Acts 3:1-26

What is the theme of this chapter?

The miracle and the message.

What is the key verse(s) of this chapter? Verses 18-21

But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.

What can I apply to my life from this chapter (things to do/avoid)?

When reading this chapter, I must keep in mind who the audience is — the nation Israel, not the Body of Christ.

Additional observations/questions:

I'm having a difficult time understanding why these first chapters in Acts are so often misinterpreted today when they seem so clear to me.

Acts 3:17-26

“And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers did also. But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time. Moses said, ‘THE LORD GOD WILL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR BRETHREN; TO HIM YOU SHALL GIVE HEED to everything He says to you. And it will be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors onward, also announced these days. It is you who 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.’ For you first, God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”

I know that you acted in ignorance - "...God's law demanded that murderers should be executed without mercy.  Cities of refuge had been provided for the protection of the manslaughter exclusively.  Only such as had slain others accidentally (the words in Num. 35 and Deut. 19 are 'ignorantly' and 'unawares') could expect to find help there.  The murderer who made the mistake of supposing that judges in the cities of refuge would be lenient, would soon find himself delivered to death by those very judges.  Murder was in no wise to be condoned under the law of Moses.  Six times in Number 35 alone we read: 'The murderer shall surely be put to death.'  And in Deut. 19:13 it is written: 'Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel...'

"But was not the crucifixion of Christ murder in the very first degree?  Can any excuse be found for jurors who plot the defendant's death beforehand? who condemn him to death before he has even been heard? who set up false witnesses to insure his condemnation? who subject him to inhuman torture before he is even found guilty?  Can any excuse be found for the many irregularities which characterized that trial, conviction and execution as plain murder?  Can such wickedness be explained away by kind words?

"The fact is that before the crucifixion Israel's leaders did not know that Jesus was the Christ.  True, they could have known, yes, and should have known, but the fact remains that they did not know.  They were in a similar position to that in which Saul of Tarsus was later found.  He too could and should have known, but he did not know, and later wrote: 'I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.'

"No excuse, of course, could be found for the hate and injustice and cruelty which Israel and shown toward Christ, but the fact is that they did not know that He was the Christ.  Our Lord Himself implied this when He said: '...when ye have lifted up the Son of Man, then shall ye know that I am He...' (John 8:28).

"In other words, those responsible for the crucifixion well knew that they were murdering their Victim, but they did not know that their Victim was Christ.  Whatever may be the full implication of 1 Cor. 2:8, it surely teaches that had 'the princes of this world' known who their Victim was 'they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.'

"This, of course, did not justify their action, but it was a basis upon which God might show mercy.  Had they recognized Him as Messiah they would not have dared to condemn and crucify Him, but they did not believe Him to be the Messiah, hence our Lord's appeal: 'they know not what they do,' and Peter's concession: 'And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it.'" (Stam)

return - i.e., turn from sin to God by reversing their verdict about Jesus and confessing Him as the Messiah

"Those who suppose that Israel was set aside at the cross for rejecting the kingdom, and that the Body of Christ began at Pentecost, should surely stop and meditate upon this passage.  The fact is that we do not find one specific offer of the kingdom to Israel until we reach this passage.  How then could the Body of Christ have had its beginning at Pentecost?  The kingdom was only proclaimed 'at hand' prior to Calvary.  At Pentecost Israel was notified that Christ has risen from the dead, and that He surely would occupy David's throne.  There is the reminder that 'the promise is to you,' but here in Acts 3 for the first time we find Peter making the proposition that if Israel will repent the times of refreshing will come from the presence of the Lord and God will send Jesus Christ back to earth to reign.

"As to Peter preaching the gospel of the grace of God at this time, it is significant that not once in the messages of Acts 2 and 3 does Peter tell his hearers that they many look to the cross or trust in the blood of Christ to be saved.  They are charged with the crucifixion of Christ and called upon to repent.  Even when they cry: 'Men and brethren, what shall we do?'  Peter replies that they must repent and be baptized every one for the remission of sins.  And here again he calls upon them as a nation to repent, promising that if they do the rejected Christ will return and the times of refreshing will come.

