' and 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, vv. 9. 10. The strange behavior of
the formerly lame man naturally attracted the attention of all present.
Gradually one after the other recognized him, knew him, the iterative
imperfect describing a series of acts. We can hear them voice their
astonishment. "Why, this is the very one who was sitting at the
Beautiful Gate for alms." There was no doubt as to his identity.
Not only did he proclaim it in his song of praise, their own eyes
assured them that the same man who had for many years been known
to be incurably lame now walked and jumped about. "How is that
possible?" They were filled with wonder, {hi!1~o~, that amazement,
bordering on terror, caused by the novelty, unexpectedness, inexpli-
cability of a happening; amazement, Iht(fta.O'L~, a throwing of the mind
out of its normal state, a blending of fear and wonder. They re-
alized that here more than human power had been manifested.
Whence had these men obtained such power?
And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John,
all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is caZleib
Solomon's, greatly wonde,ring, v.11. Had Peter and John intended
to pass out of the Temple quietly and unobserved? If so, that was
very effectively prevented by the healed man. He held, clung to, the
apostles, as though fearing to be separated from them, and in so
doing very efficiently served as their publicity agent. For, while he
was clinging to them (note the present participle), there took place
a concourse of the people toward the porch that is called Solomon's,
all wondering, e:dta.!1~OL, terrified, thoroughly amazed, the verb form
being used of the terror of Jesus in Gethsemane, Mark 14,33, and of
the women at the open grave, Mark 16, 5. Luke purposely uses very
strong expressions to describe the deep impression made upon all the
people by this miracle. - The Porch of Solomon was one of the
covered halls, or colonnades, surrounding the Oourt of the Gentiles
and serving as convenient places for public meetings and discussions.
Solomon's Porch ran along the eastern wall of the Temple, facing the
Sermon Study for the Third Sunday after Trinity. 517
Beautiful Gate. According to Josephus (Ant., XX, 9. 7) it was a part
of Solomon's Temple left intact in the destruction by N ebuchadnez-
zar, 586 B. 0., a magnificent portico, whose roof was supported by
a double row of pillars 38 feet high. Here Jesus had taught, John
10, 23; here the first Ohristian congregation assembled, Acts 5, 12.
And 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 o,r holiness we had made this man to walk?
V. 12. "Yemen of Israel"; cpo Acts 2, 22; 5, 35; 13, 16; 21, 18.
An honorable address. Israel was the name given by God Himself
to their great ancestor, Gen. 32, 28; a title of honor, cpo Ex. 22;
14, 30. 31; Hos. 11, 1; Rom. 9,4; 11, 1. Such a captatio benevoZentiae
is not at all out of place if it proceeds not from a spirit of flattery
and man-service, but is made for the purpose of calling attention to
the truth, in order to gain the good will of one's audience. See the
opening words of Paul's epistles. To Israel had been given the
promise, and that these Israelites might receive the fulness of what
this promise involved was the purpose of Peter's speech, that they be
Israelites not only according to the flesh, 1 001'.10,18, but according
to the spirit, the Israel of God, Gal. 6, 16. Let us learn from Peter
to gain the good will of our congregations by calling their attention
to their God-given privileges. "Why marvel ye at this~" "What a bold
statement! To Peter this healing, which caused the people to be
amazed, to get beside themselves, was nothing to marvel at. It was
to him a matter of course. The reason he gives presently. First he
rejects any honor that might accrue to him and John. "Or why look
ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power," power inherent
in us, as men, "or holiness," piety, fear of God, "had made this man
to walk~" The cause for this miracle is not to be sought in us. Note
the emphasis placed on "us," "own power or holiness" by their posi-
tion at the beginning of the clauses. All glory belongs solely to God,
Ps. 115, 1.
The 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. But ye denied the Holy One and the Just and desired a mur-
derer to be granted unto you; and killed the Prince of Life, whom
God hath raised from the dead, whereof we are witnesses, vv.13-15.
