Acts 3 reminds us that the Christian faith rests on definite historical events, especially the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and because the cross has already taken place in history, believers today can be certain of their faith and respond with trust, repentance, and renewed devotion.
As we consider this truth, we come with prayerful hearts, remembering that God has gathered us so that we may once again be impressed by the great act of Jesus on the cross, the single historical event through which God calls us to return to Him, repent, and live out the message of the cross, as the Holy Spirit rekindles our faith.
Many cultures have traditional stories explaining the origins of customs, just like the Hokkien practice of offering thanks on the ninth day of Chinese New Year with sugarcane at the entrance of homes, often linked to a tale of ancestors being saved from danger while hiding in sugarcane fields. Yet upon closer examination, this story exists in multiple versions with limited reliable evidence, and whether it is historically accurate or not does not change how one lives out their cultural identity. Christianity, however, is fundamentally different because the Christian faith depends entirely on a real historical event: the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and if these events did not happen, Christianity would be meaningless. Unlike the sugarcane story, the Christian message is supported by abundant writings, historical witnesses, and faithful records preserved for 2,000 years.
Acts 3 is one such record, and Luke’s purpose in writing both Luke and Acts was to provide a reliable account so that believers may have certainty, recording how the apostles, empowered by the Holy Spirit, became witnesses to Jesus’ death and resurrection. Acts 3 describes the public healing of a man lame from birth at the temple gate, where Peter said, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk,” and the man immediately stood, walked, and praised God. Yet today, many struggle to be deeply moved by such biblical accounts because postmodernism has shaped society to doubt absolute truth and value personal meaning over objective reality, making miracles seem distant, symbolic, or simply inspirational. As a result, some treat Jesus’ resurrection the same way as the sugarcane story—interesting, but not worth verifying—yet if we saw the Acts 3 healing with our own eyes, it would greatly strengthen faith, which is precisely why Luke recorded it, so that future readers may understand the reality of God’s work.
Peter clarified that the healing was not by human power but by faith in the name of Jesus, and if faith in the ascended Christ could make a lame man walk, then faith in Him certainly has the power to grant salvation, giving believers the certainty God intends. Some Christians desire supernatural experiences and expect miracles to be common today, but Acts 3 teaches us to distinguish between God’s general healing and miraculous signs; while all healing comes from God and we may pray for it, Scripture does not teach that miraculous healing must be continual. Misunderstandings arise when people claim that certain words or methods can guarantee instant miracles, but miraculous signs in the early church had a specific purpose: to authenticate the apostles’ witness to the gospel of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Once the gospel was confirmed and recorded in Scripture, the need for such signs ceased, and demanding constant miracles today is like asking for a new gospel or new revelation. To chase miracles God has not promised leads to disappointment, for God’s plan is not to heal every physical ailment immediately, but to heal fully and finally in the coming kingdom when Christ returns. The healing in Acts 3 pointed both backward to confirm Jesus’ death and resurrection and forward to the complete restoration He will bring. After the healing, Peter and John did not begin a healing rally but directed the crowd back to the cross and the resurrection. Only one man received physical healing, but everyone present was called to a deeper healing: repentance, for Peter confronted them with the truth that they denied the Holy and Righteous One and killed the Author of Life.
Though Jesus was killed, death could not hold Him, and His resurrection proved His identity and authority. Rejecting Jesus is ultimately rejecting the life God offers, and this applies not only to those in the past but to anyone today who refuses to acknowledge Him, for even Peter once denied Jesus. Therefore, the greatest sin we are called to repent of is rejecting God and the life He gives through His Son, and true healing begins not with physical restoration but with turning back to Christ so that our sins may be blotted out.
