Acts 3:11-26

Acts 3:11-26

As the crippled man who had been cured clung to Peter and John,

all the people hurried in amazement toward them

in the portico called “Solomon’s Portico.”

When Peter saw this, he addressed the people,

“You children of Israel, why are you amazed at this,

and why do you look so intently at us

as if we had made him walk by our own power or piety?

The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,

the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus

whom you handed over and denied in Pilate’s presence,

when he had decided to release him.

You denied the Holy and Righteous One

and asked that a murderer be released to you.

The author of life you put to death,

but God raised him from the dead; of this we are witnesses.

And by faith in his name,

this man, whom you see and know, his name has made strong,

and the faith that comes through it

has given him this perfect health,

in the presence of all of you.

Now I know, brothers and sisters,

that you acted out of ignorance, just as your leaders did;

but God has thus brought to fulfillment

what he had announced beforehand

through the mouth of all the prophets,

that his Christ would suffer.

Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away,

and that the Lord may grant you times of refreshment

and send you the Christ already appointed for you, Jesus,

whom heaven must receive until the times of universal restoration

of which God spoke through the mouth

of his holy prophets from of old.

For Moses said:

A prophet like me will the Lord, your God, raise up for you

from among your own kin;

to him you shall listen in all that he may say to you.

Everyone who does not listen to that prophet

will be cut off from the people.    

“Moreover, all the prophets who spoke,

from Samuel and those afterwards, also announced these days.

You are the children of the prophets

and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors

when he said to Abraham,

In your offspring all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

For you first, God raised up his servant and sent him to bless you

by turning each of you from your evil ways.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, open my mind today to understand your life-giving Word. Conform my life to that of your Son, Jesus Christ. Help me to follow the way of the Cross, suffer with Christ, and be raised to heavenly glory with you.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Witnesses to Jesus: The First Reading tells us that, after receiving the Holy Spirit, the apostles were empowered to be witnesses to Jesus. Yesterday, we heard about their prayer life and their ministry to the sick. Today, Peter explains the healing of the crippled man. Peter emphasizes that he is only an instrument of God, for God is the one who truly heals (Exodus 15:26). The same God, who revealed himself to Moses as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, continues to act in them through Jesus Christ, the Son of God. “The healing is a sign that God has glorified his servant Jesus” (Kurz, Acts of the Apostles, 72). The man was healed by the power of the name of Jesus. Faith in this name restored the man to perfect health. “This statement underscores the importance of faith in Jesus for healing” (Kurz, Acts of the Apostles, 73). The name of the Lord God is praised in today’s psalm. God is praised because he cares for us and crowns us with glory and honor.

2. The Prophetic Sign of Healing a Lame Man: Once again, we hear the early preaching of Peter. Peter saw the crowds gathering after the healing of the lame man and seized the opportunity to preach the Gospel. When Peter describes Jesus, he alludes to him as the fulfillment of Isaiah’s suffering servant (Isaiah 52:13). “Peter indicts the witnesses of the healing for their complicity in the death of Jesus, sharply contrasting the ‘Holy and Righteous One’ (Acts 3:14) with the wickedness of His rejection. Indeed, the one whom they killed was the ‘Author of life,’ but God reversed their verdict and raised Him from the dead (Acts 3:15)” (Pimentel, Witnesses of the Messiah, 56). The restoration of a lame man to perfect health is a sign that the messianic promises of the prophets were being fulfilled. Jesus fulfills the prophecies concerning a suffering servant. And this means that the people need to repent from their sins so that they can receive the blessings poured out by God through his Servant and Spirit.

3. Rejecting and Accepting Jesus: Peter recognizes that the people were ignorant when they crucified Jesus, but that they can no longer claim ignorance: “There is a greater culpability for those who continue to reject Jesus after hearing the apostolic testimony that he has been raised from the dead” (Kurz, Acts of the Apostles, 73). Jesus’ death on the Cross was not proof that he was cursed by God (Deuteronomy 21:23), but rather that it was part of God’s plan that Jesus suffer and willingly take upon himself the curse that man inherited from Adam. “There can be no doubt that Jesus is the Messiah foretold by the prophets (cf. Acts 3:20), for the apostles have witnessed His Resurrection and the Ascension, just as the men of Israel have now witnessed the healing of the lame man” (Pimentel, Witnesses of the Messiah, 57). Peter concludes his speech with a call to conversion and the promise that their sins would be wiped away. Jesus is the prophet-like-Moses, the people cannot reject him (Deuteronomy 18:15-20), and must obey him. Those who accept Jesus become part of the new people of God (Kurz, Acts of the Apostles, 75) and become the beneficiaries of God’s covenant promises to Abraham to bless all nations through his descendants.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I welcome you as my savior. You continue to work through your Spirit and your disciples to draw all peoples into the family of God. Inspire me today to know how I can share in that work and help to bring those I meet today into communion with you.

Living the Word of God: How can I be a better witness to Jesus and the power of his resurrection? Do I need to spend more quality time with God’s word and in prayer? Do I need to eradicate any sinful habits so that I can be a better example to others?