Acts 3:12-19 (NRSV)
Read Acts 3:12-19 on biblegateway.com
Verse 12When 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? Verse 13The 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. Verse 14But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, Verse 15and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. Verse 16And 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. Verse 17"And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. Verse 18In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. Verse 19Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out,
Devotion
Lay me at the beautiful gate along side the lame man; I am exhausted and covered with dust. If it were not for the truth of the resurrection as Luke tells us in this story we would all be left as beggars still waiting for the Messiah.
Walking, leaping and praising God, the man once lame announced a new reality of God’s presence in a crippled world. Without hesitation, Peter and John, proclaimed the astonishing good news of Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah. God's good news not only has the power to heal, but also the energy to set the lame clergy and laity to dancing and praise. In verse 19, Luke says that it is the truth of the resurrection that calls us to walk in a new direction, and so it shall be. The Christian voice is refreshed through the power of Jesus’ resurrection. Nothing can silence this truth.
Prayer
Healing God, take our crippled and weak spirits and make them whole. Help us to walk with strength and passion in the way of your truth. Amen.