Only Jesus Heals - Acts 3:1-10
This might come as a big surprise to everyone tonight, but this passage is about healing. After all, we just read about a crippled man who was miraculously healed. And as I reflected on it more, I think we’d all probably agree that we too are looking for healing.
We may not necessarily be looking for miraculous physical healing, but many of us are looking for emotional healing, financial healing, relational healing, vocational healing. We have things in our lives that are broken, things that hurt, things that aren't the way we want them to be, and we would love to see them made right.
And because we live in a technological age, one of the first places we turn for answers is the internet. We start Googling, “How do I emotionally heal?” “How do I fix my marriage?” “How do I get out of debt?” “How do I make more money?” “How do I overcome anxiety?” We type our problems into a search bar and hope that somewhere out there is an answer.
There’s a tremendous temptation to believe if I could just fix this one problem in my life, then I’d finally be happy. “If I had a little more money, if my marriage was better, then I’d be satisfied. I’d finally be content.”
But this passage forces us to ask a much deeper question: What if the thing we thought we needed healing for didn’t really cure the disease? What if the thing we thought we needed that would solve all of our problems didn’t actually solve anything?
That's what makes this story so remarkable. This man comes to the temple looking for one thing. Peter and John look at him, and he expects them to give him some money. That's what he thinks will help him. That's what he thinks he needs.
But God had something far greater in store for him.
He came looking for enough money to get through another day, and he walked away with something he could never have purchased. He came asking for a temporary solution to his circumstances, and Jesus gave him something that transformed his entire life.
And perhaps that's a word we need to hear this evening: Jesus doesn’t always give you the healing that you expected, but He always gives you the healing that you need. We see this develop throughout the passage. First we’re reminded that we all need healing (vv. 1-3), second, only Jesus can heal (vv. 4-8), and lastly when Jesus heals He makes you whole (vv. 9-10).
We All Need Healing (vv. 1-3)
Most of us I’m sure are familiar with this story, but there are several important details we can’t overlook. The first is that Luke tells us that this “man [was] lame from birth, carried, [and] laid daily at the gate of the temple…”
Immediately, Luke gives us some important background information. This man has been crippled from birth. He wasn’t paralyzed through some sort of workplace accident. He didn’t injure himself. He has been crippled his entire life.
Which is important because it really hones in on just how helpless and dependent this man was on those around him. He had to rely on other people to carry him to the temple gate, Luke gives us the specific gate – the Beautiful Gate so people would walk right by him, and hopefully, people would feel bad enough for him they’d give him a little bit of money.
All of us have been driven by those folks with the cardboard signs that read, “Anything Helps,” right under the city sign that says, “no soliciting.” I’m sure most of those people have some sort of an addiction that keeps them on the streets, but it’s such a sad existence! Your life effectively has no meaning.
That’s who this crippled guy was! He was irrelevant. And all he wanted was a few coins to make it to the next day – he was simply trying to survive. He probably thought that if he just had enough money it would solve so many of his problems. And yet he was completely helpless to do anything about it. He was totally dependent on everyone around him. Someone had to carry him to the gate, then laid at the gate and hoped people would give him some money.
Many of you are familiar with the Protestant Reformer Martin Luther. In Luther’s early life he lived as a monk, and he would work so hard to make himself acceptable to God. He would confess frequently, fast regularly, and pray consistently. He believed that his standing before God was dependent upon his own personal discipline. That if he just tried hard enough and had enough self-control he could make himself righteous.
And Luther eventually came to understand that this was true of him spiritually. He couldn't earn God’s favor. He couldn't pray enough, confess enough, fast enough, or discipline himself enough to make himself righteous. He needed something that he could never produce for himself. He needed someone else to give him what he could not earn.
And that's the condition of every sinner apart from Christ. We are spiritually bankrupt. We don't simply need a little help getting our lives together. We need a righteousness that we cannot produce. We need forgiveness that we cannot earn. We need life that we cannot give ourselves.
There’s no amount of effort, no amount of trying, no secret disciplines that will make you righteous before a Holy God. We cannot heal our own sin-sick hearts.
