04/24/2019 ACTION
Acts 3:2-6;7-8 As they approached the Temple, they saw a man lame from birth carried along the street and laid beside the Temple gate—the one called The Beautiful Gate, as was his custom every day. As Peter and John were passing by, he asked them for some money. They looked at him intently, and then Peter said, “Look here!” The lame man looked at them eagerly, expecting a gift. But Peter said, “We don’t have any money for you! But I’ll give you something else! ….Then Peter took the lame man by the hand and pulled him to his feet. And as he did, the man’s feet and ankle-bones were healed and strengthened so that he came up with a leap, stood there a moment and began walking! Then, walking, leaping, and praising GOD, he went into the Temple with them.
DISCUSSION
The Gospel of Luke, the third gospel regarding the life and ministry of JESUS is ascribed to have been written by “the beloved physician” (see Colossians 4:14) Luke. Luke wrote the Gospel According to Luke and the very next book after the gospels, the book of Acts. In fact, the very first verse in Acts makes it clear that Acts is a continuation of “the story” or explanation of what this new church/temple movement is all about. See Acts 1:1
The continuation of the story is an important lesson in itself. If the death and resurrection of JESUS were “the end of the story,” Luke could have just stopped at the angel’s announcement: “HE is not here, but is risen,” (Luke 24:6). But that was not the end of the story.
Luke goes on in Chapter 24 to describe the fact that when the women went to the apostles to repeat what they were told, the others didn’t believe the women. Luke describes how JESUS appeared to the doubting disciples and even Peter, who had denied him three times, showing how JESUS reached out to them. And Jesus is willing to reach out to all of us, even in our “brokenness” and “troubled states.”
Other gospel writers also do not end with just the resurrection but even describe how “these very human” disciples faltered in other ways. John describes how a group of these disciples, led by Peter, may have started thinking about returning to their “former lives” as fishermen because Peter convinced a group of them all of a sudden go fishing for fish. See John 21. Perhaps Peter forgot this was what “he left” to follow JESUS, when JESUS promised to make Peter and his brother Andrew, “fishers of men.” Perhaps this post-resurrection story was an important reminder that it is important to keep our eyes on what GOD wants us to do and not what we used to do—or to reinforce the importance of “feeding the sheep” or helping the least among us, rather than going on “fishing expeditions for our own gain.”
Luke’s writing the book of Acts and describing the actions of the apostles, after they received the HOLY SPIRIT, is additional evidence that the resurrection was not the end of the story. The interaction between Peter and the lame man described in Acts 3 is evidence that Peter “was listening” and acted on JESUS’ instructions to “fish for men.” The man who was laid by the temple gate was literally “outside” the church/temple. Others temple members probably passed him by every day on their way to the house of GOD. No one was interested in “connecting” with this man, praying with this man, fellowshipping with this man, or bringing him into the “church” fold. Some may have even seen him as an “eyesore” marring the beauty of their temple gate. Likewise, the man wasn’t thinking about entering the temple either. The man seemingly just saw the people coming and going as a way to make money to live. All of that changed when the man met Peter and John.
The actions of Peter and John are instructive. One of the first things that Peter and John did was to not treat the man as if he were “invisible.” They looked intently at the man and “saw him.” It is easier than most of us think to ignore the suffering of those around us—the “invisible poor,” or other we “don’t see,” such as those in jails, in detention facilities, in juvenile facilities, those in mental facilities or children and seniors who go without meals. Just look indifferently. Just look swiftly. Or, just look away, or just focus on oneself.
However, when Peter and John looked intently, they saw a man who needed to be in “the fold.” Then Peter took action: Peter talked to the man, went to GOD on behalf of the man, offered the man another way, reached out to the man, gave him a helping hand, and then entered the temple with him, as their equal. These were the acts of these apostles. This is how these disciples became “fisher of men.” This is part of their post-resurrection story. This is why Luke had to tell the rest of the story and wrote Acts.