In my last post, we examined Kefa’s First Public Sermon. In this post, we learn the Kefa Heals a Disabled Beggar. As you can see by the title, this is a multipart series covering Acts 3:1 – 4:31.

¹ One afternoon at three o’clock, the hour of minchah (afternoon) prayers, as Kefa and Yochanan were going up to the Temple,² a man disabled [1] since birth was being carried in. Every day people used to put him at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple so that he could beg from those going into the Temple court.

This is the first healing miracle in the Book of Acts. The man was disabled since birth and was daily carried to the Beautiful Gate of the Temple so he could beg for money. We learn in Acts 4:22 that the man was 40 years old. In the era before governmental aid for needy persons, it was the kindness of strangers and loved ones that kept men such as this alive.

The Beautiful Gate may have been a popular title for what later sources call the Nicanor Gate, covered with bronze, which led from the Gentile Court to the Women’s Court of the Temple. It was accessible from Shlomo’s Colonnade. According to their state of being ceremonially unclean, beggars were not permitted to go into the Temple any further but could appeal to those entering.

³ When he saw Kefa and Yochanan about to enter, he asked them for some money. ⁴ But they stared straight at him, and Kefa said, “Look at us!” ⁵ The disabled man fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. ⁶ Kefa said, “I don’t have silver, and I don’t have gold, but what I do have I give to you: in the name of the Messiah, Yeshua of Natzeret, walk!”

It is good for the disabled man that Kefa and Yochanan had neither silver nor gold to hand out, for what they did have to offer was of far higher value – healing power through Messiah Yeshua. Rather than a temporary fix, the man was given a permanent remedy for his physical and spiritual problems. The disabled man asked for what he wanted; he was about to receive what he needed. Do not settle for what you want from God. When God meets your needs, He may not give you what you asked for, but what He provides will always be better than what you wanted.

⁷ And taking hold of him by his right hand, Kefa pulled him up. Instantly his feet and ankles became strong;

After pronouncing the man’s healing, Kefa took the initiative and pulled him up; therefore, the kehilah must both speak hope into a broken life and extend practical help.

The book of Acts recounts several healing miracles (see 9:32-34,36-42). During the Hellenistic period, knowledge of science and medicine was advanced enough that the bystanders recognized without a doubt that Kefa had enacted a miracle. The mention of the strengthening of the disabled man’s feet and ankles may provide indirect support for the traditional view that the author of the Book of Acts, Luke, was a physician.

⁸ so that he sprang up, stood a moment, and began walking. Then he entered the Temple court with them, walking and leaping and praising God! ⁹ Everyone saw him walking and praising God. ¹⁰ They recognized him as the same man who had formerly sat begging at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, and they were utterly amazed and confounded at what had happened to him. ¹¹ While he clung to Kefa and Yochanan, all the people came running in astonishment toward them in Shlomo’s Colonnade. ~ Acts 3:1-11 (CJB)

When God does something amazing in an individual’s life, he usually has a higher purpose in mind than that individual’s benefit. He wants to do something even more amazing through that individual. The Ruach HaKodesh worked in this disabled man’s life and then worked through him so that the truth might be proclaimed to a large crowd of people (3:11-26) and the Jewish leaders (4:1-22). His transformation ultimately led to the salvation of many souls (see 4:4). All of this took place because God acted in the life of a simple beggar who responded with public praise.

In my next post, we continue with the aftermath of the healing of the man disabled since birth.

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[1] The actual text says “crippled.”