David Bahn – Reflections

Acts 3:11-16

While he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s. ¹² And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? ¹³ The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. ¹⁴ But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, ¹⁵ and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. ¹⁶ And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.

Perhaps you’ve heard the inspirational poem The Race. It describes a young man who falls three times in a race, and determines to get up each time. He loses the race but receives the greatest cheers of all when he crosses the finish line far behind all the others. It is a touching encouragement to get up and rejoin the race whatever it is and wherever we may fall. The idea: keep on keeping on until you draw your last breath. Give it your all and embrace every challenge again and again until you succeed or die trying.

Jesus would seem to be the greatest example of one who got back up and rejoined the race – even after his death! Peter makes a point of the people’s part in  unjust treatment Jesus endured and makes but a small allusion to Jesus’ resurrection. But Peter makes a larger point of the fact that it was by Jesus’ name, and faith in him that the once-lame man was now “walking, leaping, and praising God” (Acts 3:6-8).

Jesus didn’t just get back into a race when he rose from the dead. He rose continued his work – now through his apostles. By Jesus’ name, and through faith in his name the lame man was made strong. The man now standing before them was testimony to the power of faith properly founded.

Peter makes the point of attaching the miracle of this man’s healing to Jesus’ name. It is by his name, and through faith in his name that the man was healed. Jesus is the healer. Peter’s and John’s own power or piety had nothing to do with it. What if we prayed as though Jesus himself were praying? What if we sought healing for our friends or family members as though Jesus himself were at work? What if Jesus’ name was never a throw-away phrase, or merely a religious incantation? What if we believed that Jesus resurrection didn’t signal only his triumph over sin, the devil, and death, but also God’s on-going work in our lives through Jesus?

We can live and act as though Jesus’ resurrection is an important religious belief, or we can live as though Jesus’ resurrection signaled the ongoing work of God through Jesus. We can realize that Jesus didn’t merely rise from the dead 2000 years ago, but that his glory extends over all time, and in his name great things continue to happen. What might that mean for you today?