Taking [the lame man] by the right hand, [Peter] helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.
- Acts 3:7-8

This week we’re going to rest in Acts 3-4 and the story of the miraculous healing of the man who was born without the ability to walk.

Wherever Jesus’ people go, we expect to see them leaving life in their wake. When all goes well, God pours vibrant, new life through the church to a world that’s desperately thirsting for life. The fledgling, just-a-few-weeks-old church was no exception.

For many, this “new life” takes the form of healing. Sometimes that looks like physical healing (which we’ll look at today and tomorrow). At other times, “new life” looks like emotional or relational or systemic healing.

In today’s passage, we see a miraculous physical healing. Physical healings marked Jesus’ ministry. He restored sight to the blind, helped the deaf to hear and the mute to speak. He even helped those who could not walk to walk again … just as we see in today’s passage.

When Peter offered healing to the man who had never walked, he was just following in Jesus’ footsteps. He didn’t hem and haw around questions of whether or not Jesus could heal this man. He was not even remotely surprised that God healed this man. He had seen miracles like these before.

Those of us who are Jesus’ followers will, at times, have that same privilege. We will pray for healing for people, reach out and touch them, and God will bring new life.

Tomorrow we’ll dig with greater nuance around the question of why healing doesn’t always happen. One of the hard truths about miraculous healing is that many of us have discouraging stories of when we prayed and a healing hasn’t happened. But today we want to lean into the passage in front of us.

Jesus’ followers were willing to speak words of healing and to pray for healing for a man who needed it. And God worked a miracle. Will we go and do likewise?

What would it look like for you today to pray for someone who needs to be healed? Take a few minutes right now and pray for someone you know of who is sick or experiencing disability. Ask God to work miraculously in their life.