Acts 3:6- Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” NKJV
When I began this study, I began with the fact that I believe this book is about the Acts of the Holy Spirit, more than it is about the acts of the Apostles. However we title it, God is moving on and through His people in this book! It’s an exciting book to read!
As Chapter 3 begins, we see Peter and John going into the temple to pray. The Bible refers to this as the ninth hour of the day.
Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.
Acts 3:1 NKJV
If you are trying to figure it out with our current way of looking at time, you may get the wrong time of day. The Jewish time was a lot different from the Roman timeframe. There are charts on the internet that can be used to help us understand how time was referenced in biblical days, but for the sake of this blog, I will share a brief understanding. Jesus made a comment that will help us on this point:
Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day?
John 11:9 NKJV
Since we all know that there are 24 hours in a day, what is Jesus talking about? Dr. Keener and others agree that the ninth hour of the day is 3:00 p.m. So how is it calculated? The day starts at 6:00 am and ends at the 12th hour, or 6:00 pm for the Jewish day. Therefore, 7:00 am would be the first hour, and 3:00 pm would be the ninth hour. This coincides with Jesus stating that there were 12 hours in a day. The chart that I hyperlinked to the article, gives more details about the hours and the night watches and is easy to understand.
Another thing we discover is that the ninth hour is also a time of prayer. Again, I look to Keener for clarification. He believes that Luke makes a point, in his writings, to point out that things happen during the hours of prayer. Don’t we agree that things happen when we pray? He also notes that traditionally, the Rabbis would have prayers in the mornings, during the ninth hour (after the 2:30 sacrifices), and sometime in the evenings. Keener also points out that the early Christians prayed together in the temple keeping to the morning and afternoon prayer times.
So, Peter and John went into the temple to pray with other believers. As they were entering, they saw a beggar:
And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple; who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms.
Acts 3:2-3 NKJV
Beggars present an interesting dynamic in the lives of the believers. For example, this man was laid daily at the gate of the temple to beg for alms. So this was not the first time the disciples saw him begging for bread. They had to have passed him on several occasions before this miracle happened. Maybe, they gave him money previously or just ignored him. Like we do! Whatever the case, I don’t think this was the first time Peter and John saw him at the gate begging.
In our city, there are regular beggars. They have intersections that they claim so they can get money. They use signs, children, wheelchairs, and anything else they can think of to cause us to stop and give them alms. They beat on plastic buckets or shake their bodies as a form of entertainment, all for the price of a coin. They are not limited to age group, a nationality, a color, or sex. Their commonality is that they are begging. Maybe they don’t all see it as begging, for some, it’s just a hustle. But for the passersby, we feel as if they are begging us for money. It’s exhausting and at the same time, it is frustrating. Do I give this time? Should I even encourage this behavior? Is this really a person in need? How do we know? So we often pass them by!
Maybe Peter and John had similar thoughts before this moment. We don’t know. But we do know that after they experienced the power of the Holy Ghost, they were different men! They were confident that the experience they had with the Holy Ghost gave them what they needed to rise to occasion and meet this man’s needs:
And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, “Look at us.” So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.”
Acts 3:4-6 NKJV
First, Peter gave the man his undivided attention and required the same thing of the man. Peter didn’t want a casual encounter with the man, but a meaningful one. He was on his way to prayer, but something happened that had him initiate contact with this man. I believe we call Him the Holy Ghost! So Peter said, “Look at us.”
Secondly, on the other side of this miracle was a man with an expectation. Luke clearly notes that the man was expecting to receive something from them. I believe expectancy is a huge part of receiving from God. In this case, the man got more than what he was looking for; he got a miracle!
Peter said to the man:
“Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.”
Acts 3:6 NKJV
Peter didn’t let what he didn’t have, stop him from sharing what he did have! He had the name of Jesus, and he released his faith in that name to bless the man. In chapter 4, we see that Peter made it perfectly clear to everyone that it was by the name of Jesus that the man was made whole!
“let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole.”
Acts 4:10 NKJV
In other words, there is power in the name of Jesus! I read in Dr. Keener’s book, “Miracles Today” about a testimony of the power of the name of Jesus. A young man from India was visiting with his uncle who was also a Christian. Some Hindu workers were trying to drill for water in the area but without success. They said the ground was like rocks. So they went and asked the young man to pray for them to find water because they believed the gods were hindering them. Shivraj, the young man who was visiting, was concerned about what would happen to him if God did not answer, but he went anyway.
First, he prayed inwardly. “Lord, you know what’s going on here; I just ask that you take care of the situation for your name’s sake.” Then he prayed aloud, “Dear Jesus Christ, you are the Lord of the earth and water. The land is yours and you are able to do anything. These people are looking to you for help, so please give them water. In your name, let this be so (Keener, “Miracles Today, p. 189).” An hour later, the workers returned to the house to inform Shivraj that they had found water and declared his God to be a great God! Hallelujah!
Shivraj knew that God could, but he wasn’t sure that God would. Instead of trusting in his faith or his abilities, he trusted in Jesus and asked for the miracle in His name!
In this same book, although I can’t find it at the moment, he shared a testimony of healing. An American missionary was in another country sharing the gospel. They asked him to pray for a person in the village, because he had shared that Jesus healed. When he prayed for the person, nothing happened. But after he left, they continued to pray by just speaking the name of Jesus. When the missionary checked on them the next morning, the person had been healed. They explained that they just used the name of Jesus! They had more faith in the power of the name of Jesus than the missionary had!
We have access to the same power today. We just have to ask God to help us to realize that truth! We always say “In the name of Jesus” but are we really expecting that Name to change what is happening around us? Or more accurately, are we like the missionary and the use of His name has become so common to us we’ve nullified the power of it? I am challenging myself today to learn to trust in that Name like never before! I want to see the Holy Spirit working in and through me like He does for so many others! Will you join me? Wonderful Jesus!
Wonderful Jesus! 