Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: ACTS #5 - 3:1-4:4)
IV. 3:1-4:31 GOSPEL STRENGTHENED THROUGH MIRACLE & PERSECUTION
A. 3:1-4:4 RESULTS OF A “CONFIRMED” GOSPEL
1. 3:1-10 LESSONS FROM THE HEALING OF THE LAME MAN
a. 3:1 Now Peter and John were going up into the temple at the hour of :prayer, the ninth.
PEtros de kai IoAnes aNEbai-non eis to hi-eRON [2411] ePI ten HOran tes pro-seuCHES, ten eNAten.
b. 3:2-3 BEGGING HABITS OF THE POOR
kai tis aNER choLOS [5560]ek koiLIas [2836]meTROS auTOU huPARchon e-basTAze-to [941],
And a certain man that was lame from his mother's womb was carried,
hon eTIthoun kath' heMEran pros ten THUran [2374]tou hi-eROU ten le-goMEnen HoRAIan [5611]
whom they laid daily at the door of the temple :called Beautiful
tou aiTEIN e-le-e-moSUnen [1654]paRA ton eis-po-reu-oMEnon eis to hi-eRON;
:to ask an alms of them that entered into the temple;
hos iDON PEtron kai IoAnen MELlon-tas ei-siEnai eis to hi-eRON, eROta e-le-e-moSUnen laBEIN.
3 who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked to receive an alms.
c. 3:4 And Peter, fastening hiseyes upon him, with :John, said, Look on us.
a-teNIsas [816] de PEtros eis auTON, sun to IoAne, EIpen, BLEpson [991]eis heMAS.
d. 3:5 And he gave heed to them, expecting to receive something from them.
ho de ePEIchen [1907] auTOIS, pros-doKON [4328]ti par' auTON laBEIN.
e. 3:6a But Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but what I have, that I give to you.
EIpen de PEtros, ArGUri-on kai chruSIon [5225] ouch' huPARchei moi; ho de Echo, TOU-TO soi DIdo-mi.
f. 3:6b In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, walk.
en to oNOma-ti IeSOU ChrisTOU tou Na-zoRAIou [3480], pe-riPAtei [4043].
g. 3:7 IMMEDIATE STRENGTH FROM THE NAME
kai piAsas [4084] auTON tes de-xiAS cheiROS, Egei-ren [1453] auTON:
And he took him by the right hand, andraised him up:
pa-raCHREma [3916] de e-ste-reOthe-san [4732] hai BAseis [939] auTOU kai ta sphuDRA [4974].
and immediately his :feet and :ankle-bones received strength.
h. 3:8 REACTION OF A HEALED MAN!
kai e-xalLOme-nos [1814], ESte, kai pe-ri-ePAtei; kai eiSELthen sun auTOIS eis to hi-eRON,
And leaping up, he stood, and began to walk;vand he entered with them into the temple,
pe-ri-paTON, kai halLOme-nos [242], kai aiNON [134] ton TheON.
walking, and leaping, and praising :God.
i. 3:9-10 REACTION OF THE PEOPLE TO THE HEALING
kai EIden pas ho laOS auTON pe-ri-paTOUNta kai aiNOUNta ton TheON: e-peGIno-skon de auTON,
And all the people saw him walking and praising :God: 10and they took knowledge of him,
HOti HOUtos en ho pros ten e-le-e-moSUnen kaTHEme-nos ePI te HoRAIa PUle [4439]
that it was he that sat for :alms at the Beautiful Gate
tou hi-eROU; kai ePLESthe-san THAMbous [2285] kai ekSTAse-os [1611] ePI to sum-be-beKOti [4819] auTO.
of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
2. 3:11-26 MIRACLE: AN OCCASION FOR GOSPEL PRESENTATION
a. 3:11 THE WONDERMENT OF THE PEOPLE
KraTOUNtos [2902] de auTOU ton PEtron kai ton IoAnen, suNEdra-men [4936] pas ho laOS
And as he held :Peter and :John, all the people ran together
pros auTOUS ePI te stoA [4745] te ka-louMEne So-loMONtos [4672], EKtham-boi [1569].
unto them in the porch :called Solomon's, greatly wondering.
b. 3:12 PETER DENIES PERSONAL POWER
iDON de ho PEtros, a-peKRIna-to pros ton laON,
And :Peter seeing it, answered unto the people,
ANdres Is-ra-eLEItai [2475], ti thauMAze-te [2296] ePI TOUto? e heMIN ti a-teNIze-te [816],
Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? or why do you fasten youreyes on us,
hos iDIa duNAmei e eu-seBEIa [2150] pe-poi-eKOsin [4160] tou pe-ri-paTEIN auTON?
