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Miraculous healing of St. Apostle. Peter, lame from birth (1–11). Speech on this occasion to the people (12–26) Acts 3:1. Peter and John walked together to the church at the ninth hour of prayer. “At the ninth hour of prayer,” επί τήν ώραν τῆς προσεχῆς τήν εννάτην, glory “to pray at nine o’clock” is not so correct. The Greek text and the Russian translation suggest in the form of their expression other hours of prayer besides the ninth: these other hours were the third and sixth (in our opinion, the 9th and 12th). Meanwhile, the Slavic translation is expressed in such a way that one can assume the coincidence of the prayer of the Apostles with the ninth hour (according to our 3rd in the afternoon). Traces of three times daily prayer are found very early in Jewish history: even David, in one of the psalms, points to prayer in the evening, morning and noon (Ps. 54:18). The Prophet Daniel, in captivity in Babylon, knelt down to pray three times daily (Dan. 6:10). In the church, the morning and evening hours (3rd and 9th) were sanctified with specially legalized morning and evening sacrifices, and at one of these hours of prayer the apostles went to offer their prayers to God through the church services established by Him and which until time had not lost their significance for them. Acts 3:2. And there was a man, lame from his mother’s womb, who was carried and seated every day at the doors of the church, called Red, to ask for alms from those who entered the church. “Lame from his mother’s womb” - Acts. 4:22 – he was now over forty years old. The “Red Gate” of the church, so named probably because of its beauty, is not mentioned anywhere else. This was probably the main eastern gate (in Solomon's porch), leading to the court of the pagans, which Josephus describes as the most beautiful, surpassing in beauty all the other gates of the temple (Jude War 5:5, 3). Acts 3:4. Peter and John, looking at him, said: look at us. Acts 3:5. And he looked at them intently, hoping to get something from them. The performance of a miracle on the lame man is preceded by the Apostles and the healed man looking closely at each other. It was like mutual preparation for a miracle. In relation to the lame man, this was a means of arousing his attention and spiritual receptivity to miraculous benefits. Acts 3:6. But Peter said: I have no silver and gold; and what I have I give to you: in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, arise and walk. “What I have, I give to you.” Even before performing a miracle, the Apostle has complete confidence in its accomplishment. This confidence was based, without a doubt, on the promises of the Lord to the apostles (Mark 16:18; Luke 9:1; John 14:12, etc.) and was felt in the feeling within himself of the extraordinary power of the Holy Spirit, which the Apostle expresses with the words: “whatever I have, I give.” "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, arise and walk." Not by his own strength, but in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Peter performs this miracle. Acts 3:7. And, taking him by the right hand, he raised him up; and suddenly his feet and knees became stronger, “Taking him by the right hand, he lifted him up.” The Apostle also adds an external action to the word, as the Lord Himself once did. Acts 3:8. and he jumped up and began to walk, and entered the church with them, walking and jumping and praising God. “Walking and jumping” is an expression of the enthusiastic and joyful mood of the healed soul. Acts 3:9. And all the people saw him walking and praising God; “And all the people”, i.e. those who gathered and gathered in the church courts “saw him,” i.e. no longer lame, but healthy and cheerful. Acts 3:11. And as the healed lame man did not leave Peter and John, all the people in amazement ran to them in the porch called Solomon. The “Porch called Solomonov” is a vast covered gallery through which the red gate led to the church. People crowded here after the news of a miracle flashed with the speed of lightning, the best test of which was the well-known former lame man, who enthusiastically glorified God without leaving the Apostles. Acts 3:12. Seeing this, Peter said to the people: Men of Israel! Why are you amazed at this, or why do you look at us as if we, through our own strength or piety, did what he walks? In response to the bewilderment and amazement of the people, Peter again makes a speech similar to the first one (on the day of Pentecost), proving to the people, on the basis of the evidence of the Old Testament, the Messianic dignity of the Lord Jesus and convincing the people to repentance and faith in Him. But before that, he dispels the people's misunderstanding of the reasons for the miracle. The surprised gaze of the people, fixed on the Apostles, seemed to ask: what kind of power do these people have in themselves, performing such great miracles?, or: how great should be the piety of these people, that God glorifies them with such wondrous signs?... The Apostle eliminates both such explanations at once: “this, he says, does not belong to us, because it was not by our own dignity that we attracted the grace of God”... (Chrysostom). Acts 3:13. The God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Son Jesus, whom you betrayed and denied before Pilate, when he thought to release Him. “The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob” emphasizes the great guilt of the Jews in relation to His beloved Son, the Messiah Jesus. At the same time, he indicates the true culprit of the miracle performed, as well as the purpose of the miracle - the glorification of Jesus (cf. John 17:1, 4-5, 13:31-32). “His youth”, (τόν παῖδα αυτοῦ) is the name of the Messiah, taken from the prophecies of Isaiah (chap. XL-LXXVI). “Whom you betrayed and whom you denied,” see John. 19, 14–15; Onion. 