"What preacher of grace today would proclaim to his hearers the message which Peter here proclaims?  Surely we would be most unscriptural if we told our hearers to repent so that Christ and the times of refreshing might come to earth from the presence of the Lord.  On the contrary, we call upon men to believe so that they might be raised to sit with Christ in the heavenlies.

"All this is not to deny that men who believe do repent, nor that those who truly repented at that time were in fact saved through the blood of Christ.  We are dealing here with the message preached and it cannot be denied that to them it was: Repent and God will send Jesus down here, while to us it is: Believe and God will take you up there.  To them the message was, 'Him...ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain...Repent, and be baptized every one of you...for the remission of sins' (Acts 2:23, 38).  To us it is: '...we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace' (Eph 1:7).

"How perfectly in order it was for Peter, here at Jerusalem, to offer the return of Christ, and to add: 'Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things...'  Jerusalem is the one city in all this world where God has set His name and where Messiah is to reign.  As the capital of the Jewish nation at that time and the seat of its government, Jerusalem must repent before He could come back to earth.  How can we forget the solemn and touching words of the rejected Lord to His beloved city: 'O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!  Behold,  your house is left unto you desolate.  For I say unto you, ye shall not see Me henceforth, till ye shall say, blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord' (Matt 23:37-39)." (Stam)

times of refreshing and restoration of all things - the millennial kingdom

by the mouth of His holy prophets - "Once more we are taken back to our Lord's clear instructions to His disciples after the resurrection (Luke 24:45).  They learned from His lips the real meaning of the prophetic writings.  St. Peter is very definite on the subject of the second advent doctrine (see 2Pet 1:19-21).  That God spake by the prophets about the 'times of restoration of all things' is abundantly evidence by such passages as Isa. chs. 11, 25, 35, 40; Jer. 31; Ezek 36; Joel 2, 3: Mic. 5; Zech. 12-14, etc." (Walker)

"These are very interesting words and of great importance.  They can only be understood in the right way if we do not lose sight of the fact to whom they were addressed, that is to Jews, and not to Gentiles.  They are the heart of this nation.  If this is lost sight of, the words must lose their right meaning.  The repentance which is demanded of them is an acknowledgment of the wrong they had done in denying the Holy and righteous One, a confession of their blood-guiltiness in having slain the author of life.  This, of course, would result in their conversion and the blotting out of their sins as a nation.  This God had promised before to the nation.  'I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins' (Isaiah 43:25).  Anticipating that glorious day in which this shall be accomplished, a day still to come, the prophet spoke the following glorious words: 'I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins; return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.  Sing, O ye heavens, for the Lord has done it; shout ye lower parts of the earth; break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest and every three therein; for the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and glorified Himself in Israel' (Isaiah 44:22-23).

"...It would be impossible to mention all these promises in what the times of refreshing and restoration of all things consist.  These days of a coming age, the kingdom age, or as we call it, because its during will be a thousand years, the Millennium, are fully described on the pages of the Old Testament prophecy.  Not alone will the nation be blessed, but Jerusalem will be a great city, the land will be restored and become the great center for blessing; the nations of the earth will receive blessing and groaning creation will be delivered from its groaning, and the curse which rests upon it.  If we interpret the Word of Prophecy literally and cease spiritualizing it, we shall have no difficulty to behold the full meaning of the times of refreshing and the restitution  of all things.