as though by special power or godliness we had made him to walk?
c. 3:13 PETER'S CLAIM: GOD HAS GLORIFIED JESUS!
ho TheOS Ab-raAM, kai I-saAK, kai IaKOB,
The God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob,
ho TheOS ton paTEron heMON, eDOxa-sen [1392] ton PAIda [3816] auTOU IeSOUN;
the God of our :fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus;
hon huMEIS men pa-reDOka-te [3860], kai erNEsas-the [720] kaTA PROso-pon PeiLAtou,
whom YOU delivered up, and denied before Pilate's face,
KRInan-tos [2919] eKEInou a-poLUein [630].
when HE had determined to release him.
d. 3:14-15 WHOM THEY MURDERED: GOD HAS RESURRECTED
huMEIS de ton HAgi-on kai DIkai-on [1342] erNEsas-the [720],
But YOU denied the Holy and Righteous One,
kai eTEsas-the [154] [ANdra] phoNEa [5406] cha-risTHEnai [5483] huMIN,
and asked for a murderer [man]to be granted you,
ton de ar-cheGON [747] tes zo-ES a-pekTEIna-te [615];
15and killed the Prince of :life;
hon ho TheOS Egei-ren [1453] ek neKRON; hou heMEIS MARtuRES [3144] es-men.
whom :God raised from thedead; of which we are witnesses.
e. 3:16 FAITH IN JESUS' NAME HAS WROUGHT THIS MIRACLE
kai te PIstei tou oNOma-tos auTOU touTON,
and by the faith in his :name has his :name strengthened this man,
hon the-oREIte kai OIda-te, e-steREo-sen [4732] to Ono-ma [3686] auTOU:
whom you behold and know:
kai he PIstis he di' auTOU Edo-ken auTO ten ho-lo-kleRIan [3647] TAUten aPEnan-ti PANton huMON.
and the faith which is through him has given him this perfect :soundness in thepresence of you all.
f. 3:17 And now, brethren, I know that in ignorance you did it, even as didalso your :rulers.
kai nun, a-delPHOI, OIda HOti kaTA AGnoi-an [52]ePRAxa-te [4238], HOSper kai hoi ARchon-tes huMON.
g. 3:18 CHRIST'S SUFFERING IS IN FULFILMENT OF PROPHECY
ho de TheOS ha pro-kaTEGgei-len [4293] diA STOma-tos [4750] PANton ton pro-pheTON,
But the things which :God foreshowed through themouth of all the prophets,
paTHEIN [3958] ton ChrisTON auTOU, ePLEro-sen [4137] HOUtos.
that his :Christ should suffer, he thus fulfilled.
h. 3:19-21 REMEDY: REPENT TO PREPARE FOR HIS NEXT COMING
me-ta-noEsa-te [3340] oun, kai e-piSTREpsa-te [1994], pros to e-xa-liphTHEnai [1813] huMON tas ha-marTIas,
Repent therefore, and turn again, unto the blotting out of your :sins,
HOpos an ELtho-sin kaiROI [2540] a-naPSUxe-os [403] aPO proSOpou [4296] tou KuRIou;
that so seasons of refreshing may come from the Lord's face;
kai a-poSTEIle [649] ton pro-ke-chei-risMEnon [4296] huMIN ChrisTON, IeSOUN:
20and he send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus:
hon dei ou-raNON men DExas-thai Achri CHROnon [5550] a-po-ka-taSTAse-os [605] PANton,
21whom heaven must receive until thetimes of restoration of all things,
hon eLAle-sen ho TheOS diA STOma-tos ton haGIon ap' aiOnos auTOU pro-pheTON.
of which :God spoke by themouth of his :holy prophets that have beenfrom of old.
i. 3:22 MOSES AND CHRIST COMPARED
Mo-uSES men EIpen HOti ProPHEten [4396]
Moses indeed said [that] A prophet
huMIN a-naSTEsei [450] KUri-os ho TheOS ek ton a-delPHON huMON,
shall theLord God raise up unto you from your :brethren,
hos eME; auTOU aKOUses-the kaTA PANta HOsa an laLEse pros huMAS.
like unto me; to him shall you hearken in all thingswhatever he shall speak unto you.
j. 3:23 MOSES WARNED OF JUDGMENT UPON THE DISOBEDIENT
EStai de, PAsa psuCHE[5590]HEtis an meaKOUsetou proPHEtou [4396]eKEInou,
And it shall be, thatevery soul that shall not listen to that :prophet,
e-xo-le-threuTHEse-tai [1842] ek tou laOU.
shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.
