IN BRIEF
Acts 3:1–5:42
The disciples work in Jesus’s name
c.29–31 CE Jerusalem.
Peter A leader among the believers, twice imprisoned by the Sanhedrin but defiantly loyal to God. Peter was in Jesus’s inner circle of disciples.
John Brother of James, son of Zebedee. He is with Peter when they heal the beggar.
Sanhedrin A supreme court in Jerusalem presided over by the high priest.
Acts 3 tells the story of one of the first holy works performed by Jesus’s disciples in the wake of His death, resurrection, and ascension. Peter and John approach a gate of the Temple in Jerusalem. It is a time of prayer, and they have come to pray, but they stop at the gate when they come across a beggar.
Crippled from birth, this beggar is a familiar figure at the Temple; he is carried there each day by friends or family to beg for money from the worshippers who stream by. On this day, the beggar is being carried to what was referred to as the Beautiful Gate—possibly the bronze-clad Nicanor Gate, between the court of the Gentiles and the court of the women.
The beggar asks the disciples for money, and both of them look him directly in the eyes. “Look at us!” Peter says, and so the beggar looks. “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk” (Acts 3:4–6). Peter then takes the beggar by the hand and the beggar’s feet and ankles heal in an instant. He jumps up and walks for the first time in his life. Peter has just performed an astonishing, awe-inspiring miracle—the very kind, in fact, that Jesus used to perform before He was killed.
Powerful proof
Following Pentecost, Jesus’s disciples continue to preach and perform great works. Luke, the author of Acts, gives many examples of signs and wonders that the disciples perform. As Jesus had promised them, His believers start to do even greater things in His name than He himself did during His three-year ministry.
The healing of the beggar is, as it were, the inaugural miracle of the post-Pentecost order. According to Luke, the beggar goes with Peter and John into the Temple, “walking and jumping, and praising God” (3:8)—a triumphant sight that draws a large crowd. This gives Peter an opportunity to make a speech similar to the one he made at Pentecost: he reminds his listeners of their guilt in handing Jesus over to be killed, telling them to “repent … and turn to God” (3:19).
Almsgiving
For people with disabilities—such as Bartimaeus, the blind man whom Jesus healed outside Jericho (Mark 10:46–52), and the man at the Beautiful Gate—begging was not demeaning, but simply one of the few ways they could make a living. Giving to the poor was encouraged by Jewish scripture—“I command you to be open-handed toward … the poor and needy in your land” (Deuteronomy 15:11)—and by Jesus. In the Sermon on the Mount, He names almsgiving (giving to the poor) as one of the three prime works of piety, along with prayer and fasting (Matthew 6:1–4). From the point of view of beggars hoping to receive alms, location was key. Bartimaeus positioned himself by one of the gates into Jericho, to benefit from the constant flow of people into and out of the city; the man at the Beautiful Gate relied on the visiting pilgrims who were especially aware, as they entered or left the Temple, of their religious duty to give.
Disciples on trial
Some 5,000 people are converted that day, although some scholars suggest that this figure given by Luke is not meant to be taken literally—it simply suggests a large number. However, while ordinary people react with jubilation and awe to the healing of the beggar, it also attracts negative attention from the authorities, who are greatly disturbed by the events.
That same evening, the Temple guards arrest the two Apostles and throw them into prison overnight, before bringing them before the high priest and Sanhedrin the next morning. Standing before them, a Spirit-emboldened Peter speaks out yet again about Jesus, in whose name the beggar has been healed. Baffled at such eloquence in the mouth of these two “unschooled, ordinary men” (4:13)—and by the undeniable fact that a great miracle has taken place—the council commands the Apostles to keep silent from now on.
Peter and John’s reply is simple: “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to Him? You be the judges! As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard” (4:19–20). The council members threaten them further, but with so much excitement at the miracle, the Sanhedrin has no option but to let the men go free.
“It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.”