"...Not only in the Old Testament do we find a description of what is to come for Israel, the nations and creation, but elsewhere in the New Testament these times of refreshing and restoration of all things are clearly indicated.  See Matthew 19:28; Romans 8:19-23; Ephesians 1:10, etc.  But between these two words of promise of what shall be Israel's portion if they repent, stands another fact: It is the second coming of Jesus Christ.  This is a great fundamental passage of that great doctrine, the second coming of Christ.  Peter declares that God is going to send Jesus Christ.  This must mean a second coming.  To teach this in the clearest manner, he adds that the heavens received Him, but they will not retain Him forever.  He has gone into the heavens till the true restoration of all things comes.  The second coming of Christ will result in the times of refreshing and restoration of all things.  This event is, of course, His visible and glorious coming back to earth again, to the Mount of Olives from where He ascended, and for the deliverance and blessing of His earthly people.  The coming of the Lord for His church as revealed through the Apostle Paul in 1 Thessal. 4:13-18 must be distinguished from this visible return to the earth.  The resurrected and living saints will be caught up together in clouds to meet the Lord in the air, into which the Lord descends when He redeems His promise to His own: 'I will come again and receive you unto myself.'  Of this Peter had no knowledge at all when he delivered this testimony to the nation.  What he speaks of is the coming of Christ in power and glory to establish His Kingdom in the midst of His people to extend over the entire earth, so that the knowledge of the glory of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters the deep.  Of that coming prophets had spoken again and again.  Indeed, it is impossible to separate in the prophetic Word the blessings promised for Israel, the nations and creation and the coming of Christ in glory as the King of kings." (Gaebelein)

v 22 - "It is doubtless this prophecy from Moses' writings that forms the background of our Lord's repeated cry: 'He that hath ears to hear let him hear!' and of the Father's command: 'Hear ye Him,' and of the Samaritan woman's observation: 'I know that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ: when He is come, He will tell us all things' (Matt 11:15; 17:5; John 4:25)." (Stam)

these days - "From the mistaken notion that Pentecost was 'the birthday of the Church,' a more serious blunder has naturally followed; namely, that by 'these days' Peter meant...the days in which we now live. Thus the Old Testament prophets are supposed to have predicted what is taking place today. But the dispensation of grace, the blessing of the Gentiles through Israel's fall, the forming of the Body of Christ with its position in the heavenlies—all this was not the subject of prophecy, but of 'the mystery' which had been 'hid from ages and from generation,' until Israel had sealed her rejection of the King and His kingdom and God revealed it through Paul, the chief of sinners saved by grace (Col 1:24-27). The prophets could not have prophesied about this hidden purpose, nor could Peter have known about it here, just after Pentecost, for how could he then have appealed so passionately to Israel to accept Christ as King? Indeed, our Lord, just before His ascension had declined to tell His apostles whether the kingdom would 'at this time' be restored to Israel, still keeping God's purpose for this present dispensation a secret. Thus the apostles could present Israel with a bona fide offer of the kingdom and a sincere plea to accept it, leaving Israel no grounds for complaint when it became necessary for God to set the nation aside. Hence, in the passage we are considering, Peter says nothing about the dispensation of grace or the Body of Christ, but rather about the covenant promises and the blessing of 'all the kindreds of the earth' THROUGH Israel." (Stam)

first - "(protos)  first, chief - before (3), best (1), first (128), first of all (2), first importance (1), first man (1), first one (1), first things (1), first time (1), foremost (5), leading (2), leading man (1), leading men (5), outer (3), previous (1)" (Strongs)

Acts 3:11-16

While he was clinging to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them at the so-called portico of Solomon, full of amazement. But when Peter saw this, he replied to the people, “Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this, or why do you gaze at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus, the one whom you delivered and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him. But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, but put to death the Prince of life, the one whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses. 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 which comes through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.


the...portico of  Solomon - A colonnade running the length of the E side of the outer court of the Temple.