23, 2 and par. places. The condensed presentation of the circumstances of the Savior’s suffering is completely consistent with the Gospel presentation and represents, so to speak, precious excerpts from the “fifth” Gospel “of Peter.” “Two accusations,” Chrysostom says here, “and the fact that Pilate wanted to let him go, and the fact that when he wanted, you didn’t want... He seemed to be saying this: instead of Him, you asked for a robber. He presented their act in the most terrible form... You, he says, asked to release the one who killed others, but you did not want the One who revives the dead.” Acts 3:14. But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked to give you a murderer, Acts 3:15. and the Chief of life was killed. This one God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. “The boss of life was killed” is an unusually strong expression, contrasting two such sharp contrasts. The concept of life here is taken in its full and most perfect sense (John 1:4), meaning not only the highest spiritual life and eternal salvation received through faith in Christ, but also all life in general, of which Christ is the main source, head and finisher. “God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.” See Acts 2:24–32. Acts 3:16. And for the sake of faith in His name, His name strengthened him whom you see and know, and the faith that is from Him granted him this healing before you all. “For the sake of faith in His Name”—whose faith? Not clear. Is it the faith of the Apostles, or the faith of the sick? However, in any case, the reason for the miracle is the power of faith - the faith, it must be said, of both the Apostles and the healed one - faith in the risen Lord Jesus. “The faith that is from Him” is faith as the gift of Christ through the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:9). "Before all of you". Although the healing itself took place in the presence of perhaps very few, however, this miracle could well be called perfect “in front of everyone,” for these all now saw the healed man walking and jumping - instead of seeing him, as usual, lying in a helpless state at the gates of the church. Acts 3:17. However, I know, brothers, that you, like your leaders, did this out of ignorance; Having presented before the eyes of the Jews the severity of their guilt in relation to God the Father and the Lord Jesus and intending to incline their hearts to repentance and conversion to Christ, the Apostle softens his speech, addressing the listeners with the friendly title “brothers” and explaining the murder of Jesus by ignorance on their part (cf. Luke 23:34; 1 Cor. 2:8), and at the same time representing this murder such a deed as was ordained in the eternal counsel of God and foretold by all the prophets. - So, according to Chrysostom, the Apostle “gives them the opportunity to renounce and repent of what they did, and even presents a plausible excuse for them and says: that you killed the Innocent, you knew this; but perhaps they did not know that they had killed the Chief of Life. And thus, not only does he acquit them of crime, but also the main perpetrators of evil. And if he turned the speech into an accusation, he would make them more stubborn." Acts 3:18. God, as he foretold through the mouth of all His prophets that Christ would suffer, did so. “God... foretold through the mouth of all his prophets that Christ would suffer.” Although not all prophets prophesied specifically about the sufferings of Christ, however, the Apostle speaks about them this way, obviously because the main focal point of Jewish prophecy in general was Christ the Messiah, and therefore His whole work, for the sake of which He had to come to earth. “So I did.” The Jews betrayed the Messiah to suffer and die, but in this case, remaining independent and responsible figures, they became instruments for fulfilling the will of God and the will of the Messiah himself, as He Himself spoke about this more than once (John 10:18, 2:19, 14:31, 19:10, 11). Acts 3:19. Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, “Contact”, i.e. to Christ as the Messiah, believe in Him. Acts 3:20. May times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord, and may He send Jesus Christ, who is destined for you, “Times of joy”, i.e. that summer, the favorable approach of which the Lord preached in the Nazareth synagogue - the kingdom of the Messiah, the kingdom of grace with its righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Like the Old Testament, here it is assumed to be a life of alienation from God, a life full of all sorts of troubles, suffering, struggles; so the New Testament is seen here as true rest and tranquility of the soul in peace with God and close communication with Him, capable of erasing and healing all the bitterness of suffering. “On behalf of the Lord” - judging by what follows - of course God the Father is here. “May He send” is about the second glorious coming of the Lord Jesus at the end of the world, and the meaning of the expression is the same as above - “God raised Him up,” etc. Acts 3:21. Whom heaven was to receive until the time of the fulfillment of all that God had spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. “Whom heaven was about to receive” is an indication of the presence of the Lord Jesus with glorified flesh in heaven from the day of his ascension. “Until