Chapter 3
The Healing at the Beautiful Gate
1 Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.
2 And a man who had been lame from his mother’s womb was being carried along, whom they used to set down every day at the gate of the temple called Beautiful, to ask alms from those entering the temple.
3 When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he began asking to receive alms.
4 But Peter, along with John, fixed his gaze on him and said, “Look at us.”
5 And he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them.
6 But Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give to you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene — walk!”
7 And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened.
8 And leaping up, he stood and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.
9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God;
10 and they recognized him as the one who used to sit at the Beautiful Gate of the temple to beg for alms, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
Translator’s Notes — vv. 1–10:
v.1: The “ninth hour” is 3:00 PM, one of the three daily hours of prayer in Jewish practice (morning, afternoon, and evening, corresponding roughly to 9:00 AM, 3:00 PM, and sunset). Peter and John are going to the temple for regular Jewish worship. The church is still entirely embedded in Judaism; there is no separate Christian place of worship. The apostles pray in the temple like any other devout Jews.
τὴν θύραν τοῦ ἱεροῦ τὴν λεγομένην Ὡραίαν (tēn thyran tou hierou tēn legomenēn Hōraian) — v.2: The “Beautiful Gate” — the exact identification is debated. Josephus describes a gate of Corinthian bronze on the east side of the temple that “greatly excelled those that were only covered with silver and gold” (Jewish War 5.5.3). This is often identified with the Nicanor Gate, the main entrance from the Court of the Gentiles into the Court of Women. It was a high-traffic location — the ideal spot for a beggar, because every worshipper entering the inner courts had to pass through it.
v.2: The man has been lame “from his mother’s womb” — Luke the physician specifies the congenital nature of the condition. This is not a temporary injury but a lifelong disability. In chapter 4:22, we learn the man is over forty years old. He has been carried to this gate and set down to beg every single day for decades. Everyone who worshipped at the temple knew him. This matters for what comes next: the healing will be verified by an entire city that has seen this man begging for forty years.
ἀτενίσας αὐτῷ (atenisas autō) — v.4: “Fixed his gaze on him” — the verb ἀτενίζω (atenizō) means to look intently, to stare with fixed concentration. It’s a word Luke uses frequently in Acts for moments of intense spiritual perception (1:10, 6:15, 7:55, 10:4, 13:9, 14:9, 23:1). Peter doesn’t glance at the beggar and toss a coin; he stops, looks directly at him, and demands eye contact. The beggar is accustomed to being invisible — people drop coins without looking. Peter forces a human encounter before a divine one.
v.5: The man’s expectation is entirely shaped by his experience: he expects money. He cannot conceive of what Peter is about to offer because nothing in his forty years of begging has prepared him for it. The gap between what he expects and what he receives is the emotional center of the story.
v.6: Peter’s declaration is one of the most famous lines in Acts. “Silver and gold I do not have” — the early church was genuinely poor. These men own nothing. But “what I do have I give to you” — Peter possesses something money cannot buy and cannot replicate. “In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene — walk!” The healing is performed not in Peter’s own power but in the name (and therefore the authority and presence) of Jesus. This is crucial for Peter’s sermon that follows: the power is not his.
βάσεις καὶ τὰ σφυδρά (baseis kai ta sphydra) — v.7: “His feet and his ankles were strengthened” — Luke uses medical terminology: βάσεις (baseis, “feet” in the medical sense of the weight-bearing structures) and σφυδρά (sphydra, “ankle bones”). The word σφυδρόν appears nowhere else in the New Testament and is a technical anatomical term found in medical writers like Galen. Luke the physician notices which bones and joints are affected. The strengthening is instantaneous (παραχρῆμα, parachrēma, “immediately”): muscles, tendons, and bones that have never borne weight are suddenly functional.
v.8: The man’s response is exuberant. “Leaping up, he stood and began to walk” — and then he enters the temple “walking and leaping and praising God.” The triple participle (περιπατῶν καὶ ἁλλόμενος καὶ αἰνῶν, “walking and leaping and praising”) captures a man who cannot contain himself. He is doing three things at once because doing one at a time is insufficient. The language echoes Isaiah 35:6: “Then the lame man will leap like a deer.” The prophetic promise of messianic healing is being fulfilled in the temple courtyard.
v.8: A crucial detail: he enters the temple. A man who is lame from birth would have been excluded from full participation in temple worship under certain interpretations of Leviticus 21:17–20 (which prohibits those with physical defects from approaching the altar). His healing is not just physical restoration but social and religious reintegration. He can now enter the house of God as a full participant for the first time in his life.
vv.9–10: The crowd’s recognition is the authentication. This is not a stranger healed anonymously; this is the man everyone knows, the fixture at the Beautiful Gate, now walking and leaping inside the temple. The healing is public, verifiable, and undeniable. Even the authorities in chapter 4 will acknowledge they cannot deny it: “A noteworthy sign has been performed through them, apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it” (4:16).
Peter’s Sermon in Solomon’s Portico
11 While he was clinging to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them at what was called Solomon’s Portico, utterly astonished.
