Acts 3

Peter and John were going up into the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.

A certain man who was lame from his mother’s womb was being carried, whom they laid daily at the door of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask gifts for the needy of those who entered into the temple.

Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive gifts for the needy.

Peter, fastening his eyes on him, with John, said, “Look at us.”

He listened to them, expecting to receive something from them.

But Peter said, “I have no silver or gold, but what I have, that I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!”

He took him by the right hand and raised him up. Immediately his feet and his ankle bones received strength.

Leaping up, he stood and began to walk. He entered with them into the temple, walking, leaping, and praising God.

All the people saw him walking and praising God.

They recognized him, that it was he who used to sit begging for gifts for the needy at the Beautiful Gate of the temple. They were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

As the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch that is called Solomon’s, greatly wondering.

When Peter saw it, he responded to the people, “You men of Israel, why do you marvel at this man? Why do you fasten your eyes on us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made him walk?

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had determined to release him.

But you denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you,

and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, to which we are witnesses.

By faith in his name, his name has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which is through him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.

“Now, brothers, I know that you did this in ignorance, as did also your rulers.

But the things which God announced by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he thus fulfilled.

“Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, so that there may come times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord,

and that he may send Christ Jesus, who was ordained for you before,

whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God spoke long ago by the mouth of his holy prophets.

For Moses indeed said to the fathers, ‘The Lord God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, like me. You shall listen to him in all things whatever he says to you.

It will be that every soul that will not listen to that prophet will be utterly destroyed from among the people.’

Yes, and all the prophets from Samuel and those who followed after, as many as have spoken, also told of these days.

You are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘All the families of the earth will be blessed through your offspring.’

God, having raised up his servant Jesus, sent him to you first to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your wickedness.”

Chapter overviewAI-generated

Overview.
This chapter records the healing of a lame man by Peter and John at the temple gate called Beautiful, an act performed not by human power but through faith in the name of Jesus Christ. The miracle becomes a powerful occasion for witness, as Peter addresses the astonished crowd, attributing the healing to the resurrected Jesus—the Righteous One whom Israel rejected but God raised and glorified. The chapter advances the theme of apostolic testimony to Christ’s resurrection and calls for repentance in view of God’s promised restoration.

Flow.

Peter and John encounter a lame beggar at the temple gate and heal him in the name of Jesus Christ, immediately restoring his strength.
The man enters the temple with them, walking and praising God, drawing the attention and amazement of the people.
Peter seizes the moment to preach to the crowd, redirecting their wonder from himself to God’s power in Christ.
He proclaims the resurrection of Jesus, the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, and calls the people to repent and receive forgiveness and future restoration.

Connections.
Following chapter 2, which culminates in Pentecost and the birth of the church through Peter’s first sermon, chapter 3 continues Peter’s public witness with a miraculous sign confirming the power of the risen Christ. The healing of the lame man echoes Christ’s own works and fulfills the proclamation that the Spirit would empower the disciples as witnesses. This apologetic and prophetic moment prepares the way for the growing opposition described in chapter 4, where the religious authorities respond with disbelief and persecution, setting the stage for the gospel’s extension beyond Jerusalem.

What it teaches.
True healing and restoration come not through human means but through the power of the resurrected Christ, in whose name faith brings both physical and spiritual restoration (WCF 8.8; ). Peter identifies Jesus as the long-promised Prophet foretold by Moses (; ), the Servant glorified by God though rejected by Israel (WCF 7.4; Isa 53), and the source of repentance and forgiveness (WCF 15.3). The call to repentance anticipates the restoration of all things, a hope grounded in God’s covenant with Abraham and the promises through the prophets (WCF 7.6; , 25; ). The apostles are witnesses to the fulfillment of these promises in Christ’s death and resurrection (HC LD 18, Q&A 49).

Apply.
Where brokenness is made whole, point to Christ alone as the source of true strength and deliverance.

AI-generated. Not a substitute for Scripture, your pastor, or the confessions.