This evening we looked at the healing of a lame man in Acts 3 and at the response to this miraculous act of God in Acts 4. What is so amazing about the miracles in the book of Acts is how the ordinary disciples we have come to know from the gospels are transformed by the Holy Spirit to become co-workers with God! Peter and John heal a man on their way to worship and are keen to point out that it is not their own godliness or power which has done this, but healing has come by the power of Jesus and faith in His name.
The miraculous opens the door to an amazement in the crowd which leads to evangelism and the result is many people coming to the Lord. But as we have seen so often in the gospels, miracles divide opinion. The man is able to walk, jump and praise God and many are convinced that Jesus is the promised Messiah through seeing this miracle. The Sadducees and other religious leaders are not so impressed, and end up throwing the apostles in jail while they debate the issue. Miracles interrupt our ordinary lives, our preconceived ideas, and we do not always find it easy to adjust.
Peter and John – ordinary, unschooled men who had been with Jesus – refuse to back down or follow the edict not to preach in Jesus’s name again. They are adamant that there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved and are unequivocal in their passionate focus on Jesus. We too must be so filled with the Spirit that we do not swerve from focussing on Jesus. Miracles are not there to glorify us or make us feel better; they are there to help individuals and point people to the Saviour.
In the end, the authorities release Peter and John, partly because of the irrefutable evidence of their own eyes: the man is healed and there is no disputing that fact! God is still doing miracles to this day (and still using ordinary believers filled with the Spirit to do so.) Miracles can happen in Goldthorpe, in Thurnscoe, in Bolton-on-Dearne and in all the surrounding villages. Our God is a God of wonders. ‘What god is as great as our God? 14 You are the God who performs miracle; You display Your power among the peoples.’ (Ps 77:13-14) May we see God performing miracles and displaying His power among the peoples; may we have the words and courage to speak of Jesus as Peter and John did at this time.