12 But when Peter saw this, he responded to the people: “Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this, or why do you gaze at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made him walk?
13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him.
14 But you denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you,
15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead — of which we are witnesses.
16 And on the basis of faith in his name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith that comes through him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.
Translator’s Notes — vv. 11–16:
v.11: Solomon’s Portico (Στοὰ Σολομῶντος) was a covered colonnade running along the eastern side of the temple’s outer court (the Court of the Gentiles). It was a traditional gathering place for teaching and discussion — Jesus himself taught there (John 10:23). The early church continued to meet there (Acts 5:12). It was a public, open-air space that could accommodate large crowds — the ideal setting for what is about to become Peter’s second major sermon.
v.12: Peter’s first move is deflection: “Why do you gaze at us?” The crowd is looking at Peter and John as though they are miracle workers. Peter immediately redirects: it was not our power (δύναμις) or our godliness (εὐσέβεια, eusebeia — a word meaning piety, religious devotion). The healing is not a testament to the apostles’ spiritual attainment; it is a testament to Jesus. Peter will make this explicit in v.16.
τὸν παῖδα αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦν (ton paida autou Iēsoun) — v.13: “His servant Jesus” — the word παῖς (pais) can mean “child,” “son,” or “servant.” In this context it almost certainly echoes the Servant of the LORD in Isaiah (particularly Isaiah 42, 49, 52–53). Peter is identifying Jesus with Isaiah’s suffering Servant — the one who would be “glorified” (ἐδόξασεν, edoxasen) through suffering. The echo of Isaiah 52:13 (“My servant will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted”) is unmistakable.
vv.13–15: Peter’s accusation is relentless and structured in three devastating contrasts. You delivered up and denied the one Pilate wanted to release (v.13). You denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked instead for a murderer (v.14 — the reference is to Barabbas, whose name ironically means “son of the father”). You killed the Author of life, but God raised him (v.15). Each contrast sharpens the indictment: the audience chose the wrong man at every turn. They rejected holiness, chose murder, and killed the source of life itself.
τὸν ἀρχηγὸν τῆς ζωῆς (ton archēgon tēs zōēs) — v.15: “The Author of life” — ἀρχηγός (archēgos) means “originator,” “founder,” “pioneer,” “prince.” It is someone who leads the way by going first — a trailblazer, a founder of a new path. Jesus is the one who originates life and pioneers the way into it. The paradox is staggering: you killed the originator of life. It is the most compressed statement of the absurdity of the crucifixion in the New Testament — killing the source of life is an act of cosmic self-contradiction.
v.16: Peter’s explanation of the healing is carefully constructed. It was not Peter’s faith or Peter’s power. It was “faith in his name” — the name of Jesus — that healed the man. And even the faith itself is not credited to the healer: it is “the faith that comes through him” (ἡ πίστις ἡ δι’ αὐτοῦ). Even the capacity to believe is a gift mediated through Jesus. Peter is emptying himself of every possible claim to the miracle.
ὁλοκληρίαν (holoklērian) — v.16: “Perfect health” — ὁλοκληρία (holoklēria) means wholeness, completeness, soundness in every part. It is related to ὁλόκληρος, which means “complete in all its parts, entire, whole.” The word implies that the healing was total — not partial improvement but complete restoration. A man who has never walked is now perfectly sound. The word appears only here in the New Testament.
Peter’s Call to Repentance
17 “And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers did also.
18 But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer, he has thus fulfilled.
19 Therefore repent and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped away,
20 in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah appointed for you — Jesus,
21 whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from ancient times.
22 Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You shall listen to him in everything he says to you.
23 And it shall be that every soul that does not listen to that prophet will be utterly destroyed from among the people.’
24 And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel onward, also proclaimed these days.
25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’
26 For you first, God raised up his Servant and sent him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”
Translator’s Notes — vv. 17–26:
v.17: Peter’s tone shifts dramatically. After the sharp accusation of vv.13–15, he now extends mercy: “I know you acted in ignorance.” This is not an excuse — ignorance does not erase guilt — but it opens a door. If the act was committed in ignorance, then knowledge can change the situation. Repentance is possible precisely because the rejection of Jesus was not fully informed. The same grace is extended to the rulers (ἄρχοντες), which is remarkable given that the Sanhedrin orchestrated the crucifixion. Even they, Peter suggests, did not fully understand what they were doing. This echoes Jesus’s own prayer from the cross: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).
v.18: Peter’s theological claim is sweeping: the suffering of the Messiah was announced beforehand “by the mouth of all the prophets.” Not one prophet or two, but the entire prophetic tradition pointed to a suffering Messiah. This is a bold hermeneutical claim — one that the Jewish listeners would have found controversial, since the dominant messianic expectation was of a triumphant king, not a suffering servant. Peter is claiming that the church’s reading of the prophets is the correct one, and that the crucifixion was not a catastrophic derailment but the fulfillment of the deepest prophetic pattern.
ἐξαλειφθῆναι (exaleiphthēnai) — v.19: “Wiped away” — the verb ἐξαλείφω (exaleiphō) means to wipe off, to smear out, to obliterate. It was used for wiping ink off a papyrus document — literally erasing the writing. The image is of a debt record being wiped clean, the writing made as though it never existed. This is not forgiveness in the sense of overlooking; it is obliteration, a complete erasure.
καιροὶ ἀναψύξεως (kairoi anapsyxeōs) — vv.19–20: “Times of refreshing” — ἀνάψυξις (anapsyxis) means a cooling, a refreshing breath, relief from heat or labor. It appears only here in the New Testament. The word carries the image of a cool breeze on an exhausted traveler. Combined with the “times of restoration of all things” (χρόνων ἀποκαταστάσεως πάντων) in v.21, Peter is offering both immediate relief (refreshing) and ultimate cosmic renewal (restoration). The gospel promises both: relief now and the remaking of all things at the end.
v.21: “Whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things” — this is one of the earliest statements of the Christian belief that Jesus remains in heaven until a future return. The word “must” (δεῖ, dei — the same word of divine necessity we encountered throughout Paul’s story) indicates that this is not a passive waiting but an ordained sequence: heaven holds Jesus until the right time. The “restoration of all things” (ἀποκατάστασις πάντων) is a comprehensive vision — not just the salvation of individuals but the renewal of the entire created order. This language resonates with the disciples’ question in 1:6 about restoring the kingdom to Israel: the restoration is coming, Peter says, but it is bigger than Israel and on God’s timetable.
vv.22–23: Peter quotes Deuteronomy 18:15–19, Moses’s prediction of a “prophet like me” whom God would raise up. This was one of the most important messianic texts in first-century Judaism. The Dead Sea Scrolls community at Qumran was also waiting for this “prophet like Moses.” Peter identifies Jesus as this prophet and adds the warning from Deuteronomy 18:19: anyone who does not listen to this prophet “will be utterly destroyed from among the people.” The language echoes the covenant curse of “cutting off” from Israel (cf. Leviticus 23:29) — rejecting this prophet is equivalent to placing yourself outside the covenant people.
v.25: Peter’s closing argument appeals to the covenant with Abraham (Genesis 22:18): “In your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” The audience is composed of Abraham’s descendants — they are the heirs of this promise. But the promise was never only about Israel; it was always aimed at “all the families of the earth.” Peter may not yet fully grasp the Gentile implications of what he is saying (that will come in chapter 10), but the seeds are already here in the text he quotes.
ὑμῖν πρῶτον (hymin prōton) — v.26: “For you first” — the word πρῶτον (prōton, “first”) implies a “second.” God sent Jesus to bless Israel first — but not only Israel. The Gentile mission is already latent in this “first.” The Abrahamic promise demands it: “all the families of the earth.” But the order is Israel first, then the nations. This is the pattern Paul will later articulate explicitly: “to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16).
v.26: The final phrase is striking: God sent Jesus “to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.” The blessing is not material prosperity or national triumph; it is moral transformation. The greatest gift God can give is to turn you away from what is destroying you. This is a profoundly different understanding of divine blessing than the audience might have expected — and it is the understanding that will drive the entire narrative of Acts.
General Notes on the Chapter
Acts 3 is the first miracle story in the church’s history, and Luke shapes it carefully to establish patterns that will recur throughout the book. The structure is: a visible act of power, followed by a public explanation that deflects glory from the human agents to Jesus, followed by a call to repentance. This is the template for the church’s public witness: miraculous demonstration of Jesus’s living power, followed by proclamation of the gospel. The miracle opens the door; the sermon walks through it.
Peter’s sermon in chapter 3 is both more personal and more theologically developed than his Pentecost sermon. The Pentecost sermon established the basic pattern: Scripture fulfilled, Jesus crucified and risen, repent and believe. The Solomon’s Portico sermon adds several layers: the identification of Jesus with Isaiah’s Servant, the explicit naming of the audience’s guilt (you denied, you killed), the offer of mercy through ignorance, the promise of cosmic restoration, the identification of Jesus with the Prophet like Moses, and the appeal to the Abrahamic covenant. The theology is expanding as the situation demands it.
The healing of the lame man is rich with symbolic resonance. A man excluded from full temple participation by his disability is healed at the temple gate and enters the temple for the first time as a full worshipper. The barrier between him and God has been removed — not by changing the rules but by changing the man. Isaiah’s vision of the messianic age (“then the lame man will leap like a deer,” Isaiah 35:6) is being fulfilled in the temple precincts. And it happens not through silver and gold — the currency of the old world — but through the name of Jesus, the currency of the new.
The phrase “Author of life” (ἀρχηγὸς τῆς ζωῆς, v.15) is one of the most compressed christological titles in the New Testament. It names Jesus as the originator and pioneer of life itself. To kill the Author of life is an act of ontological absurdity — like trying to destroy the source of your own existence. And yet God’s response to this absurdity is not vengeance but resurrection: the Author of life cannot be held by death. The same power that raised Jesus has now healed this man’s ankles. The resurrection is not a past event locked in history; it is a continuing force that breaks into the present through acts of healing and restoration.