The Jerusalem Church

The Lame Man and the Name (Acts 3:1–26)

It begins with a lame man. A man who had been crippled from birth was carried daily to the gate of the temple called Beautiful, where he begged from those entering the courts. When he saw Peter and John, he asked for alms. Peter's response is one of the most famous declarations in all of Acts: "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." And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. He leaped up, stood, and walked, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.

Notice what Peter did and what he did not do. He did not use a formula of healing words. He did not lay hands on the man and silently pray. He spoke the name, "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth." The name was the point. The name was the power. The name of Jesus was not a title attached to a prayer, it was the means by which God's authority was being exercised on earth through these Spirit-filled men. The man was healed not because of Peter's faith or Peter's reputation, but because of the name that carries all authority in heaven and on earth.

The miracle drew a crowd, and Peter immediately used it as an opportunity to preach the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He rebuked them for denying the Holy One and the Just and for asking a murderer (Barabbas) to be released in His place. He declared that Jesus was raised from the dead, that this resurrection fulfilled the prophecies of Moses and all the prophets, and that repentance and conversion were necessary for the blotting out of sins and the coming of times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord (v.19). The apostles were not merely performing miracles, every miracle became a sermon, and every sermon pointed back to the same Jesus whose Spirit now lived inside them.

Arrested for the Resurrection (Acts 4:1–22)

The success of the apostles' ministry immediately attracted opposition. The priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them while they were speaking, arrested them, and put them in custody overnight because it was already evening. But the preaching had already done its work: the number of the men who had heard the word grew to about five thousand (v.4). Arrest could not undo what the Holy Spirit had accomplished. You can arrest the preacher, but you cannot arrest the Word.

The next day, the Sanhedrin, the very council that had condemned Jesus to death, assembled in Jerusalem. Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and all who were of the high priestly family gathered to examine Peter and John. They asked the question that revealed their own spiritual bankruptcy: "By what power or by what name have you done this?" They already knew who had healed the lame man. They just needed to hear it said publicly so they could move against them. Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, answered without hesitation.

His answer in Acts 4:10–12 is a masterpiece of Spirit-filled boldness. "Let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole." And then the declaration that would echo through all of history: "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." The council saw the boldness of Peter and John and recognized that they had been with Jesus. They could not deny the healing, the man was standing right there. So they threatened them and commanded them to speak no more in the name of Jesus. Peter and John's response: "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard."

The Church Prays and the Place Is Shaken (Acts 4:23–5:11)

When Peter and John were released, they went back to their own companions and reported everything the chief priests and elders had said. And the church's response was not fear, it was prayer. They lifted their voices to God with one accord, acknowledged God as the sovereign Creator, quoted Psalm 2 (which prophesied the rulers conspiring against the Lord and His Anointed), and then made a remarkable request: not safety, not escape from opposition, but boldness to speak the Word and for God's hand to continue to be stretched out in healing and signs and wonders through the name of His holy Servant Jesus. When they finished praying, the place was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness (v.31).

The picture of the early Jerusalem church in Acts 4:32–37 is breathtaking in its generosity. The multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul. No one claimed any of his possessions were his own. Those who owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds to the apostles' feet to distribute to any who had need. Barnabas, who would later become Paul's missionary partner, sold a field he owned and brought all the money to lay at the apostles' feet. This was not communism imposed from without, it was generosity flowing from the inside because these were people who had experienced something so transforming that the things of this world genuinely lost their grip.

The story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:1–11 is sobering and necessary. They sold property and conspired together to secretly keep part of the price while pretending to give all of it to the apostles. This was not merely deception of men but, as Peter told Ananias directly, "you have not lied to men but to God" (v.4). Both Ananias and Sapphira fell dead at Peter's feet, not because partial giving is wrong, but because they had lied to God and the Holy Spirit about it. Great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things (v.11). The early church understood something modern Christianity often forgets: God takes holiness seriously. The presence of the Holy Spirit in the church is not to be trifled with.

Beaten but Rejoicing (Acts 5:12–42)

The apostles continued to perform many signs and wonders among the people. The sick were brought out into the streets so that the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them. People from surrounding cities brought those who were sick and tormented by unclean spirits, and they were healed, all of them. The high priest and the Sadducees were again filled with indignation and had the apostles arrested and thrown into the common prison. But an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors by night, brought them out, and commanded them: "Go, stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life" (v.20).

When the council sent to the prison to bring them for trial, the prison was empty, yet still locked, guards still at their posts. Meanwhile, the apostles were in the temple teaching the people. When they were brought before the council again and commanded to stop preaching in Jesus' name, Peter's answer was definitive: "We ought to obey God rather than men" (v.29). He preached the resurrection again. The council was furious and planned to kill them. Only the counsel of Gamaliel, a respected Pharisee who warned that if this movement were of men it would fail but if of God they would be fighting against God, spared the apostles that day. They were beaten. And they departed from the presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Jesus. And they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ, in the temple and in every house, every single day.