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Acts 3

KJV · Chapter 3/28

1Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.

2And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple;

3Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms.

4And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us.

5And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them.

6Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.

7And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.

8And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.

9And all the people saw him walking and praising God:

10And they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him.

11And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon’s, greatly wondering.

12And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?

13The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.

14But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you;

15And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.

16And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.

17And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers.

18But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.

19Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;

20And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:

21Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.

22For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.

23And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.

24Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.

25Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.

26Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Peter and John heal a man lame from birth at the temple gate called Beautiful. The crowd is amazed, and Peter takes the opportunity to preach about Jesus as the promised Messiah.

Explanation

The healing takes place at the 'ninth hour' (around 3 p.m.), the hour of prayer at the temple, showing that the apostles continued practicing Jewish devotion while proclaiming Jesus. Peter is careful not to attribute the miracle to his own power, redirecting all the glory to the name of Jesus. He also calls the people to repentance, citing Moses and the prophets to show that Jesus fulfills Jewish messianic expectation. The practical lesson: true spiritual power always points to God, never to the one exercising it.

Fun facts

  • The temple's 'Beautiful' Gate was, according to historians like Flavius Josephus, likely made of Corinthian bronze, one of the most ornate entrances in the Jerusalem temple complex.
  • Peter quotes Deuteronomy 18:15, where Moses speaks of a 'prophet like me' whom God would raise up — a passage widely understood by the early Christians as prophecy about the Messiah.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Acts 3:1The hour of prayer mentioned, the ninth, was around 3 p.m. The temple in Jerusalem had fixed prayer times tied to the morning and evening sacrifices, and devout Jews went there at those hours even if they were not priests.
  2. Acts 3:2The “Beautiful” gate was one of the entrances to the temple complex, probably the most ornate one. Beggars positioned themselves there because it was an unavoidable passage for many people going to pray.
  3. Acts 3:3The lame man asks Peter and John for alms just as he did every day with anyone entering the temple, expecting nothing more than money.
  4. Acts 3:4Peter fixes his eyes on him and asks for his attention before acting, a gesture that prepares the man to receive something different from what he expected.
  5. Acts 3:5The lame man looks at them expecting to receive a coin, showing that he had no idea what was about to happen.
  6. Acts 3:6Peter’s words are the center of the scene: he has no money to give, but he offers healing in the name of Jesus of Nazareth—showing that the power came from Jesus, not from the apostles themselves.
  7. Acts 3:7Peter takes the man by the right hand and lifts him up; the text describes with medical detail his feet and ankle bones receiving strength immediately, reinforcing that the healing was complete and instant.
  8. Acts 3:8The man not only walks but leaps, entering the temple together with Peter and John, visibly celebrating his own healing—a striking contrast with his whole life spent sitting and begging.
  9. Acts 3:9The scene happens in full view of all the people present in the temple at that hour of prayer, giving the healing a mass witness rather than a hidden event.
  10. Acts 3:10People recognize the man as the beggar who always sat at the Beautiful gate, which makes the change even more shocking to those who saw him there every day.
  11. Acts 3:11Solomon’s porch was a covered colonnade on the east side of the temple, a remnant that tradition linked to the older temple built by Solomon. It became a fixed meeting place for the first Christians within the temple grounds.
  12. Acts 3:12Peter uses the crowd’s attention to make clear that the healing did not come from his own or John’s power or holiness, preventing people from treating them as divine figures.
  13. Acts 3:13Peter speaks to Jewish listeners who had been present or had heard about Jesus’ trial before the Roman governor Pontius Pilate, when the crowd asked for Barabbas to be released instead of Him.
  14. Acts 3:14Peter recalls that the crowd asked for Barabbas, a murderer, to be released instead of Jesus, whom he calls “the Holy One and the Just”—a direct contrast between the two.
  15. Acts 3:15“The Prince of life” is what Peter calls Jesus, highlighting the irony that the listeners killed the very one who is the source of life, and that God raised Him from the dead soon after.
  16. Acts 3:16Peter explains that it was neither magic nor his own virtue: it was faith in the name of Jesus that brought the man complete healing, in front of everyone now witnessing the result.
  17. Acts 3:17Peter softens the accusation by saying that they acted out of ignorance, both the people and their own leaders, opening space for a call to repentance rather than mere condemnation.
  18. Acts 3:18Peter argues that the Messiah’s suffering was not an accident or a failure, but something the Old Testament prophets had already announced beforehand.
  19. Acts 3:19The call to repentance is linked to the idea of “times of refreshing,” an expression of relief and renewal that would come with the return of God’s special presence.
  20. Acts 3:20Peter ties the people’s repentance to the future sending back of Jesus Christ, the same one already announced to them before.
  21. Acts 3:21“Heaven” must receive Jesus until a time of “restitution of all things,” a prophetic idea that history is moving toward a complete renewal long announced by the prophets.
  22. Acts 3:22Peter quotes Moses speaking of a prophet “like unto me,” a passage from Deuteronomy that Jews read as the promise of a great prophet still to come. Peter is saying that this promise was fulfilled in Jesus.
  23. Acts 3:23Peter continues quoting Moses: whoever would not hear this promised prophet “shall be destroyed from among the people,” that is, cut off from the community of God’s people—a quotation from the book of Deuteronomy.
  24. Acts 3:24Peter broadens the argument, saying that not only Moses but all the prophets since Samuel had, in one way or another, already pointed to these events they were now living through.
  25. Acts 3:25Peter calls the listeners “the children of the prophets” and of the covenant God made with Abraham, recalling the ancient promise that all the families of the earth would be blessed through his descendants.
  26. Acts 3:26Peter closes his speech saying that God sent Jesus to Israel first, before the Gentiles, with the purpose of blessing them, turning each one away from their own wickedness.

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