the time of the completion of everything,” άχρι χρόνων αποκαταστάσεως πάντων, more correctly, until the time of restoration of everything. Here, probably, it goes without saying the same thing that Ap foreshadowed. Paul, speaking about the conversion of all Jews to Christ (Rom. 11:26). “By the mouth of all his holy prophets” - see above, to Art. 18. The general meaning of this text, according to the interpretation of bl. Theophylact, the one that “much of what was predicted by the prophets has not yet been fulfilled, but is being fulfilled and will be fulfilled until the end of the world, because Christ, who ascended into heaven, will remain there until the end of the world and will come with power when everything that the prophets predicted is finally fulfilled.” Acts 3:22. Moses said to the fathers: The Lord your God will raise up for you from among your brothers a Prophet like me; obey Him in everything that He tells you; Having mentioned the predictions of the prophets about Christ, the Apostle cites the words of Moses as one of the clearest and most authoritative predictions (Deut. 18, 15 et seq.). In these words, Moses, warning the people of God against the false fortune-tellers and soothsayers of the Canaanites, promises on behalf of God that they will always have true prophets, whom they will, after Moses, have to listen to unquestioningly. Thus, we are talking here primarily about the entire host of Jewish prophets, under the general collective name of “prophet”, erected by God. But since the end and fulfillment of every Old Testament prophecy is Christ, it is fair that all antiquity - both Jewish and Christian - attributed this prophecy to Christ - especially since of all the Old Testament prophets there was no such prophet as Moses (Deut. 34: 10-12). Only Christ surpassed Moses (Heb. 3:3-6). “A prophet like me,” πρυφήτην, i.e. the same special, extraordinary mediator between God and the people as Moses was. This especially points to the legislative activity of Jesus Christ, in which He, unlike all other prophets, became like and surpassed Moses. Acts 3:23. and it will happen that every soul that does not listen to that Prophet will be cut off from the people. “He will be cut off from the people”, εξολοθρευθήσεται εκ τοῦ λαοῦ. In the original - “from him I will require it.” The Apostle replaces this with another stronger and often used expression in other places in Moses, meaning condemnation to destruction or death; in this case, of course, eternal death and deprivation of participation in the kingdom of the Promised Messiah (cf. John 3:18). Acts 3:24. And all the prophets, from Samuel and after him, no matter how many of them spoke, also foretold these days. “All the prophets... foretold these days,” i.e. days of the appearance of the Great Prophet-Messiah (cf. 18th Art. and 21st Art.). “From Samuel,” who is taken here as the greatest prophet after Moses, with whom the continuous series of Old Testament Jewish prophets begins, ending with the end of the Babylonian captivity. Acts 3:25. You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God commanded to your fathers, saying to Abraham: And in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Interpretation of the blessed Theophylact: “He says “sons of the prophets” instead of saying: you should neither be discouraged nor think that you have lost the promises. “You are the sons of the prophets,” so they told you and for your sake all this happened. What does “sons of the Covenant” mean? This is instead: “heirs,” but heirs are not just assigned, but the same as sons. And so, if you yourself want, then you are heirs.” “God commanded your fathers, saying to Abraham.” The Covenant with Abraham was a Covenant with all the fathers of the Jewish people, who had Abraham as their forefather, and therefore with the entire Jewish people. But this is not exclusive: not only they, the Jews, were promised the blessing of God, but all the tribes of the earth - the Jews only the first, according to a special Covenant with them through Moses. “In your seed they will be blessed” is a promise to Abraham repeated more than once by God (Gen. 12:3, 18:18, 22:18). By the “seed” of Abraham here we mean not the descendants of Abraham in general, but one specific Person from this descendants, namely the Messiah. This is how not only Peter interprets it, but also Paul the Ap. (Gal. 3:16). Acts 3:26. God, having raised His Son Jesus, sent Him to you first to bless you, turning everyone away from your evil deeds. That God sent the blessed descendant of Abraham to the “first” Jews or “first of all” the Jews, in this the Apostle tries to show not their simple advantage over all other peoples, but also the strongest motivation and, as it were, an obligation to accept the promised blessing first of all - through turning to Christ and faith in Him. “Having raised up His Son,” see above to Acts 2:24, 3:13. “I sent you to bless you”, i.e. to fulfill the promise given to Abraham for you, to make you blessed participants in all the blessings of the kingdom of the Messiah, to grant you salvation and eternal life. “And so, do not consider yourself rejected and rejected,” concludes Chrysostom. “Turning from your evil deeds” is an essential condition for receiving the promised blessing of God in the Kingdom of the Messiah, into which nothing unclean and unjust will enter. In his judgment about the primacy of Israel in accepting the benefits of the kingdom of the Messiah, the Apostle again repeats the idea of ​​​​the universality of the Kingdom of the Messiah, which has to spread to all the tribes of the earth. You might be interested in: