By Rony Kozman, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies, Samford University
A Mission Full of Opportunities
Acts 3:1–10
In the Gospels, John the Baptist compares the baptism he performs with the one that Jesus enacts: “I baptize you with water, but he will baptize with the Holy Spirit” (Mark 1:8).
In Acts 1, the resurrected Jesus, while He was eating with the apostles, instructed them, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard Me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit” (1:4–5). Then Jesus tells the apostles, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (1:8).
This select group of men were there together “the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among [them], beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from [them]” (1:21–22). In other words, these apostles were direct eyewitnesses of Jesus ministry from its beginning all the way through Jesus’ death and resurrection. This baptism in the Holy Spirit supplies the apostles with power as they bear witness that Jesus is the resurrected Lord.
See the opportunities your encounters with people provide. (1–4)
While these apostles were together, they were all “filled with the Holy Spirit” (2:4) and enabled to bear witness to “God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven” (2:5). We then read that Peter stood up and proclaimed the good news to his fellow Jews, that God had appointed Jesus Lord and Messiah (2:14–36).
Those who respond with repentance are instructed to “repent and be baptized … for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (2:38). Although the apostles are first baptized with the Holy Spirit, they are not the only ones who receive the Holy Spirit. Those who respond positively to the gospel proclaimed by the apostles also receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit that Jesus performs.
Share the love of Christ through those encounters. (5–8)
The baptism with the Holy Spirit establishes the context for what Peter and John do in Acts 3. They are carrying out their apostolic mission. They have been especially commissioned by Jesus and given special power for their apostolic mission of being witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth.
Here we see Peter and John at the temple gate, carrying out the commission Jesus gave them in Jerusalem. Just as Jesus heals by the power of the Spirit in the gospels, so also Peter and John carry out Jesus’ mission of furthering God’s Kingdom by healing the lame man.
We should praise God for how we have been restored through the name of Jesus. (9–10)
Reading this story, we may place ourselves in the position of the commissioned apostles and learn from their courage and boldness to testify to the good news of Jesus’ resurrection and enthronement as the Son of David. We also can place ourselves in the story and align ourselves with the lame man who receives restoration from the apostolic ministry.
Peter and John, like Jesus in the gospels, heal the man by the power of the Holy Spirit. In response, the man jumps to his feet and walks (3:8) and then walks with the apostles and praises God.
As those who have received the good news that the apostles proclaimed, who have been restored and who have received the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit, we too should praise God so that those around us see how we have been transformed. We also should walk with the apostles (3:9) and devote ourselves to the teaching of the apostles — to the teaching of Peter and John and the others (2:42).
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