Acts 3:1-10

Acts 3:1 ¶ Now ^aPeter and John were going up to the temple at the ¹ninth hour, ^bthe hour of prayer.

9th hour prayer (proseuche)

Acts 3:2 And ^aa man who had been lame from his mother’s womb was being carried along, whom they ^bused to set down every day at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, ^cin order to beg ¹alms of those who were entering the temple.

Acts 3:3 When he saw ^aPeter and John about to go into the temple, he began asking to receive alms.

Acts 3:4 But Peter, along with John, ^afixed his gaze on him and said, “Look at us!”

fixed gaze = ἀτενίζω, atenizō, v.  [1753 [1.2]]. to look intently, gaze, stare

look= βλέπω, blepō, v.  [root of: 329, 330, 611, 1062, 1332, 1838, 2098, 4315, 4587]. to see, look at; to watch out, beware, pay attention

 

Acts 3:5 And he began to give them his attention, expecting to receive something from them.

His change of focus, was an open door to another, greater change

Acts 3:6 But Peter said, “I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: ^aIn the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene — walk!”

Acts 3:7 And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened.

Acts 3:8 ^1aWith a leap he stood upright and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.

Acts 3:9 And ^aall the people saw him walking and praising God;

Acts 3:10 and they were taking note of him as being the one who used to ^asit at the Beautiful Gate of the temple to beg alms, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

New American Standard Bible 

But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.  Heb 5:14

are we truly discerning good from evil ? (with God’s definition of both words)

Good = God’s intent for that moment

bad = stepping aside from God’s intent for that same moment

Good means “God’s intent for that moment

(anything else is, by definition, sin … missing the mark)

good

/ɡo͝od/

adjective

adjective: good; comparative adjective: better; superlative adjective: best

1. 1.
   to be desired or approved of.”a good quality of life”
   • pleasing and welcome.”she was pleased to hear good news about him”
   • expressing approval.”the play had good reviews”
2. 2.
   having the qualities required for a particular role.”the schools here are good”

• • skilled at doing or dealing with a specified thing.”

explain radar analogy: (big blips vs small blips where big blips are considered threats while small blips are normally not considered issues or threats

small blips or big blips on radar need same color since evil/bad no matter how small the blip is

(otherwise we focus on big ones and let little ones through)

the enemy is doing a great job overwhelming us with big blips to the point that we aren’t bothered by the small ones

and we become desensitized to sin. We become desensitized to ignoring God’s intent for the moment.

How many believers think “white lies” are ok?

How many believers think violence in entertainment is ok ?

How many of us ignore God’s voice daily ?

How many of us drive by people in need because we are in a hurry to get to the next religious activity ?

Where is our focus ?

are our activities and religious events considered big blips

(and simple acts of charities considered the small blips to be ignored) ?

This is not what we see here in Acts 3  

Peter and John stopped what they were doing to “regard” and consider this one lame beggar.

They made a choice between two directions. (go to temple, attend this man)

I wonder if they remembered Jesus’ words “ man was not made for the sabbath, but the sabbath for man” Mark 2:27

The man in view here is not simply broke. He’s broken. He’s physically crippled. He’s humiliated. He’s hopeless. And to make things worse, he’s more than forty years old (4:22). Presumably, he’d lived this way for decades.

As this broken man asks Peter and John for alms, something miraculous happens. The disciples direct their gazes to him, get his attention, and give him a renewed life (vv. 4–7). The people observe this man’s transformation, and they are filled with wonder. One moment he’s a lame beggar, and the next moment he’s Dancing. Seeing such a miracle should have caused people to marvel. And it did. But this chapter contains more than an account of wonder. Peter helps us understand the miracle and uses it to declare the gospel to the crowd it attracted. Not everyone liked that.

This story highlights the need to care for the hurting people all around us. It is a sobering reminder that it is possible to attend religious events while ignoring the needs right in front of us. 

in the previous passage, 3000 get saved, in this following passage, the focus is on the restoration of one person.

Same speaker, same sermon, 3000 people, one person.

Restoration is always glorifying to God, (numbers are worthless if restoration is not part of the story)