"The outer court of the temple,' the Court of the Gentiles', was surrounded by porticoes, of which those on the north, west, and east formed double cloisters, with two rows of white marble monolithic columns supporting a roof of carved cedar.  Of these porticoes or cloisters, that on the east, as Josephus tells us, was called 'Solomon's porch'.  He attributes it to the time of Solomon, but we are rather to understand that it was the work of Herod, the name of Solomon being attached to it for traditional reasons unknown to us.  It was a place of common resort for frequenters of the temple, and it is interesting to remember that our Lord delivered there His beautiful discourse about the Good Shepherd (John 10:23).   The 'sheep of His pasture' are now going to use it as a place of gathering (ch. v. 12)." (Walker)

His servant - i.e., the 'servant' of Isa 42:1-9; 49:1-13; 52:13-53:12

"The word 'servant' is a designation of the Messiah, as found in Isa. 42:1-4 and following chapters (cf. Matt 12:17-21).  This special usage of the word is peculiar to the Acts (5:26; 4:27, 30).  It implies the teaching about the sufferings of Christ as contained in Is chs. 1-53, where the 'Servant of the Lord' is spoken of.  He was to be God's 'salvation unto the ends of the earth'.  In Him were perfectly exemplified all those attributes of obedience, devotion, earnestness, and diligence which go to make up ideal service." (Walker)

Pilate - "Pontius Pilate was the fifth Roman procurator of Judea, which he administered from A>D> 26 for ten years.  He was then recalled to Rome to answer complaints brought against him by the Samaritans, and forthwith disappears from authentic history.  His part in the condemnation of our Saviour is sufficiently narrated in the four Gospels." (Walker)

the Prince of life - i.e., the originator of leader of life

on the basis of faith - i.e., through the apostles' faith or possibly the lame man's faith

"Every word Peter utters, inbreathed by the Holy Spirit, shows the national Jewish character of the address.  The Apostle does not speak of God as the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, but as the God of Abraham, and of Isaac and Jacob.  This is God's Name in connection with His covenant people.  In vain do we look for this name of God in the rest of the New Testament.  For us, as believers, God's Name is revealed as 'Our God and our Father, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.'  Then of the Lord, Peter speaks as 'His Servant Jesus.'  The authorized version has 'son' instead of servant; but that is wrong.  Peter, indeed, knew the Lord as the Son of the living God, for he had confessed Him thus at Caesarea Philippi.  The Spirit of God, however, did not suffer him to use the word Son here.  It was reserved for another Apostle to  make known the full Glory and Sonship, both eternal and by resurrection from the dead, that is, through the Apostle Paul.  The first time we find the Lord Jesus Christ preached as Son of God is in Acts 9:20, and the converted Saul of Tarsus is the preacher.  Acts 8:30, where Philip asks the Eunuch if he believes in the Son of God is an interpolation and must be omitted.  In connection with the earth and His people Israel, the Lord is 'the servant of God.'  As such He was predicted and described by Isaiah (chapter 42) and other prophets.  'That servant had been in the midst of His people and Jesus, the Nazarene, was that servant.  The God of their Fathers had witnessed to it by healing the lame man; in it God had glorified His servant Jesus." (Gaebelein)

"And think of the folly of setting a murderer free and killing the Prince of life, releasing the killer and killing the One who alone can give life!  And that Christ truly was the Prince of life, Peter was here to prove, declaring: 'We are witnesses and here is the evidence' (See Vers. 15-16).

"What an indictment!  How calculated to strike deep conviction into their hearts!

"But why does Peter thus hold Israel to account for the crucifixion, when the Lord Himself prayed that they might be forgiven?  Is he ignorant of the Lord's dying petition: "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do?'

"The explanation is that before forgiveness can be applied it must be accepted.  To tell an offender that you have forgiven him, when he does not feel he has wronged you, will not bring him one step closer to you; it may even insult him and drive him farther away.  He must first be brought to see his guilt and to realize his need of forgiveness.

...It is true, of course, that today God offers men more than forgiveness.  He offers them grace.  Rather than charge them with the death of Christ or the sins which brought that death about, He assures them that He is 'not imputing their trespasses unto them,' praying and beseeching them to be reconciled to Himself, explaining that He made Christ to be sin for them, that they might be made the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor 5:19-21).