Only Jesus Can Heal (vv. 4-8)
Only Jesus Christ can heal you. Which is exactly where Peter directs the beggar. Look at what he says in verses 4-7:
“4 And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” 5 And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. 6 But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” 7 And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong.”
This crippled man thought he was going to receive alms as he had his entire life. Which is of course, why Peter wanted him to look at him. He wanted this man to know that this interaction was going to be completely different. “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you.”
Peter had something far better than money. He’s going to give him Jesus. Peter says, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” And of course, we know what happens next because Dr. Luke gives us the medical breakdown: “And immediately his feet and ankles were made strong.”
Suddenly, this crippled man who had never walked a day in his life is, miraculously, able to walk. No physical therapy. No extended recovery. Immediate healing. But of course, the significance of the moment is that Peter invokes the name of Jesus Christ. “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”
And of course, Peter invokes the name of Christ in order to emphasize where the power is coming from. He certainly wasn’t going to act like he had some sort of supernatural healing power. Jesus is the one with all the power and authority. In other words, Peter was telling this crippled man, “Jesus is going to heal you.”
It’s at this point we should pause and ask ourselves an important question: why is this story recorded for us here? Have you ever wondered that? The short answer is that it proves that the Apostles had been empowered by the Holy Spirit. It also demonstrates the power, authority, and truth of the gospel message. And of course, those things are true.
But I also think this passage is incredibly important for another reason. If you look ahead to the next passage where Peter speaks at Solomon’s Portico in verse 16 Peter says something very interesting about the healing of this man. In verse 16, Peter says, “And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.”
Something far more important than his legs were healed that day—his sin-sick soul was healed. Peter explicitly says that the lame man put his faith in Jesus Christ and that that’s what healed him. That doesn’t mean that anyone who becomes a Christian is immediately healed of their bodily diseases. That’s not at all what’s going on here. Rather, what we learn here is that the physical healing of this man was a reflection of the inner healing that took place. The crippled man thought his money problems needed to be healed, when in reality it was his soul that needed the healing.
And that brings us right back to the point we were making earlier. The world is constantly telling us that our deepest problem is whatever happens to be broken in our lives at the moment. If your finances are a mess, the world tells you that getting more money will fix everything. If your children are struggling, the world tells you that if you can just fix your kids, you'll finally be happy. If you don't have enough success, the world tells you that getting those things will finally satisfy you.
The message is always the same: “Fix this one thing, and you'll finally be whole.”
But Acts 3 exposes the lie.
The lame man thought all he needed was a little bit of money to get him through the day, but Jesus knew better. And this isn't the first time we've seen Jesus do this. In many ways, we see the same thing with the rich young ruler.
The rich young ruler comes to Jesus with what seems like a very straightforward question: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” He thinks his greatest need is an answer. He wants to know what box he still needs to check, what commandment he still needs to obey, what good work he still needs to accomplish.
But Jesus looks beneath the surface and sees something the man himself couldn't see. His problem wasn't that he needed more information. His problem was that he loved his possessions more than he loved Christ. Jesus put His finger on the very thing this man was trusting in to make him whole.
And that’s really the point. Jesus sees beneath the surface. He sees past the symptoms and is able to truly diagnose the disease.
The lame man thought he needed money. The rich young ruler wanted more information. And we come to Jesus with our own list of things that we want too.
And in the eyes of our Savior—we’re thinking too small. Jesus wants to bring you into fellowship with the living God.
Jesus Will Make You Whole (vv. 9-10)
He wants to make you whole. What’s the first thing the newly healed man does? He doesn’t go test out his new legs by running a half-marathon or something. No. Luke tells us that the first thing this man did after being healed was he “stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.”
The first place his new legs carry him is inside the temple, which is significant, because the temple was associated with the presence of the Lord.
Just reflect upon what’s taking place in this passage: a broken, crippled man sat outside of the temple every single day. This sin-sick man would sit outside of the very presence of God. But as soon as Jesus healed him, he ran into the temple, into the presence of the Lord in order to praise Him.
