THE KING’S BUSINESS
940
given the power to walk and leap? How wonderfully graphic and natural, and self- evidently true the'whole story is. The man used his new-found strength in a good way ; he walked to a good place—God’s own house. He could not do much even yet, but there was one thing he could do and did do, he praised God. A fter all, tfyat is about the best thing any one can do. Thursday, October is. A cts 3 . 9 -is. - There was no guess work about this miracle, the man was well known to all observers, and thé reality' o f the cure was evident and unmistakable. It was utterly different from many o f the cases today who loudly and persistently claim that they have been healed when to all appearances they are as sick as ever. This was no Christian Science healing, but an instant, genuine and radical change from absolute inability to walk to ability to walk and leap continu ously on thè part o f one whom everybody knew to have been absolutely lame. The people who witnessed the change were filled with wonder and amazement and inany were - conVerted (ch. 4:4). The miracle simply served to get a hearing for the gos pel. The healed man held fast on to Peter and John. He was afraid they might get away. He had not yet learned to lean directly on Jesus instead o f leaning on the instrument that the Lord Jesus used. The miracle drew a great crowd (cf. ch. 2 : 6 ). Peter immediately turned the attention away from himself to his Lord. How unlike many modern claims to healing power ! Peter was not at all puffed up by the miracle that had been wrought through his instrumentality, nor did he fancy for one moment that it was due' to any particu lar power or godliness o f his own (cf. ch. 14:11, IS; Gen. 40:8; 2 Cor. 3 :5 ; con trast Num. 20:10) . He wished them to get their eyes upon the Lord and not upon him. With an almost distressed earnest ness he cried, “Why fasten ye your eyes on us?” In the original there is great ,, emphasis,on the “us.”
needed to say as Peter said, “ Silver and gold have I none.” The other replied, “Yes, and we can no longer say, ‘In the name of Jesus Christ o f Nazareth rise up and walk.’ ” The utterance that fell from Peter’s lips, “What I have I give” (cf. 1 Pefer 4:10, 11) should be deeply pondered. Too many o f us, if we told the truth, would be forced to say, “What I have I , keep.” Peter told the man who had been born lame to “ walk,” but that was the very thing that the man could not do. It was naturally impossible for him to do this, but Peter not merely told him to walk, he added, “ in the name o f Jesus Christ o f Nazareth;” that changed it all. , What is naturally impossible is possible in the name o f Christ. The power that there was in that mighty name came into that man’s impotent feet the moment he believed and sought to obey. Wednesday, October XI. Acts 3 : 7 , 8 . Peter not only bade the man to walk and not only bade him to do it in the name of Jesus' Christ of Nazareth, he himself took him by the hand and raised him up. Peter had learned that from observing Jesus (Mk. 1:31), and we do well to learn it, too; it is not enough to,tell men what to do, there is great need that we stretch out a helping hand and help them to do the thing which they ought to do. It is to be noticed that Luke in his account here is very specific in his description o f the cure, he goes into the matter o f the “ feet and ankle-bones.” This was because Luke was a physician (Col. 4:14), and it is one o f the incidental proofs that this book was really written by Luke. This is one of the many places where there are undesigned coincidences in the Scripture, one part unin tentionally confirming another part. It was the gladdest moment o f the man’s life. He leaped up, stood a moment in wonder, began to walk; then began to leap and praise God. Is it any wonder ? How must one feel who never has walked and who has attained to manhood without being able to stand on; his feet, and then suddenly is
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker