Acts: The Mission in MotherhoodPrimjer

Healing

The book of Acts was written to encourage Christians to live as faithful witnesses, living and loving others in a way that reflects Christ. The book encourages us by opening our eyes to the power of the Holy Spirit, the very presence of God within us, transforming and equipping us to enter into God’s work. In this series, we’re looking at different stories in Acts of those described as being “full of the Holy Spirit.” We’re examining how the work of the Spirit plays out in the early Church’s life, for it is the same Spirit empowering our witness today as we rely upon Him in faith. In Acts 3 and 4, we see that those full of the Spirit witness for Christ by living as vessels of His healing power.

In these passages, we see a man healed by Peter and John, two of the original twelve disciples of Jesus who have been commissioned to share the Gospel after Jesus’s resurrection and ascension to Heaven. How do Peter and John’s actions translate to us as witnesses for Christ today?

We see a miraculous physical healing in this story, but at the core of the encounter is a mending of brokenness. Through God’s power, Peter and John restore the man’s debilitated legs to work properly. Today, God can and does still miraculously heal people. However, whether God has given us the ability to physically heal or not, like Peter and John, we can be vessels of healing as we share Christ with the world and work to mend, through Christ’s power, the brokenness around us.

The Biblical call to mend brokenness can be as simple as lovingly bandaging the scraped knee of a toddler. It can look like offering consistent emotional support to a friend who has just suffered a miscarriage. It can look like using our unique giftings - our creativity, our organization, our communication skills - to bring healing to a broken world in the places we work, volunteer, or live our daily lives. At the heart of this work is a reliance upon the Holy Spirit to work through us and to open people’s eyes to the person of God at the center of our work.

In commenting on this passage in Acts, one theologian says this of the miraculous healing: “A miracle is not a suspension but a restoration of the natural order.” In other words, God created us perfectly to live in his perfect world, but humanity’s sin introduced pain and brokenness.

One day, God will make all things new, restoring us and our world. Peter and John’s healing of a broken body points back to God’s original creation and foreshadows the restoration to come! Anytime, therefore, we take part in God’s healing power, we are part of something miraculous. Working through conflict to pursue unity with family members or co-workers; giving time or financial aid to help those affected by poverty or suffering; comforting a child who has been hurt by his friends - these actions are nothing short of miracles.

One important thing to note in the Acts narrative is that Peter and John always point back to Christ and His power. When the crowds stand amazed at the healing, Peter asks, “Why do you stare at us?” Peter directs the people to gaze in wonder instead upon Christ, by whose power the miracle occurred. Again, when questioned by the Jewish religious leaders following the healing, Peter pulls the attention away from himself and directs it to Christ, taking the opportunity to share of the healing and salvation to be found in Jesus.

It’s beautiful how Acts 4:13 describes Peter and John, saying, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.” It was being with Jesus that turned Peter and John into bold witnesses, and the same goes for us. It is being with Jesus that forms us into vessels of healing, into bold witnesses who are moved to point others to the power of God.

We can join the Christians of Acts in depending on Christ’s healing power to work through us by praying with them, “Grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” (Acts 4:29-30). And we can be assured that God will work through us as He did then. As Acts 4:31 concludes,

“And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.”