"But this marvelous manifestation of grace is nevertheless based upon the fact that man has already been historically proven guilty.  Even today, when God offers reconciliation to His enemies by grace through faith alone, no man will be inclined to accept that offer who is not first convicted by the Holy Spirit of his guilt.  And those who do not accept the offer of God's grace will surely find that their sins will be imputed to them when they stand before the great white throne.

"Prior to the raising up of Paul the fullness of grace was not yet manifested.  God was still demonstrating historically the guilt of man and his need of divine grace.  Hence Peter's offer of forgiveness was preceded by a charge of wrongdoing, for while God had indeed forgiven Israel, as far as His attitude toward them was concerned, it was still necessary to bring them to an acknowledgement of their guilt if this forgiveness was to be realized by them.  All this on the simple premise that to offer forgiveness to one who feels he has done no wrong is like sending a cancelled bill to one who denies that he owes you anything." (Stam)

Acts 3:1-10

Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer. 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 which is called Beautiful, in order to beg alms of those who were entering the temple. When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he began asking to receive alms. But Peter, along with John, fixed his gaze on him and said, “Look at us!” And he began to give them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, “I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene—walk!” And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened. With a leap he stood upright and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God; and they were taking note of him as being the one who used to sit at the Beautiful Gate of the temple to beg alms, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.


the ninth hour = 3 pm, the hour associated with the evening sacrifice

"The fact is that Peter and John went to the temple at the hour of prayer because Israel had not yet been set aside and this was still God's appointed house of prayer.  They were most faithful to their great commission, for under that commission (which was based upon the covenants and prophets) the conversion of the nations must begin with the conversion of the nation—Israel (See Zech 8:13; Luke 24:47; Acts 1:8; 3:25-26).  Nor were these men unspiritual for clinging to Judaism and its ceremonies, for no revelation had yet been given that because of the cross the Mosaic law could be set aside.  In a word, the dispensation of the grace of God had not yet begun, nor had the mystery, God's unprophesied purpose concerning the Body of Christ, as yet been revealed.  This was not to take place until the raising up of Paul, that other apostle." (Stam)

the gate...Beautiful - "Probably the Nicanor Gate, the eastern gate of the Temple buildings, leading from the Court of the Gentiles into the  Women's Court." (Ryrie)

"We do not meet with this name elsewhere, and so it is difficult to identify the door in question.  The most probable conjecture is that it is identical with the gate of Herod's temple which was known as 'the gate Nicanor'.  This was on the east side of the 'Court of the Israelites' and was reached by a flight of fourteen or fifteen steps from the 'Court of the Women'.  In other words, it was the main entrance from the east into the innermost court.  All the temple gates to this innermost court had folding doors, covered with gold and silver; but Josephus tells us that this one was much larger than the rest, being fifty cubits high and forty cubits broad.  It was made of Corinthian brass, 'adorned after a most costly manner' with thicker and richer plates of gold than the other gates.  Others have supposed the 'beautiful' gate or door to be the gate 'Shushan' (lily), which appears to have been on the east of the 'Court of the Women'; through it ingress was had from the 'Court of the Gentiles'.  There is however considerable uncertainty as to its exact locality.  Josephus's description of the more handsome of the gates has been appropriated to this gate 'Shushan', erroneously, as it would seem." (Walker)

In the name of Jesus Christ -  His power and authority are invoked.

"...At the same time a lame man, who had been in this condition from his birth, was being carried towards that beautiful gate.  There they laid him down in his helpless condition that he might beg from those who entered in.  Daily he was to be seen; most likely for many years He went to the temple and the miracles He did; yet this helpless beggar had not been healed.  He reminds us vividly of that other lame man, who laid in the five porches and whom the Lord healed (John 5).  From the chapter which follows we learn that this lame man at the temple gate was forty years old.  His condition and position is typical of the moral condition of the nation.  Like this man, Israel was helpless with all its beautiful religious ceremonies, laying outside, with no strength to enter in.  The age of the lame man finds similar application; forty is the number of testing.  The nation's condition as helpless, unable to walk in the statues and laws of God, without strength, outside, and a beggar, is therefore fully pictured in this lame man...

