Do You Believe in Miracles?

Acts 3: 2 Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. 3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. 4 Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” 5 So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them. 6 Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” 7 Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. 8 He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.

Sometimes God is so good that He gives us what we need instead of what we want.

Such is the case for the man who had been crippled from birth.  Money and begging were temporary solutions to a permanent problem of being unable to work because of the permanent problem of being crippled his whole life.

The man did not get carried to the temple with the idea of his being healed.  He was carried there by someone else in order to beg.  It’s what people can do in human strength.

Peter and John, having gone to the temple to pray and to do ministry were empowered by the Holy Spirit to heal this man’s physical condition.  As disciples of Jesus Christ, they would have witnessed many healing miracles during Jesus’ ministry.

John 14: 11 “Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. 12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”

Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”

The point of this healing was not the healing.  It was to authenticate the Good News so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.

Questions for pondering:

1. What is your reaction to the faith healers you see on TV?
2. Do those examples bring glory to the Father and to the Son, or do they more often point to the personality doing the healings?
3. Have you ever prayed for healing of some type?  How do you reconcile today’s passage with this passage?  2 Corinthians 12:7 “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
4. Are healings guaranteed to happen and to last?
5. Al Michaels has a new book coming out entitled, You Can’t Make This Up: Miracles, Memories, and the Perfect Marriage of Sports and Television but it’s not really about miracles.  It’s about Michaels’ career.  The miracles reference in the title comes from the final moments of the U.S. – U.S.S.R hockey game (1980), popularly known as the “Miracle on Ice.”   Michaels and Ken Dryden were broadcasting the game.  As the game wound down to a close in the U.S.’ 4-3 upset, Michaels called out, “Eleven seconds, you’ve got 10 seconds, the countdown going on right now! Morrow up to Silk. Five seconds left in the game. Do you believe in miracles? … Yes!”  What is the difference between a happy conclusion of long odds and a genuine miracle?