Peter and John didn't do anything. They were just messengers. This is a story about Jesus bringing a sinner home.
When Adam and Eve were in the Garden, they enjoyed perfect fellowship with God before the fall. Humanity was created to be in fellowship with the living God. Of course, sin disrupted that, but that wasn’t the way it was supposed to be. You and I were created to praise the living God.
Westminster Shorter Catechism 1 famously makes this exact point: What is the chief end of man? Answer: Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.
Your created purpose is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. And so when a sinner is brought into fellowship with the living God he is fulfilling his created purpose. He is made whole.
It’s really interesting because I don’t read the New York Times on a regular basis, but I’ve noticed that they regularly publish articles that deal with the overall wealth of our nation and yet, at the exact same time the deep dissatisfaction and unhappiness of people in America. Even the New York Times is recognizing the fact that wealth and happiness do not go together, and yet, so many people put those two things together.
But again, it’s not just wealth. It could be your personal health and fitness, meeting the right person, there are a whole host of things that we believe will solve our problems and make us happy.
And sometimes you finally reach the top of the proverbial mountain only to realize there’s another peak you need to climb. You get the promotion, and six months later you're looking for the next one. You’re healthy but what you see in the mirror doesn’t reflect exactly what you want to see. You’re so excited to finally meet someone, and then he or she doesn’t turn out to be what you expected!
It’s like when Edmund meets the White Witch in C.S. Lewis’ classic, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The White Witch enslaves Edmund by enticing him with an limitless supply of Turkish delights.
My point being, no matter what it is, it's not enough. And it never will be. Jesus sees through all of this.
He sees what we're doing even when we don't. He sees the endless cycle of wanting, achieving, enjoying, and then wanting again. And He comes to us and says, “Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.”
This is what Augustine was talking about when he famously prayed: “Our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” We can spend our entire lives trying to quiet that restlessness. But eventually we discover that none of them can give us what we're really looking for.
Only Christ can.
And that's what we see in this crippled man. He came looking for silver and gold. Peter told him, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you.” And what Peter had was Jesus.
And Jesus was more than enough.
The man thought he needed money. He thought he needed something to get him through another day. More than new legs, Jesus knew that he needed a new heart, and he gave him a reason to get up and walk into the presence of God.
That's what it means to be made whole.
The takeaway from this passage isn’t, “If you just have enough faith, Jesus will heal every physical illness.” That’s not what this passage teaches. And Peter certainly didn’t say, “Jesus healed this man, therefore every Christian will be physically healed in this life.”
Rather, the physical healing points us to a greater reality: spiritual healing.
The man in Acts 3 received something wonderful. He had spent his entire life unable to walk, and in an instant, Jesus gave him the ability to stand, walk, leap, and praise God.
The greater miracle was that a sinner was reconciled with God.
The greatest miracle that anyone can experience in this life is not the healing of a broken body, the restoration of a marriage, the resolution of a financial crisis, or the changing of difficult circumstances. The greatest miracle is to be born again—to have your sins forgiven and to be reconciled to God in order to fully embrace the man or woman God created you to be.
Because what good is a healthy body if your soul is separated from God? What good is financial prosperity if you don't know your Creator? What good is worldly success if you gain everything the world can offer but lose your soul?
Jesus came to give us something infinitely greater than temporary relief. He came to bring sinners home.
And maybe that's where you find yourself today. Maybe you've come to Jesus with a list of things that you want fixed. And those things may be real needs. Bring them to Him. Ask Him. Pray for them. But don't miss the greater gift.
Jesus doesn't always give you the healing you expected, but He always gives you the healing you need.
And the healing you need most is not simply a better life. It's a new life. It's to be made alive in Christ. It's to have your sins forgiven. It's to be restored to fellowship with your Creator. It's to be able to say that your chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.
The lame man entered the temple walking, leaping, and praising God. That's the picture of what Christ does for every sinner He saves. He takes us from alienation to fellowship, from death to life, from wandering to home.
So don't settle for what the world promises will make you whole. Come to Christ. He is the healing you need. He is the One for whom you were created. And in Him, you can finally be made whole.