"But why was this miracle wrong at this time?  It was wrought as another evidence for the unbelieving people that Jesus of Nazareth, whom they had rejected and delivered into the hands of the Gentiles, is the Messiah and their King.  It was an evidence that He who hung on the cross and had been laid into the tomb is living in heaven and that God's omnipotent power was revealed in answer to that Name whom they had hated without a cause.  God had promised to Israel His people a Kingdom, the blessings and glories of which prophet after prophet had announced.  It was not to be a spiritual Kingdom, but a literal one, with the King of Righteousness ruling in the midst of them.  One great Kingdom prophecy in the Old Testament mentions the lame man, too.  'Then shall the lame man leap as an hart' (Isiah 35:6).  When the King, the Son of David, the Immanuel, had appeared in their midst, preaching the nearness of that kingdom, He manifested His kingly divine power, and the blind saw, the deaf heard and the lame walked.  The people rejected Him.  And now once more an offer of that Kingdom is to be made to the people.  But the Lord, the rejected One, who had taken His place upon His Father's throne manifests His power once more in the healing of the lame man.

"And as this lame man had been perfectly healed, that he not alone walked, but leaped, with songs of praises on his lips, entering the temple, so the Lord was ready and willing to heal His people.  The lame man so wonderfully healed, leaping and praising God, is a picture of what the whole nation will be in a future day, when they will look upon Him whom they have pierced (Zechariah 12:10).  God's promise to them, still unfulfilled, is: 'I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statues, and ye shall keep my judgment and do them' (Ezekiel 36:27).  Then will the remnant of His people break forth in singing.  'In that day thous shalt say, O Lord, I will praise Thee; though Thou wast angry with me, Thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortest me.  Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid, for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation; (Isaiah 12:1-6).  'And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away' (Isaiah 35:10).  The commotion in the temple was great after this miracle had taken place.  There could be no mistake about it.  The man who had been healed was too well known by the multitude.  They recognized him at once.  It was the same familiar face, which they had seen again and again at the temple gate.  What a change had taken place!  His helplessness was completely removed and he leaped along.  Instead of the miserable cry of the mendicant, his lips shouted the praises of God.  A large multitude came together, greatly wondering.  And now Peter opens his lips to speak to the people." (Gaebelein)

"Some years after the healing of the lame man, Peter wrote to the Jewish believers of his day: 'Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot' (1 Pet 1:18-19).  There was the rub.  Israel was seeking deliverance from her troubles but not from her sin.  She would not repent.  Therefore the nation was laid as a helpless beggar outside the temple, while the true worshippers, the 'little flock,' worshipped daily within!  And it was this despised remnant that had what Israel needed to help her rise to her feet and enter the temple too.  Indeed, the burning question now was: Would she even yet receive it?

"What a foreshadowing of millennial blessing to come, and what a sign of blessing proffered Israel then, at Pentecost, as Peter lifts the beggar by the right hand, saying: 'In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk!" (Verse 6).  Suddenly the lame beggar has become a worshipper and he enters with them into the temple, 'walking, and leaping and praising God'!  For the present Israel still remains spiritually a poor, helpless beggar, outside of the presence of God, but the blessed day will come when the chosen nation will be saved and with the resurrected remnant will enter before God with songs of rejoicing." (Stam)

wonder - "The word means more than 'wonder', and may be rendered 'amazement', as in Luke 4:36, 9, the only other passages in which it occurs.  It is thus peculiar to St. Luke, and another proof of his authorship." (Walker)

amazement - "This may be translated 'astonishment' (as in Mark 16:8) or 'entrancement'.  It denotes a great disturbance or distraction of mind arising from wonder or terror.  It occurs again three times in the Acts (10:10; 11:5; 22:17), and is rendered 'trance'.  It is cognate with the verb 'to be amazed' which we met with in 2:7, which see." (Walker)