A GATE CALLED BEAUTIFUL
March 4, 2020 | Acts 3
DEVOTIONS
This Month’s Issue
Robotic suits can help disabled individuals walk again! Experimental bionic limbs or “wearable robots” are currently used only in rehabilitation and physical therapy settings, but as materials get lighter, computers get smarter, and batteries last longer, designers hope this technology will allow use in everyday life.
By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong.
ACTS 3:16
Peter didn’t need robotics to help a lame man walk. He healed the man with a word by the power of Christ (vv. 6–7). By sitting at the temple’s Beautiful Gate (v. 2), also called the Nicanor Gate, the crippled beggar could be sure of attention from crowds of people who might be in a mood to give him money. Peter, however, gave him something better. The healed man responded by “walking and jumping, and praising God,” thereby demonstrating joyful faith (v. 8).
Because of the Beautiful Gate setting and the fact that many locals knew the healed man (vv. 9–10), Peter’s miracle attracted immediate attention. Faithful Jews would have been reminded of the prophecy of Isaiah 35:6: “Then will the lame leap like a deer.” A large crowd gathered, and Peter was able to preach an evangelistic sermon, just as he had at Pentecost (see Acts 2).
Peter’s message was not an ear-tickling one about how Jesus meets our needs. He accused the people of killing the Son of God, who had nonetheless risen from the dead (vv. 13–15). He gave God the glory for the miraculous healing they’d all just witnessed (v. 16), summarized God’s plan of redemption (vv. 18, 24–26), and issued a call to repent and turn to Messiah Jesus (vv. 19–23). Many responded with faith in Christ, although the attitudes of the Jewish leaders continued to be hostile (see Acts 4:1–3).
What social gathering places today are the equivalent of the biblical city gates? Shopping malls? Social media? How can we bring God’s words and power into these places for His glory and the expansion of His kingdom?
post credit: TITW
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