Acts chapter 3 tells the story of the first miracle after the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles at Pentecost. It is a simple story, and that may be the reason I have overlooked a very important point in this story.

Peter and John were on their way to the temple at about 3 o’clock in the afternoon. They probably knew they would find a large number of people there, and that would be a good place to do some preaching.

At the gate of the temple, they saw a lame man that had been carried and placed in a convenient place so that he could beg for money. When Peter and John got close enough to hear him speak, he asked them for money.

Peter and John both looked him in the eyes, and Peter told him to look on them. The man complied, expecting that they would give him money. What a surprise it must have been when 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”.

Peter then reached down, took him by the hand, and he walked. He walked right into the temple with Peter and John! Can you just image the way this man must have felt? He had set at The Beautiful Gate to beg, a humiliating thing to have to do. Now, with just a few words, he can walk! He can not only walk, but he was leaping and praising God.

In verse 11 of Acts 3 is the verse I missed. It says, “Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, the people ran together to them…” (NKJV). He held on to Peter and John, not because he couldn’t stand up, but because he didn’t want to let them go. We know he didn’t need help from strength he received recorded in verse 7. He had all the strength to stand, walk, and leap.

I would want to hold on to them too if they had healed me from such a disability! He might have wanted to give them credit for this miracle when the people rushed to greet him. Maybe he just wanted to talk to them and find out more about this power they had.

Peter used this opportunity to preach to the people. He once again recounted the murder of the “Holy One”, the “Just”, “The Prince of Life”. He even told them he understood that they did it in ignorance. Then he told them that these things were prophesied, and he encouraged them to repent and be converted.

We never hear about the lame man again. We have no idea what happened to him. Surely, he returned to his family a happy man. No more begging!

I wonder what he learned from Peter and John in the sermon they preached following his healing. I wonder if he became a Christian. I wonder how the lame man felt when the rulers took Peter and John into custody.

Verse 13 tells us what happened. The rulers were very angry that Peter and John taught about the resurrection of Jesus. But they had to admit that these men had been with Jesus, and verse 14 says the healed man was standing with them.

The rulers scolded Peter and John, but they had to let them go. They couldn’t find a way to punish them because this man was over forty years old, and there was no doubt that he had been healed.

He “held on” to these men who gave him everything. In doing so, he held on to the things they said. Can we do any less than to hold on to the one who is the giver of all things, Jesus Christ?

Sandra Oliver