Sometimes God does not bring the kind of healing we want for friends and family. Some die tragically from cancer far too early in their lives. Some are snatched from our midst far too soon. I don’t begin to understand God’s ways in these matters. I wonder at why God would permit people to die so young. It’s a very big question that we have as humans. Why some so young and with so much to offer are taken from our midst.
Sometimes God permits people to live very long lives. Sometimes God permits people to pass from this world to the next in a very peaceful fashion. This too, is a very big question that we have. Why do some people live so long and go so peacefully?
There is another thing that I do not understand. Why does God radically and immediately heal some other people? We hear stories about tumors mysteriously disappearing from x-rays from one day to the next. We read stories of people being brought back from the edge of life, only to live a more complete and grateful life. Honestly I don’t understand this at all.
It kind of reminds me of the story of Job in the Old Testament. He had a wonderful, big family. He was well-respected and wealthy. Then to prove to Satan that Job was a man of great faith, God permitted Satan to touch Job and his family. In a matter of days all of Job’s children were dead and all of his herds and servants were gone. He was tormented with horrible sores and a wife that urged him to “curse God and die.” (Job 2:9) In addition to this, the better part of the book of Job is taken up with all his friends sitting around telling him why God was punishing him—because he had some secret sin, because he had not been generous enough, because he really did not love God at all—all the classic arguments of false religion.
Job refused to repent for sins he did not commit. And Job refused to curse God and turn away in rage. Instead, he said some of the most profound words of faith in the Bible. “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.” (Job 1:21)
This is the kind of thing that the Holy Spirit enables each believer to say in times of joy and in times of sadness. It is God who is in control, whether we prefer the outcome or not. It is our Sovereign Lord who sees all things and knows all things, so his choices are the best. The truest test of faith is that we will not waiver, like Job, in life or in death, in sorrow or in joy—that we will always praise the Name of God Most High who is over all, and through all and in all. This may seem absolutely insane to those without faith in God. But for those of us who trust God, we choose to believe the he does all things well.
One of the things that we learn through our walk through Acts is that God does healing very well. When God heals people dramatically and immediately there is only one reply we can make—Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
Now we are going to be looking at two passages from the book of Acts. It might be helpful for us to understand the physical surroundings of these passage of Scripture. So, let’s review that a little bit and see if we can’t employ our imaginations to help us.
As we have begun our study of the book of Acts, we have found that the disciples had returned to Jerusalem as Jesus had instructed them. They had already begun to evangelize, by the power of the Holy Spirit, and several thousand people had come to repentance and baptism in Jesus’ Name.
All of these disciples were decent, law-abiding Jewish people. It was a part of the regular pattern of their life to read the Holy Scriptures and pray each day, especially while they were in Jerusalem. There were regularly scheduled services of sacrifice and prayer in which many could participate. These services were held in the Temple, at that time a huge building, of which some parts were original to Solomon’s Temple many centuries earlier. It was the original site of the great temple planned by King David for God to dwell among his people. It had been rebuilt by several others and continued to be the Jewish center of religious, political and cultural life.
The Temple was divided into several different parts. If you have a Bible with maps and illustrations, usually you can find diagrams of the temple there. There was a very large outer court in a rectangular shape. This outer courtyard was surrounded by a porch called Solomon’s Colonnade. Here people would often gather for meetings and to hear teaching. The courtyard took up about a third of the grounds, which probably was about 750 feet. It was called the Court of the Gentiles because it was the area where Gentiles could come in to the temple grounds, as long as they had dedicated themselves to Jewish law and practice.[1] God always makes room for people from all nations in his house and there are many scriptures that give direction for this.
The interior courts—the Court of the Women, the Inner Court, the Altar and the Priests Court—were all increasingly smaller spaces leading to the smallest place, the Holy of Holies of which only the High Priest could enter.
The Court of the Gentiles was often a kind of marketplace where people could purchase animals for the required sacrifices, attend synagogue and have meetings. Also, because it was a kind of marketplace, people could come to beg, especially the crippled.