The apostles are not preaching a new religion, another God. They
are not radicals, liberals, but conservatives in the best sense of the
term, conserving the unity of faith as revealed by God Himself in His
holy Word. Their God is the same God as that of Israel, of the
fathers and patriarchs, the one and only true God, besides whom
there is no God, Ex. 3, 15. 16. Your God, the God of your fathers, our
God, has glorified His Son J eSliS, EM~a.OE TOV n:a.i:Ila. O:UTOU 'I'l]oouv.
518 Sermon Study for the Thhd Sunday after Trinity.
The word ltuts is used in the LXX very frequently in translating the
term SG1·vant. In fact, the words of Peter here are almost the exact
reproduction of Is. 52, 13: 8 m:ds !lOU ••• Ilo"(;ucr{hlortm. Peter pub-
licly declares that Jesus is that Servant who according to this word
of prophecy was glorified after deepest humiliation, that Servant upon
whom the Lord had laid the iniquity of us all, by whose stripes we
are healed, Is. 53, 5. 6. Far from preaching a new doctrine, unheard
of in Israel, Peter simply proclaimed the fulfilment of God's well-
known promises to Israel in the very words of that ancient prophecy.
His preaching is saturated with Old Testament phraseology. God's
Servant, that lowly Nazarene, v. 6, has been glorified. Before he
shows the manner of God's glorification of His Servant, Peter points
out the shameful manner in which Israel had dishonored that self-
same Servant, Jesus. Five charges he raises against the people, a five-
fold cord placed round about their necks, each strand a fetter un-
breakable, unescapable for them, winding itself round about them,
strangling them, dragging them down ever deeper into death and
damnation. That Servant, whom God glorified; "ye delivered up,"
ltuQEllwxcnE, the same word used by the evangelists of Judas's betrayal,
Matt. 26, 15, etc.; of the delivering of Jesus to Pilate by the, .T eWfi,
Matt. 27, 2; of the delivering of Jesus to the Jews by Pilate to be
crucified, John 19, 16. Him whom God glorified they delivered up.
More than that; you denied Him, did not want to know Him nor
acknowledge Him as your Messiah, as the Servant prophesied in Is. 53.
You denied Him before Pilate, before his face, audaciously, shame-
lessly, though he had determined, decided, and publicly announced
his intention, to set him free, Luke 23, 16; John 19, 4. But ye, in
shameful contrast to this ignorant heathen, ye denied the HoZy One
and Just. That is the third charge. "AyLOS means holy, pure, un-
defiled; llLxmos means righteous, living in conformity with the holy
Law of God. H oZiness might be called the well-spring; rig hteous-
ness, the water gushing forth. Holiness, the inner attitude; right-
eousness, the outward manifestation; holiness, the spirit, the char-
acter; righteousness, the work, the deed. Note that Peter does not
call Jesus a holy and just one; he separates Him from all sinners;
he distinguishes Him also from all those who are called holy and just
by God Himself. Jesus is in a class by Himself; He is the Holy One
and Just. That is an attribute of God, Is. 6, 9; 40,25. Him whom
God glorified; Him who had challenged them to prove Him guilty of
even one sin, John 8, 46; Him whom even devils acknowledged as the
Holy One, Mark 1,24, - Him they denied. Following the prompt-
ings of your own sinful wickedness, you desired that instead of the
Holy One of Israel there be given you as a gracious gift Cx,uQLO"ihjvllL),
a man, o.vllQu, and not a man holy and just, but a murderer, a wicked
man, a transgressor of God's will and the law of man. Not satisfied
Sermon Study for the Third Sunday after Trinity. 519
with that, you killed the Prince of Life. That is the last and most
grievous charge brought by Peter. The Prince, the Author, of life;
cf. Heb. 2, 10; 12,2. Some interpreters restrict life to spiritual life.
The contrast with murderer, however, seems to indicate that also
physical life is included. Christ is the Author of life in every form,
physical, mental, spiritual, temporal, eternal. He is the Fountain-
head af life, John 5,26; His words were spirit and life, Matt. 11, 5. 6.
Him you killed. Unfathomable mystery, unfathomable wickedness!
