The Purpose of Miracles
Published by Stanley Pouw in 2022 · 31 July 2022
The Book of Acts is the history of the early church. These are the acts of Christ through the Holy Spirit as He finishes His work through the apostles, proclaiming the gospel and establishing His church. We have, in Acts 3:1 - 11, one of many miracles that were going on at this time in the early church. Acts 2:43 says, “And many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles.”
Our Lord delegated power to do miracles to His apostles. He had ascended by this time into heaven; the apostles were doing miracles to validate themselves as the messengers of God. Let me read it to you, “Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. 2 And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, to the gate of the temple,
Which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple; 3 who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. 4 And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, “Look at us.” 5 So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. 6 Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give to you:
“In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” 7 And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. 8 So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them, walking, leaping, and praising God. 9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God. 10 Then they knew that it was he,
Who sat begging alms, at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. 11 Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch which is called Solomon’s, greatly amazed.” A wonderful miracle. But you need to know what supernatural events have taken place beforehand.
Our Lord taught his disciples the fulfilment of prophecies for 40 days after His resurrection. He then ascended back to heaven from the Mount of Olives. And then, on the Day of Pentecost, He sent the Holy Spirit to indwell His people, to empower His people, and to place His people together in the body of Christ. So, by the coming of the Holy Spirit, the church was born.
And the purpose of the body of Christ is to finish the work that Christ began. Jesus started it Himself, with help from the Holy Spirit and He delegated this through His apostles when He was on earth, and now He does it by the power of the Holy Spirit through His church, finishing the work of evangelism, finishing the proclamation of the gospel to the ends of the earth.
And the first-fruits of believers were 3,000 new believers to add to the 120 existing believers who had already gathered. They were baptized and they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer. They were feeling a sense of awe, wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. They held all things in common.
And if necessary they were selling what they possessed to give to those who might have need, day by day, continuing with one mind in the temple, breaking bread from house to house, sharing meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God, finding favor with all the people. And the Lord continued to add to their number daily those that were being saved.”
These miracles were very important because they validated the apostles as the true teachers. Look, the ancient world and the world of Judaism was packed with teachers. They were all over the place. Rabbis, scribes, Pharisees, many others who were teachers. How do you know the true teacher? How do you know who speaks for God? Well, a true teacher is manifested by miracle power.
So, the apostles were granted this ability in order to validate their message. There are only two names of people in the Book of Acts who did miracles other than the apostles, and they were both tightly associated with the apostles. There was Stephen, who was there in Acts 6 with the apostles. And Barnabas is mentioned. We don’t know exactly what miracles Barnabas may have done.
When the apostles were not present, no miracles occurred. That is important, because there are so many people running around today claiming miracles, but there are no apostles present. These apostles were the foundation of the church, and there were only 12 plus Paul. Medical miracles are rare in redemptive history. There are no healings mentioned in any New Testament church.
And as you go through the Book of Acts, you start seeing believers being sick. And as you read the letters of the apostles, they talk about people being sick, even sick unto death. Healing was not a gift to believers to make them better. It was a sign to nonbelievers to convince them to believe the message of the gospel. After the Book of Acts, there are no physical healings.
We know about the millennial kingdom from the prophets. And in the kingdom, if somebody dies at the age of 100, they die like an infant. People will live longer. Life will be different. A lion will lie down with a lamb. Children can play in a snake pit. And one of the characteristics of the kingdom is physical health and wellbeing. The curse of disease and death will be mitigated.
So not only is the healing ministry of Jesus and the healing ministry of the apostles an evidence of divine compassion, but it is also an indication of divine faithfulness to a long-ago promise. God will be the healer of Israel when they do believe His laws and they do acknowledge their Messiah, His Son. In Acts 3:13, Peter says, “The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has glorified His servant Jesus.”
God is saying to the Jews: though you killed the Prince of life, even though you disowned the Holy and the Righteous One, God’s promise is still valid, and here are previews of what God will do for you if you turn to Him. But it has an obedience component that activates fulfillment. So when they see someone healed, it is also an evidence that God is still keeping that promise.
Peter and John were going up to the temple at the ninth hour. The ninth hour is 3:00 in the afternoon. Where did they meet? There are 3,000 believers the first day. And when Peter preaches in Acts 3 and additional 5,000 more people become believers. Well, there’s only one place, and that was in the temple. And as they come in through the Beautiful gate, they encounter a beggar.
So there he is in verse 2. He had been lame from his mother’s womb. He was being carried along in the procession by friends. “They used to set him down every day at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, in order to beg alms of those who were entering the temple.” There were many beggars in the land because there was no medical care at that time that was effective.
