Healing. Mary Healy
was probably similar to that of a city church today at the time just before Sunday Mass — a stream of worshipers moving toward the doors, a panhandler or two on the steps, noise, bustle, and distraction. The crippled man hardly glanced at Peter and John among the jostling crowd as he begged for a handout.
But Peter, newly filled with the Holy Spirit, must have been prompted by the Spirit to know that this was to be no ordinary encounter. He “gazed intently” at the man and said to him, “Look at us,” and the man “fixed his attention on them” (3:4–5). What was important about this intense look? On a natural level, it engaged the man’s full attention, establishing a relationship between him and the two apostles.
But Luke hints at more. The Greek verb for “gaze intently” is atenizo. It means “to keep one’s eyes fixed on,” and is used in Acts especially in supernatural contexts: the apostles gazing into heaven at Jesus’ ascension (1:10); the Jewish leaders gazing at Stephen as his face became like that of an angel (6:15); Stephen gazing into heaven (7:55); Cornelius gazing at an angel (10:4); Peter gazing at a heavenly vision (11:6). Strikingly, the word appears in a miracle story that closely parallels this one: Paul’s healing of a lame man at Lystra. “Paul, gazing intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be made well, said in a loud voice, ‘Stand upright on your feet.’ And he sprang up and walked” (14:9–10). Perhaps Luke wants to convey that the apostles’ gaze allowed the lame man to see their faith, which awakened his own. The miracle-producing power of the Holy Spirit can be imparted simply through a gaze of faith.
The first part of Peter’s response, “I’m broke,” shows his faithfulness to Jesus’ mission instructions: “Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money” (Luke 9:3). On a human level, Peter had nothing to alleviate the man’s suffering, no capacity to help at all. Peter, the once-prosperous fisherman and now highest-ranking leader of the Church Jesus founded, is himself one of the poor. Miraculous healings take place most often by the poor and among the poor — those who have no access to the medical care that money and insurance can provide, no recourse but God alone.
Then Peter committed an act of astounding faith. In the midst of a crowd of people he said aloud, “I give you what I have; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk” (3:6). As if that were not enough, he grasped the crippled man’s hand and raised him up. There is no turning back from such an act. Either there will be a miracle or one will appear a complete fool. Peter had such confidence that the Lord would come through for him that he was willing to put his reputation on the line.
The legs of the man, who was more than forty years old and lame from birth (3:2; 4:22), would have been not only congenitally disabled but atrophied from a lifetime of disuse. It is not surprising that he needed a boost to be able to respond to Peter’s shocking command. But significantly, it was not before but after he stood up that “his feet and ankles were made strong.” He had to do the impossible (with Peter’s help), before the impossible became possible. As often happened in the ministry of Jesus, the act of faith opened the way for the miracle.
Luke describes the thrilling scene that ensued. “Leaping up he stood and walked and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God, and recognized him as the one who sat for alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him” (3:8–10). Tears must have flowed as people watched this man, whom they had known as a helpless cripple, now beside himself with joy. There must have been shouts of praise and thanksgiving to God. Perhaps some remembered God’s promise about the messianic age to come: “then shall the lame man leap like a stag” (Isa 35:6).
Up to this point in Acts 3 Luke has portrayed numerous signs of the devotion of God’s chosen people.36 Peter and John, like many other Jews, were entering the temple to worship God. The lame man was apparently cared for by fellow Jews who faithfully carried him to the gate every day to ask for alms. The temple was a place where people were especially inclined to give to the needy, fulfilling God’s commands (Deut 15:11; Tob 4:7).
But the stunning cure of the man lame from birth is something new, above and beyond these acts of piety. It is a divine act inexplicable in human terms. It is heaven invading earth — the messianic kingdom made present and visible. Jesus had said to the crowds during his public ministry, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power” (Mark 9:1). Before the eyes of the crowd at the Beautiful Gate, his words are being fulfilled.
Proclaiming Jesus the Healer
Peter now has to explain to the quickly burgeoning crowd what just happened and what it means. He takes the opportunity to proclaim the kerygma, the good news of salvation in Christ, and invite people to repentance and faith. He says, in effect, “You’ve just seen a miracle. Now let me explain who did it and what that has to do with you.” Peter’s response sets an example for the rest of Church history. The right follow-up to a miracle done in the name of Jesus is always to seize the opportunity to proclaim Jesus.
Peter’s explanation of how the miracle occurred is worded somewhat awkwardly: “His name, by faith in his name, has made this man strong whom you see and know; and the faith which is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all” (3:16). Peter seems to be repeating himself. But he is concerned to underscore two essential ingredients of this healing.
Jesus’ name, which in biblical thought means his presence and authority, healed the man. Jesus alone has power to heal.
But it was faith in his name that released Jesus’ healing power upon this man in this place and time. Although the Lord can heal a person without human intervention any time he wants to, he most often chooses to involve his disciples in his miraculous works. The means by which he involves them is faith.
The stupendous healing at the Beautiful Gate, followed by Peter’s speech explaining what had happened, has an immediate result: “Many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to about five thousand” (Acts 4:4). The glorious power of Jesus’ name has been publicly manifested, and the Church has grown exponentially.
This healing is only the first of many recounted in Acts. The miracle causes Peter’s own faith to grow to such an intensity that he becomes a kind of lightning rod for the Lord’s miraculous power. “They even carried out the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and pallets, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed” (5:15–16).
Peter’s ministry is beginning to look more and more like that of Jesus. At Lydda, Peter finds a man who has been paralyzed and bedridden for eight years. He simply speaks a word of command: “‘Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed.’ And immediately he rose.” The result is mass conversions to Christ among the residents of Lydda and Sharon (9:34–35).
At Joppa, Peter prays at the bedside of a dead woman and raises her to life in the same way, with a simple command. His words are curiously similar to those of Jesus in the Gospel: “Tabitha, rise” (Acts 9:40; see Mark 5:41). This miracle too has an immediate impact on evangelization: “it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord” (9:42).
Multiplying Miracles
The gift of healing, given first to Peter and the Twelve, soon began to be diffused among other members of the Church. Stephen, one of the seven deacons appointed by the apostles to administer the care of the needy,37 “did great wonders and signs among the people” (6:8) before he was martyred. Another deacon, Philip, evangelized in Samaria — a region previously hostile to the gospel (Luke 9:52–53) — and won multitudes to Christ by the healings he worked. “For unclean spirits came out of many who were possessed, crying with a loud voice; and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed” (8:7).
Soon afterward, the Church’s fiercest persecutor, Paul, was transformed by his encounter with the risen Lord on the road to Damascus. Following