The Parchment 3-Dec-00: Faith at the Gate, Part 1

Whose faith was it that healed the lame man at the temple gate? I think if we take little time to examine the Bible, we can easily find out the answer.

We know that it was faith that healed him. But whose faith was it? And did the lame man have to have faith in Jesus in order to be healed? Was it the faith of apostles Peter and John, or was it the faith of the lame man himself?

Before examining the verses in Acts 3:1-11, let’s examine some other passages in the Bible.

In the Gospel of John, chapter 11, verses 1-49 tell John’s account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Whose faith raised the dead man Lazarus? Was it the faith of Jesus in the power of His Father or did a dead man require faith in order for the miracle to take place? It was the faith of Jesus in His Father. Lazarus was dead. If a dead man’s faith depended on his being raised from the dead, then Lazarus would still be in the grave today, and the people standing by Jesus would not have believed that He was sent by God. The main purpose of the miracles that Jesus performed was to confirm that He was who He said that He was (see John 11:42, John 20:30-31, and Heb 2:1-4).

Luke 7:1-10 tells of a certain centurion whose servant was sick. Did the servant require faith in order for him to be healed? No, he did not. These verses tell us that it was the centurion’s faith in the power of Jesus that made his servant well. The centurion understood authority (7:8) just like Peter and John understood authority (Acts 3:6).

Returning to Acts 3:1-11, Peter and John enter the temple and find a man who had been lame since birth. This man was a beggar seeking alms. This man was looking for a handout (silver and gold) and nothing more. Peter and John, gazing intently at this man, demanded his attention. This man looked on Peter and John, expecting to receive a gift of alms from them. Peter told the man that they did not have any silver and gold to give him, but that he had a far more valuable gift to give him (verse 6).

Peter ordered him to rise up and walk in the name of Jesus — in other words, by the authority and power of Jesus. This man was healed and made able to walk. Now, skipping down to verse 16, we see that through faith in Jesus’s name, this man was made strong.