k. 3:24 THESE DAYS FORETOLD BY SAMUEL AND HIS SUCCESSORS
kai PANtes de hoi proPHEtai aPO SamouEL kai ton ka-theXES [2517],
And all the prophets from Samuel and them that followed,
HOsoi eLAle-san, kai kaTEGgei-lan [2605] tas heMEras TAUtas.
as many as have spoken, they also told of these :days.
l. 3:25 JEWS ARE DESCENDANTS OF THE FATHERS AND THE PROMISES
huMEIS es-te hoi huiOI ton pro-pheTON, kai tes di-aTHEkes [1242] hes ho TheOS diEthe-to [1303]
YOU are the sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which :God covenanted
pros tous paTEras huMON, LEgon pros A-braAM,
with your :fathers, saying unto Abraham,
Kai en to SPERmaTI [4690] sou eu-lo-geTHEson-tai [1757] PAsai hai pa-triAI [3965] tes ges.
And in your :seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
m. 3:26 JEWS HAVE FIRST CHANCE AT JESUS' FORGIVENESS
huMIN PROton, a-naSTEsas [450] ho TheOS ton PAIda auTOU, aPEstei-len auTON eu-loGOUNta huMAS,
To you first :God, having raised up his :servant, sent him to bless you,
en to a-poSTREphein [654] HEka-ston aPO ton po-ne-riON [4189] huMON.
in turning each away from your :iniquities.
3. 4:1-4 RESULT OF MIRACLE: CONVERSIONS AND PERSECUTION
a. 4:1-2 PERSECUTION: FOR PREACHING RESURRECTION OF JESUS
LaLOUNton de auTON pros ton laON,
And as they spoke unto the people,
ePEste-san auTOIS hoi ar-chi-eREIS [749] kai ho stra-teGOS [4755] tou hi-eROU kai hoi Sad-douKAIoi [4523],
the chief priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them,
di-a-poNOUme-noi [1278] diA to diDAskein [1321] auTOUS ton laON,
2being sore troubled because they :taught the people,
kai ka-tagGELlein [2605] en to IeSOU ten aNAsta-sin [386] ten ek neKRON.
and proclaimed in :Jesus the resurrection :from thedead.
b. 4:3 PERSECUTION UNTO IMPRISONMENT
kai ePEba-lon auTOIS tas CHEIras, kai Ethen-to eis TEre-sin [5084] eis ten AUri-on: en gar heSPEra Ede.
And they laid :hands on them, and put them in ward unto the morrow: for it was now evening.
c. 4:4 RESULT: CONVERTS NOW UP TO 5000 MEN
polLOI de ton a-kouSANton ton LOgon ePIsteu-san;
But many of them that heard the word believed;
kai e-geNEthe a-rithMOS [706] ton anDRON hoSEI chi-liAdes PENte.
and thenumber of the men came to be about five thousand.
NOTE: 3:1-10 - Notice how swiftly the apostles moved into action following the Day of Pentecost. And - Peter and John are clear to say that it is the Lordworking through them by His Spirit. It is Godglorifying His Son Jesus for His Atoning work of Redemption, and the apostles and early church give Himall the glory.
3:11-26 - But, the apostles use miracle, signs and wonders to point to the Resurrection of Jesus, and how unbelievers can be helped to understand God'sthinking on all of this. “Acts of the Apostles” is one title given for the book - but more accurately it could be entitled, “The Acts of Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit through His apostles.”
Acts 1-12 major on the leadership of Peter, the Apostle of the circumcision, the Jews. From Acts 13 through to the end, God majors on Paul, the Apostle of the Uncircumcision, the Gentiles. Both Jew and Gentile believers are members of the “One New Man”, but throughout this Church Age, we have seen little of this practical manifestation. But when our Lord returns, we shall see a greatchange. The Manifestation of God's Kingdom in the Millennial Age will be a shock to all the earth. The prayers of David in the Psalms will then abundantly be fulfilled.
It is good to follow Peter's contrast between Moses and Christ. Moses was leader of God's Israel in its beginning as a nation, followed through with Joshua. But all that it encompasses are “types and shadows”. The reality is what Jesus has commenced in His invisible Kingdom the last 2000 years, and what is about to be manifested openly. Now individual believers have the privilege of entering this Kingdom of the Spirit - thenthe world that is left after tribulation and the wrath of God - will behold that open manifestation of the Kingdom!
Peter in this section powerfully uses the miracle of the lame man's healing to produce strong conviction and repentance upon his Jewish hearers. It is a powerful follow-up upon the Day of Pentecost with its 3000 converts of men. Moses stressed the importance for NT believers to hear and follow the words of Jesus. Review again this passage above to see his insistence.