How is it possible that man had the power to kill the Prince of Life,
that man should sink so deeply into wickedness as to slay the Holy
One and Just? Tl1at is the charge which Peter raised against the
Jews of his day in order to bring them to a realization of their guilt.
That charge stands to-day against every human being and must be
repeated, reiterated, by all faithful preachers without fear or favor
until the charge "You have killed the Prince of Life" changes in
the mouth of every individual into the confession, "I delivered up,
I denied, I killed the Prince of Life."
The Prince of Life did not remain dead. That was impossible,
chap. 2, 24. You killed and became guilty. God raised Him from the
dead and thus became the Justifier of the ungodly through the Author
of life. Man did the seemingly impossible, killing the Son of God,
thereby sealing, as far as he was concerned, his own doom. God did
the seemingly impossible by raising His servant from the dead, that
Servant whom He Himself had sent into the world to redeem sinful
mankind, Is. 53. By raising Him, the Lord God Almighty Himself
put the stamp of approval on the work carried out at His command
by His faithful Servant, Rom. 4, 25; 2 Cor. 5, 19 ff. 0 marvelous wis-
dom and power of God, who has made the wickedness of man in
killing the Prince of Life instrumental in consummating His plan to
save man from sin, to forgive man his wickedness, to grant to the
slayers of the Prince of Life that life eternal which this Prince
through His death, inflicted by mortal man, earned and procured for
all mankind! 0 the depth of the riches of the wisdom, the power,
the loving-kindness of God! How unfathomable His wisdom, how
unsearchable His power! And His grace and mercy, how utterly past
finding out!
"Whereof we are witnesses." The apostles were not eye-witnesses
of the resurrection, but they could witness to the fact that Jesus had
risen, since He had appeared to them.
And His name, throu.gh 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, v. 16.
The purpose of the apostles is to turn the attention of the people
away from themselves to Jesus. They displayed the same spirit that
moved John the Baptist to make his noble confession, John 3, 29 ff.
520 Sermon Study for the Third Sunday after Trinity.
Note the stress laid on the name of Jesus and on the faith in His
name. Twice the apostle mentions the name of Jesus. That name
Jesus was given to this Person by God Himself, Matt. 1, 21, and is,
like the person of Jesus, a precious gift of God, Acts 4, 12. In that
name and with that name Jesus offers Himself and all His blessings
to mankind. That name conveys to all who believingly accept it full,
complete life and salvation. Though Jesus Himself is invisible, His
name can be seen and heard and read and spoken, and that name is
as ointment poured forth, Song of Sol. 1, 3; as a strong tower into
which the righteous runs and is safe, Provo 18, 10. This name jus-
tifies, sanctifies, preserves, saves to the uttermost, John 1, 12; 20, 31;
Acts 10, 43; 1 001'. 6, 11.
The power to heal and to save lies indeed in the name of Jesus;
yet this name of Jesus is not a magic formula, cpo Acts 19,13-17.
Very emphatically Peter states that the lame man was healed through,
EltL, on the ground of, faith which rests on Jesus' name, ItLO"tSL
'toil ov6J.1.(l'to~, the genitive denoting that faith makes this name its
object, its foundation. The Savior promised the power to perform
miracles "in My name" only to those that believe, and believe not
only in the efficacy of His name to perform cures, but believe in that
Gospel to be preached to aU nations, Mark 16, 16-18, believe unto
everlasting life. Only saving faith is efficacious faith, and only the
faith of His name, faith trusting in His name, is saving faith. Any
other so-called "faith" is superstition, inefficacious, idolatrous.
Such faith is not of man's making. Says Peter: "the faith
which is by Him," 3L' m!'toil, through Him, wrought by Him. Jesus,
the Prince of Life, the Author of our salvation, Heb. 2, 10, is also the
Author and Finisher of our faith. Our faith lives, moves, and has
its being in 'and by Him alone. Hence so little are we to be regarded
as having wrought that miracle by our own power and holiness that
the very faith in His name through which that man was cured is not
of our own making, but the work of Jesus and His name, Ps. 115, 1.
Very significantly the apostle describes the cure as a oA.mtA.'I')QL