For many years such a man had been placed at an interior gate which led into the Court of the Women—the Gate Beautiful. It may also have been called the Nicanor Gate[2] which was known to have been covered by very expensive bronze and faced the rising sun in the east with brilliance. Such is the setting of our first passage of Scripture. Now, let’s read with our imaginations engaged.
Acts 3:1-12
One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer —at three in the afternoon. 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. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.
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.” Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. When all the people saw him walking and praising God, they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
This is truly a miraculous and wonderful scene! It’s the kind of scene we all hope would happen. A man, who was known to be a sorrowful cripple and begging for his daily bread, was made whole. What a wonderful event—if not such a new one—for the disciples. If you have read any of the Gospels, you would have experienced Jesus doing miracle after miracle of immediate and radical healing, with the disciples assisting him.
In fact, healing was not such a new thing for the disciples themselves! In Luke 9:1-2 we read, When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. And that is exactly what they did. Mark gives us a quick and telling account in 6:12-13. They went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.
Even prior to the coming of the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem, Jesus had chosen to work through many people to bring healing to others. In fact, James, the brother of Jesus—one of his disciples—wrote a prescription for healing in the church.
James 5:13-16
Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
Back in Acts 3, for Peter and John, this was another day of following God—yet this time it was different. They did not have the physical presence of Jesus to back them up. They could not return to a garden or sit on the shores of the Sea of Galilee telling Jesus in person what had happened that day. Peter and John knew what kind of power resided within them and they knew it was nothing of their own strength or authority. With a new sense of power and authority surging through them from the Healing Source—the Holy Spirit—they boldly proclaimed healing over a man and he was healed! By invoking the powerful name of Jesus Christ and being a simple and open vessel of the Holy Spirit, a man’s life was radically changed. So must have Peter and John been changed. In a miraculous event their ministry was transformed into the preaching and teaching of Jesus Christ. Listen to what happened next in verse 11 and 12. While the beggar held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon’s Colonnade. When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?”
On that day Peter made an astute observation. He saw that the people in the temple were attracted to them, that they were staring at these their brothers and astonished that they could do such a thing. Why were they surprised when God performed miracles? Why did they think that it was anything the apostles had done? The apostles were not good enough. They were not holy enough. They served a God who provides a Healing Power that pours through us!”
And then Peter was an opportunist of the most positive kind. In verses 12-26 Peter preached another mighty sermon, declaring salvation from sins through the shed blood and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He would not leave the miracle standing on its own as some great circus act—there was far more at stake than a side show in the Court of the Gentiles. There were souls to be saved, men and women to be reborn in Jesus Christ, people to be snatched from the edge of hell. And so he preached.
God does healing very well. And it is more than a sideshow or an extreme makeover. God heals so that people will come to him, so that they can know the glory of freedom from sin and guilt, so that life can be worth living and death can be faced with the hope of heaven.
If you look at Acts 5:12-16 we see how the power of the Holy Spirit continue to pour out through these faith-filled disciples.
Acts 5:12
The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. As a result, 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. Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits, and all of them were healed.
Peter and John’s boldness could only have come from the Holy Spirit—that Healing Power Source whose work it is to restore, redeem and heal. On the first day that Jesus sent them out, the disciples experienced the marvelous miracles of God. They had come to expect that great things happen when God interrupts our lives. They had come to know that the miracles that happened in and through them really had very little to do with them at all. It was the Holy Spirit working in and through them for the sake of others.
Did you know that that same Holy Spirit seeks to work through humble believers today? He does. He is no different today than he was in the day of Moses or in the day of Peter and John. He is the Healing Power Source that works above and beyond all that we can ask or imagine.
God does healing very well. Let him work through you today!
Copyright M.R. Hyde 2012
March 31, 2015
The remainder of this series in Hebrews can be found in book form at most e-book retailers and www.Smashwords.com. Paperbacks available at www.Lulu.com.