So there the man sits, and he’s asking for cash. When he saw Peter and John, he began asking for alms. Verse 4-6, “Peter, along with John, fixed his gaze on him and said, “Look at us!” 5 So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. 6 Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.”
There are four elements to this miracle. First, it was unexpected. God sovereignly selects him. And Peter did have a delegated power to heal and cast out demons. This miracle is not in response to the man’s faith. Secondly, the miracle is in the name of Jesus Christ to connect this man to Jesus. In verse 12, Peter explains this to the people, “The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has glorified His servant Jesus.”
“The same Jesus whom you delivered and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him. But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer,” and put to death the Prince of life. It is a miracle done in the name of Jesus Christ. That is to say, by His power and by His will. Peter and John are saying, if Jesus were here, this is what He would do.
Miracles were done to point people to Jesus Christ, whom they preached, and whom they represented. Peter took the man, and he lifted him up. Verse 7, “And he took him by the right hand, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.” This man had never walked, and he was 40 years old, and in an instant, his feet and ankles received muscles, nerves and strength.
This is a creative miracle. All Jesus’ miracles are this way. There are instant acts of creation, new tissue, new fiber, new cartilage, new bone, new muscle, and new data for the brain so that you know how to walk. Thirdly, it is instantaneous. Adam was created in a split second and walked. This man was created new in a split second, fully functioning. How do we know it was complete?
Verse 8, “So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them, walking, leaping, and praising God. He entered the temple with them, walking and leaping. He was athletic in a split second. That power came from God, and it was supernatural, it was sudden, it was sufficient, and it had one purpose: it was staging to draw a crowd to believe a message.
Verse 9 - 11, “And all the people saw him walking and praising God. 10 Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. 11 Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch which is called Solomon’s, greatly amazed.”
So what is the sequel to the miracle, first of all? The man was filled with joy. He followed them into the temple, and they must’ve just been walking in their normal fashion while he is bouncing up and down praising God. They all know who he is. He’s the man who sat there for decades at the beautiful gate of the temple begging alms, and they’re dumbfounded at this miracle.
This should’ve been some kind of an indicator to the Jews, because this had been promised to them that God would one day be their healer. Listen to Isaiah 35:4-6, “He will save you. Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. And the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will shout for joy. And water will break forth in the wilderness.”
This is a preview of the millennial kingdom. God is not finished with Israel yet. You get to the end of Acts 3; and they’re still the people of the promise. Here is a man who’s healed, and leaping and praising God is a direct illustration of the promise of Isaiah 35:2. God deals in joy. God wants you to have joy. First John says, “These things are written unto you, that your joy may be full.”
Secondly, God is praised. The end of verse 8, He is praising God. Verse 9, “All the people saw him walking and praising God.” He knows where His healing is coming from. He knew the source of the power. He knew that this was a creative miracle, and nobody else could argue with it. This is true worship going on in the middle of a temple full of fake worship and false worship.
You remember Jesus, during Passion Week, pronounced doom on that temple because of its corruption and said it’ll all going to be smashed to the ground, not one stone left on another. Even the presence of believers meeting there every day couldn’t sanctify that system. He knows the true God has touched him. Worship is not following rituals. Real worship is praise, joy and gratitude.
Thirdly, the people are amazed. They know he’s the one who used to sit at the Beautiful gate of the temple to beg alms. They’re filled with wonder and astonishment at what had happened to him. Acts 4:16, “What shall we do with these men? For the fact that a noteworthy miracle has taken place near them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.”
What were miracles for, then? They were to demonstrate that God was at work through the apostles. It was incontrovertible, undeniable. Even the leaders who would have wanted to deny it couldn’t deny it any more than they could deny any of the miracles Jesus did. And if the power of God was coming through them, then the Word of God was coming through them.
Second Corinthians 12:12, “The signs of an apostle are signs, wonders, and mighty deeds.” Hebrews 2 says, “How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation after it was at the first spoken through our Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard the Lord?” God testifying for the apostles, by signs, and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His will.”
In the charismatic movement, so many teachers claim direct revelation, because they don’t want to be compared to the Scripture. It’s just critical that God validate the true teachers, to establish the gospel. The crowd comes together, verse 11, and there are Peter and John. And, there’s this standing, leaping guy, hanging onto both of them as a visual validation that God works through us.
Does God heal today? Yes, He can if He wants. He answers prayer when He chooses to. But is there a gift of healing? No. That was apostolic. What is important is the message. And the truthfulness of the message can be validated by comparing it to the Scripture. A miracle confirms the Word, and now Scripture confirms the word of any messenger or any preacher.