Acts 3:11-16 CSB
While he was holding on to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astonished, ran toward them in what is called Solomon's Colonnade. [12] When Peter saw this, he addressed the people: "Fellow Israelites, why are you amazed at this? Why do you stare at us, as though we had made him walk by our own power or godliness? [13] The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and denied before Pilate, though he had decided to release him. [14] You denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer released to you. [15] You killed the source of life, whom God raised from the dead; we are witnesses of this. [16] By faith in his name, his name has made this man strong, whom you see and know. So the faith that comes through Jesus has given him this perfect health in front of all of you.
John 14:12-14 CSB
"Truly I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do. And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. [13] Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. [14] If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
Faith in His Name
Peter was standing with John and the healed man in the very spot where Jesus had once taught. There was no hiding now. To repent means to turn away, and Peter had turned away from his past failure of denying the Lord. Everyone in the temple recognized the beggar; they had passed him daily on their way to the Gate Beautiful. The miracle was undeniable.
They were standing in Solomon’s Colonnade, a massive covered walkway lined with towering marble columns on the eastern side of the Temple. It was the traditional place for teachers to gather, and it was now filled with a crowd of people who ran to see the man who had been healed.
If we have even the smallest faith, we are told we can move mountains. Peter had that faith. He had seen the risen Lord and witnessed the coming of the gift of the Holy Spirit. He was now playing a pivotal role in the birth of the Church, but he understood something crucial: it was not his power. The church would not grow unless God made it grow. It would not grow without the Holy Spirit working in the conscience of people.
It is easy to claim the work of the Spirit as our own power. We often crave the admiration of others, slipping into a “works-oriented” religion where we say, “Look at what I have done for God,” rather than, “Look how Jesus is glorified through this earthen vessel by the Holy Spirit.” When the Son is glorified, the Father is glorified. This strong fisherman had finally learned humility; he had learned the heart of a servant.
Peter met the people where they were. He addressed them as “fellow Israelites,” identifying with their shared history through the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He spoke the truth, but he carried it with the “gentle hands” of someone who knows their own need for grace.
I remember a hot August afternoon at a county fair. The late summer sun beat down on the dusty grounds, and the air was thick with the smell of food and barbecue smoke. A local church had a modest booth giving away Bibles. As I strolled past, a man thrust a Bible toward me with a smile that felt tense around the edges. When I explained I already had several copies at home, his smile vanished. “Why don’t you read them?” he snapped.
His words struck like stones. He didn’t know my journey or my faith, but his harshness could have easily uprooted a fragile soul. My hands trembled with anger as I walked away—until I remembered my own failures of grace. My own harsh words spoken in the past. My anger dissolved into humility. The truth is a heavy weight; it needs gentle but honest hands to carry it. The truth always spoken in love, even when it hurts.
Peter didn’t shy away from the hard truth. He told the crowd plainly: “You denied the Holy and Righteous One… You killed the source of life.” These are titles reserved for God in the Old Testament, and to the Messiah in the Book of Psalms. But Peter followed that sting with a remedy: it was not his own godliness that healed the man, but faith in the Name of Jesus.
When we decrease, Jesus increases. When we speak from a place of love rather than loftiness, the person hears a voice of love empowered by the Holy Spirit, and the “Source of Life” can be heard to heal the people standing right in front of us.
Reflection Questions
- Peter asked the crowd, “Why do you stare at us?” When God uses you to help someone, is your first instinct to take the credit or to deflect the glory to Jesus?
- Think about the man at the fair. Have you ever presented the “Truth” in a way that lacked “Gentle Hands”? How can you balance boldness with humility this week?
- In John 14, Jesus says he does these works so the Father may be glorified. How does seeing your life as a way to “glorify the Father through the Son” change your daily perspective?
Prayer
Father,
We thank You for the reminder that we are merely earthen vessels. Thank You for the strength that comes through the Name of Jesus—the Holy and Righteous One, the very Source of Life. Forgive us for the times we have carried Your truth with harsh hands or sought the spotlight for ourselves. Teach us the humility of Peter. May our words be seasoned with grace and our actions point only to the One who makes the lame walk and the dead rise. In Jesus’ name.
Amen.
