WHO ARE YOU LOOKING AT?
Acts 3:9-12 NKJV
9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God. 10 Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
11 Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch which is called Solomon's, greatly amazed. 12 So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: "Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?
In Acts three, we see a continuation of the early church in action. Peter and John had gone into the temple, and the Lord used them to heal a man who had been lame from birth. This man had a miracle. Going from having never walked to being able to walk and jump and praise God in a moment is the real deal, miracle-wise.
And the miracle performed on the once lame man who begged for a living rocked the temple on that day. The people knew who this man was. He begged every day at the Beautiful Gate of the temple. Everyone had, at some point, walked past the man. I am sure many had given to him. But now he is up and praising God. And they were filled with wonder and amazement. I always thought it was interesting that the people who saw a miracle were not filled with faith but rather wonder and amazement. Faith comes by hearing God's Word. Faith can be stirred by seeing a miracle, but typically, the miracles caught the attention of people, so they were willing to listen to the gospel.
What is common is for people to focus on the men who performed the miracle, and that is what Peter is addressing in verse 12. Peter wanted to shift the attention away from himself and John. And he asked a great question. "Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why do you look so intently at us…" Peter went on to state that it was not within their power to heal the man. And it was not because of their godliness. In essence, Peter was telling the onlookers that he and John did not have the ability to heal. And he and John were not so godly that the man was healed by their piety. Peter would go on to explain that it was Jesus' name or authority and faith in that authority that gave the once lame man perfect soundness. But Peter knew that people tend to look at people and overlook God as the real source of the power.
APPLICATION
Sadly enough, the situation Peter and John encountered is still repeated today. People still focus on people and miss the source of power and ability. People tend to exalt men and miss God. Paul would later encounter a similar situation with the church at Corinth. The believers in the Corinthian church were identifying with Paul, or Peter, or Apollos instead of identifying with Christ. And Paul corrected them. In reading the letters of Paul, Peter, John, and the other New Testament authors, none of them made a big deal out of people. Paul never called anyone a great preacher. Ministers of the gospel were called servants of the Lord, faithful servants, fellow soldiers. None of the New Testament authors made a big deal out of men.
And that is still a good lesson for us today. We make a big deal out of Jesus. We worship and exalt our Heavenly Father. We acknowledge and appreciate the Holy Spirit. And we realize that without God's grace and gifting, we would have nothing to offer. I have always appreciated Paul's perspective in 1 Corinthians 4:7, "For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?"
PRAYER
Lord, You are the One worthy to be worshipped. What we have that blesses other people is only that which we have received from You. We have no room to brag!