Peter and John went to the Temple one afternoon to take part in the three o’clock prayer service. As they approached the Temple, a man lame from birth was being carried in. Each day he was put beside the Temple gate, the one called the Beautiful Gate, so he could beg from the people going into the Temple. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for some money.
Peter and John looked at him intently, and Peter said, “Look at us!” The lame man looked at them eagerly, expecting some money. But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the Name of Jesus Christ, the Nazarene, get up and walk!”
Then Peter took the lame man by the right hand and helped him up. And as he did, the man’s feet and ankles were instantly healed and straightened. He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk! Then, walking, leaping, and praising God, he went into the Temple with them.
All the people saw him walking and heard him praising God. When they realised he was the lame beggar they had seen so often at the Beautiful Gate, they were absolutely astounded! They all rushed out in amazement to Solomon’s Colonnade, where the man was holding tightly to Peter and John.
Peter saw his opportunity and addressed the crowd. “People of Israel,” he said, “What is so surprising about this? And why stare at us as though we had made this man walk by our own power or godliness? For it is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - the God of all our ancestors - who has brought glory to His servant Jesus by doing this.”
“Through faith in the Name of Jesus, this man was healed - and you know how crippled he was before. Faith in Jesus’ Name has healed him before your very eyes.” (Acts 3:1-13, 16)
This is a very wonderful miracle. Here is a man, who was not just sick, but he was born lame. He had never been able to walk. He had never been able to get a job or go to school. He was in a very desperate situation. But what happened to him was a very public miracle. We read in the Bible that when Jesus worked miracles of healing, these miracles were very public: they were a demonstration of God’s Power on earth. People saw what happened to this lame man. The Bible says they were amazed. They had never seen anything like this before. They couldn’t even really understand what was happening. I believe that the same can happen in your life: it will be a miracle. I want you to expect miracles. And they WILL happen! You can have your own personal miracle!
The very place where the miracle happened was at the gateway going into the Temple. People would go into the Temple because it was recognised as the House of God, the place where He dwelled. But here we have a man who could not even go into the Temple. It was as if he were an outcast. He was shut outside. He couldn’t go in. When the miracle of healing happened, the Power of God did not come from within the Temple, the Power of God was outside where the man was. The Power of God dwells with men. What was the man’s response? Walking and leaping, he gave praise to God for the miracle.
“I will give thanks to You, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonderful deeds.” (Psalm 9:1)
There was an occasion when somebody came to Jesus: a woman who had been healed, a woman who had been so blessed by Jesus. She was so excited by what happened. She was so blessed because Jesus had a worked a miracle. If you get a miracle, don’t go away and forget all about what has happened. I want you to give thanks to God. This particular woman in the Bible, she was so thankful, so grateful for the miracle which had happened, that she came to Jesus. With her tears she washed His feet. She dried His feet with her hair. She took an expensive ointment, something which was equal to a year’s salary in value. She broke open the perfume. She poured it over Jesus as an expression of gratitude.
‘The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.’ (John 1:14)
‘Oh what a miracle’ used by kind permission of www.vinesong.com