First Baptist Church Ottawa
Our Online Church School Lesson - April 14, 2024
Peter and John are Healers - Acts 3:12-19
Today’s Scripture: Acts 3:12-19
Today’s Theme: Peter and John are Healers
Opening Prayer: Dear God, thank you for allowing us to gather here today to learn more about Jesus. Please help our ears to listen, our minds to learn, and our hearts to love as we hear the stories of His work. Amen.
Today’s Lesson: Today, we are going to explore the Book of Acts. The “Gospel of Luke” and the “Acts of the Apostles” are parts of the same story, with one following directly after the other. The Book of Luke is a “gospel” which means “good news” and so it describes the good news of Jesus’s life, actions, death and resurrection. The Book of Acts is a record of how the Holy Spirit worked through the Apostles after the ascension of Jesus so that they could tell everyone about Jesus and spread the word of Jesus far and wide. The two books, or letters, were written by the apostle Luke and were addressed to a man named Theophilus. Luke was an educated man and a doctor. He joined Paul on some of his mission journeys and became a loyal friend. Luke wrote his letters for Theophilus in order to accurately trace the expansion of the Christian movement from its earliest beginnings to the time when it reached worldwide proportions. Luke was knew that Christianity was being attacked by enemies of the movement, and he wanted to present the story of its development in a favorable light. Although it was impossible to write a complete history of the movement, he selected those events that he regarded as the most important.
The Book of Acts is especially important because it was the first written history of the Christian church. Acts concerns the vital period in Christian history between the resurrection of Jesus and the death of the apostle Paul, the time when Christian ideas and beliefs were being formulated and when the organization of the church into a worldwide movement was being developed.
The Book of Acts can be broken down into a few different parts:
Jesus Ascends to Heaven, promising that the Holy Spirit will visit the disciples so that they, and other believers, will be able to understand, teach and spread the message of Jesus throughout Jerusalem and the world.
The Holy Spirit visits a number of people gathered in Jerusalem. After the visit, they are all enabled to go out and invite others to live under the reign of Jesus.
The Apostles begin teaching in Jerusalem just as Jesus commissioned them to do. Peter and John are often central characters in Jerusalem. The first chapters in Acts record how Jewish people began to accept Jesus.
Beyond Jerusalem - Scattered by persecution, the Apostles and others begin to reach out to other regions and peoples. Many boundaries are crossed as the Good News spreads.
Mission Journeys - The remainder of the Book of Acts features the Apostle Paul. He was not one of the original twelve but received his commission directly from Jesus in a vision. Paul’s missionary journeys took the Good News of Jesus to far off places and, in particular, to Gentiles.
From Jerusalem to Rome - Luke ends his letter writing about Paul heading to Jerusalem where he is arrested. As a Roman citizen, Paul appeals to the highest court in Rome and makes his way there. It was during his mission journeys and time in prison that Paul writes epistles, or letters, to churches. These letters are now contained in our New Testaments.
Today’s scripture begins with Peter and John, who are in Jerusalem. These were exciting times in Jerusalem. Jews from near and far still gathered in the city to celebrate the Pentecost Feast. Peter had recently preached a sermon to a large crowd, and over 3,000 became Christians. It seems many who had come for the feast continued to stay in Jerusalem to have fellowship with other new believers and to learn more from the apostles. In today’s story, we learn more about the things that happened to the apostles as they went about sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with everyone around them.
As Peter and John passed through the temple gate, a man who could not walk begged money from them. Instead of giving him money, Peter miraculously healed him by the power of Jesus. Peter followed this by preaching a convicting sermon to the amazed people who had witnessed the healed man. Let’s read today’s scripture and then discuss some more:
Acts 3:12-19
3:12 When Peter saw it, he addressed the people, "You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk?
3:13 The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him.
3:14 But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you,
3:15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses.
3:16 And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you.
3:17 "And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers.
3:18 In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer.
3:19 Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out,
Being disabled in the first century meant total dependence on family and friends. Disabled people would not be able to work to make money and so they would have to beg money from other people. Someone carried the man in this story and put him at the temple gate daily to beg those entering the temple courts. He had been crippled since birth and was over 40 years old. Years of begging must have made this man feel dejected and disengaged. When he asked for money, he must not have even looked up because Peter had to get his attention and tell him to look at him while he talked.
This man was probably not on Peter and John’s “to-do” list for their day. They were probably on their way to join the afternoon prayer time or possibly just trying to connect with more people in the temple area to tell them about Jesus. Later, Peter recalled it as an “act of kindness” on the part of the apostles. God turned this event into a wonderful opportunity to preach to many people.
Upon being healed, the man did not praise Peter and John but God himself because he knew where the power had come from. The people had seen this man many times, so they realised what an amazing miracle this was and wanted to hear more. Peter and John must have thought back to Jesus and how he once stood in this very place, Solomon’s Colonnade, and said that the miracles he did in his Father’s name spoke for themselves. The apostles would eventually perform many miracles at Solomon’s Colonnade. It became a gathering place for believers.
When the crowd gathered, Peter took the opportunity to preach. His sermon was much like his earlier one (Sermon on Pentecost). He said that God had sent Jesus to help everyone worldwide. The people felt happy to hear about Jesus but sad, too. They felt guilty that they had called Jesus a fake. They felt guilty because, before this, they had thought it was good that Jesus died on the cross. Now they were so sorry.
Peter told them that there was good news. They could repent since God made Jesus their king through his death and resurrection. Repenting means telling God that you are very sorry for the bad things you have done. It says that you don’t want to do bad things anymore and want to follow Jesus now. Peter had already told everyone they could tell God they were sorry and then be baptised. All of their sins would then just be washed away.
While Peter was talking to the people, some priests and the captain of the Temple Guard overheard. They did not like what Peter was saying. And we will learn more about what happened next when we gather together next time.
What can we learn from this story? When you notice someone needing your help, do you help them? What are some situations where you have seen a friend, or even a stranger, needing help and you have offered to assist them? We can also help people by telling them about Jesus as Peter and John did. Remember that whenever we are kind and when we tell someone about Jesus, then God is pleased.
Closing Prayer: Dear God, thank you for sending the Holy Spirit to the apostles so that they could continue to be inspired to teach the world about Jesus. Just as they spread the news of Jesus to many people and many places, and helped many people too, please help us to do the same as we go about our day to day lives. We thank you for loving us, God. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.