Acts 4:10
The second Pentecost
Peter and John return to their community. What follows is sometimes called the “second Pentecost.” Aware of the growing opposition they face from the authorities, the believers pray to God for renewed boldness in telling the world about Jesus. They ask, “Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness” (4:29). The Greek word that Luke uses for this boldness is parrhesia, also meaning “free speech,” “frankness,” even “plain speaking.” As a sign of divine approval, the building where the believers are meeting shakes.
Thereafter, the community of believers in Jerusalem prospers: “all the believers were one in heart and mind” and they shared their possessions among each other (4:32). Most but not all of the believers are willing to take part in this. Acts 5 tells the story of Ananias and Sapphira, a couple who suddenly fall down and die after Peter reveals that they have lied—wanting to receive praise, they pretend to hand over all their property while keeping some back for themselves.
The community thrives, as many more signs and miracles lead to an impressive growth in numbers. Inevitably, however, such success brings further jealousy and persecution from the authorities, at which point Luke’s narrative borders on comedy. Once more the Apostles are arrested and thrown into prison, but during the night an angel comes and opens the prison doors, allowing them to go free. The angel tells them to go back to the Temple and preach as they usually do. When morning comes, the Sanhedrin meets and sends for the prisoners. Shocked officers return empty-handed with this report: “We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside” (5:23).
“After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken.”
Acts 4:31
Outwitting the council
Baffled once more, the Sanhedrin then receive a report from the Temple: the men imprisoned last night are there teaching the people. Yet again the Apostles are arrested. When upbraided for continuing to teach about Jesus, they reply: “We must obey God rather than human beings!” (5:29). Infuriated, many of the Sanhedrin want to put them to death and are only dissuaded by the more cautious counsels of a Pharisee named Gamaliel. In the end, the Apostles are flogged, once more told not to speak in Jesus’s name, and allowed to go free. Yet again they ignore the Sanhedrin’s orders. They continue, Luke writes, joyfully “teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah” (Acts 5:42).
“People brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by.”
Acts 5:15
Inherited leadership
Throughout this narrative, Luke makes important theological points. With their bold Spirit-empowered preaching, confirmed by God in signs and wonders, the Apostles have established that they stand in a clear line of continuity reaching back as far as Abraham, Moses, and the prophets of the Hebrew scriptures. God has been faithful: the great covenants He made with Abraham and the Hebrew patriarchs have found fulfillment in Jesus, the promised Messiah, whom God affirmed with miraculous works—notably, the supreme miracle of His resurrection. Now though, the traditional leaders of the Jews, the Sanhedrin refuse to accept Jesus as the Son of God, and so the leadership of God’s people passes out of their hands and to the Apostles. The believers are portrayed by Luke as the “new Israel,” true heirs of the covenant promises of the Old Testament.
In this context, the fact that Peter and John heal the beggar in the name of Jesus is important. Peter’s speech acknowledges that not only are the disciples following in the tradition of Jesus’s ministry, the power they are exercising is not their own: Jesus now works through them. Peter, John, and their fellow disciples have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to continue Jesus’s work on Earth, and have been given the authority to carry out this task because of their faith in Him.
Simon Peter
One of Jesus’s closest disciples Simon Peter became a leading member of the early Church. His real name was Simon, but Jesus called him “Rock”: “Peter” in Greek, “Cephas” in Aramaic. He and his brother Andrew were both fishermen, and worked with another pair of brothers, James and John. John’s Gospel says Peter met Jesus through Andrew, who was a disciple of John the Baptist. However, the Gospels of Mark and Luke report that Peter and Andrew were working as fishermen when Jesus called them to be His disciples.
During the ministry of Jesus, Peter was one of the inner circle of three disciples, along with James and John, but when Jesus was arrested, Peter denied Him three times. This failure marked a turning point in Peter’s life; he was forgiven by Jesus and soon emerged as a dauntless leader in the early Church. He was also the first to share the Christian message and baptism with non-Jews. Peter was famously crucified upside-down during the persecution unleashed by Emperor Nero in 64–68 CE.
See also: The Raising of Lazarus • Peter’s Denial • The Great Commission • The Day of Pentecost • The Word Spreads