In the story of the lame man healed from Acts 3, Peter preached, and the names of Jesus tell a story. Peter was preaching in the Temple, so the gathered crowd would have been all Jewish. Peter wanted to tell them about Jesus but began in a way that would have connected with what they knew.
The God of the Old Covenant
Peter began his sermon with this: Acts 3: 13 For it is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the God of all our ancestors—who has brought glory to his servant Jesus by doing this.[1] The Jewish crowd would have been very familiar with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob because that is who they claimed to worship.
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were the patriarchs of the faith and the ones with whom God had made the Old Covenant. The promise of a nation, of descendants, land, and being a blessing to the world was an everlasting covenant from generation to generation. (Genesis 12, 15, & 17).
God had used this name as He revealed Himself to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3). Just as God had taken His people out of the land of slavery into a new land, Jesus has taken us out of the slavery to sin to a new way of life.
Peter also mentioned that Jesus was a servant, which hearkened back to the suffering servant of Isaiah 53. This servant was rejected, crushed, and paid the price for our sins, which is exactly what Jesus has done for us.
The Injustice of the Crucifixion
Peter also went on to describe what had happened when Jesus was crucified. Acts 3: 13bThis is the same Jesus whom you handed over and rejected before Pilate, despite Pilate’s decision to release him. 14 You rejected this holy, righteous one and instead demanded the release of a murderer.[2]
Jesus had never sinned, and so was holy and righteous before God. The people demanded the release of Barabbas, a known murder, and the death of Jesus, with whom Pilate found no fault (Matthew 27:15-26). The listening crowd would have been well aware of what happened with Jesus, even if they had not been part of the mob demanding His death.
Jesus and the New Covenant
Jesus had instituted the New Covenant the night before He died. His body and blood paid the price for our sins, and now we can live a new life. Acts 3: 15 You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. And we are witnesses of this fact! 16 “Through faith in the name of Jesus, this man was healed—and you know how crippled he was before. Faith in Jesus’ name has healed him before your very eyes. [3] Peter had brought his listeners from the Old Covenant to the present happenings, to the New Covenant of Jesus. This new deal promises that the author of life will give those with faith healing and new life to come. This is still a promise for us today. God had a plan for our salvation from the beginning and continues to have a plan for us. The names of Jesus tell a story for us today. Do you have faith in the author of life? To learn more, listen here:
https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/the-healed-beggar
[1-3] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation. Tyndale House Publishers.