. And so Peter had to stand up and to preach to them and to explain to them that that too was the fulfillment of God's prophecies of the giving of the Holy Spirit as an act of the Messiah on the last day, the day of the Lord in these last days. Well, now, in light of this amazement as they see the lame leaping like a deer in their midst, well, Peter again is going to have to preach to them and to explain to them just what God has done through Jesus Christ in their midst. And Lord willing, we'll look at that passage next week. What's our application from this today?

Well, the application very simply is remove the barriers that keep you and others from God. I want to ask you what barriers this morning are keeping you from God through faith in Jesus Christ this morning? Now, for the moment, although we will get to this for the moment, I'm not talking about physical barriers of health that might keep you from worship on a given Sunday or maybe lots of Sundays? Rather, I want to talk about what are the barriers that exist in your soul. Are you struggling with intellectual barriers of doubt that keep you from trusting the great prophet Jesus Christ?

Are you struggling with heart barriers of desire where in the uncleanness of your heart you were lured away and drawn toward things that God has forbidden in a way that keeps you from embracing the One who is clean and spotless and holy, Jesus Christ, our great high priest. Or what about the willful barriers in your heart of stubbornness? Is the willful barrier of stubbornness in your heart refusing this morning to bend the knee to King Jesus? Well, ultimately, these are all spiritual barriers of corruption, of guilt. And they arise because of the guilt that we have and the shame that we have.

And if the only message I could bring to you this morning was simply to declare to you the requirements of who may ascend the hill of the Lord, well, none of us would pass that test. None of us are the pure and spotless one, the ones of clean hands and a pure heart. If that were the only message I could bring to you of law, none of us would be able to come close to to the Lord. You could come week after week. You could bring your tithes and offerings, you could be baptized, you could take the Lord's supper.

But if the only thing I could offer to you were law, you could only come so far spiritually as the gates of heaven. And there you would be turned away, you'd be excluded. And maybe even now you feel excluded in your sin and your guilt and your shame. But we have not the priesthood of the old covenant, which only has the power to expose our sin. We have a better priesthood enacted on better promises.

Not the priesthood of mere men, but the priesthood that was embodied by the God man, our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus the Messiah. By his blood he is atoned. That is, he'd made atonement before God, going before you and God suffering the wrath of God in your place, so that he might sprinkle you clean, to cleanse you from the corruption of your sin and by his great righteousness, which he freely gives he credits to all those who look to him in faith, whereas you are disqualified, he qualifies you to be raised up with him and to enter into God's presence for all time in the new heavens and the new earth, silver and gold have we none, but what we do have we give unto you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up out of your sin and come to him this morning by faith.

What are the barriers that you can help with to remove that might keep others from God? I think this spiritual picture, again, it's a physical picture of a spiritual condition. It's an encouragement to remember where people are, even those who have been brought and laid spiritually at the gates of heaven here this morning, week by week, week on the Lord's day. It's an encouragement to remember that Apart from the power of the Holy Spirit, sinners who come are helpless and they are powerless because of their sin. And more than that, those who are addicted to this world, worldlings, they are content to wallow in their worldly pursuits and passions because they're blind to eternity.

They see because they are looking for only opportunities to beg, borrow or steal something that will alleviate their most immediate pressing needs without ever lifting their eyes to the horizon of eternity. And you may be the only one who can direct their attention to look for something big better in the person and work of Jesus Christ. If you don't lift their eyes to see the beauty of the Gospel, some of these people that only you are in relationship with, then who will? But I want you to also consider not only spiritual barriers, but physical barriers that keep people from worship. We have dear saints who are connected to this church, who physically health wise, cannot come week by week.

Could you bring encouragement to them by your presence, sharing with them God's word, praying with them and encouraging him where they are? Or what about physical needs to get here on a Sunday morning? Can you give a ride to church to those who cannot drive? Now some of you parents are dragging along children understand they cannot come to the Lord unless you bring them. They don't have a driver's license even physically to get here.

Keep doing that. But what about those who have disabilities? What about those who are elderly and who cannot drive here? Could you offer to give a ride to someone maybe in the evenings when seniors can't drive to the evening worship service, could you offer to give a ride to those who are not able to Materially, some of you have particular gifts in business. Materially, there are people who feel that they cannot come to worship because that for whatever reason in the job that they hold right now is prime time for them to work to pay for the bills that meet their immediate physical needs.

Could you help them to find a new job that might free them, remove the material barrier of their needs so that they can come to worship with us on Sundays? And spiritually, there are many who are physically far off. Spiritually, there are many who do not darken the doors of a church. Not this week, not ever. Could you bring the gospel in outreach to those who are far off from the church?

Now we all have a role to play here, even some of those physical and material barriers I want to understand. There's a book by Cornelis van Dam on the role of the deacon. And one one of the things he says that's been really helpful for me to think about the role of deacons is. The key role of deacons is to remove physical barriers that prevent people from coming to worship. There are physical barriers, there are material barriers, there are spiritual barriers.

How might Jesus Christ of Nazareth use you as he used Peter to remove powerful barriers in his name that are right now keeping people from empowered worship? Well, that's the question that I want us to be thinking about as we bring this to the Lord now in prayer. Pray with me.