Nobody's Perfect

Acts of the Apostles 3:12-19

¹²When Peter saw it, he addressed the people, ‘You Israelites,^* why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk? ¹³The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant^* Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. ¹⁴But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, ¹⁵and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. ¹⁶And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus^* has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you.

Nobody is perfect, so though disclaiming the role or title of perfect malcontent, it still and always mystifies me why the worthy scholars who put the lectionary together for us insist on getting into the middle of something and quoting out of context as they did with our Acts reading for next Sunday, Easter 3 (above). The first thing that comes to mind is a rather nonplused -- “When Peter saw it,” -- when Peter saw what? What was it? Why did you start this lesson out in the middle of a story? And then, Lord help us, end it in the middle of a sentence? Yes, they actually ended it with a comma.

This lesson is from a story in the beginning of Luke’s second book “Acts of the Apostles.” Peter and John are going into the Jerusalem temple, when they come upon a lame beggar. He makes his living by being carried daily to the temple gate and set down there to beg. When Peter and John see the man, Peter tells him, “I have no money, but I will give you what I have,” and he takes the man by the arm, raises him up, and his lameness is healed. The man rejoices and enters the temple with them. Everyone who sees the formerly lame man walking is astonished. Peter then chides the crowd for having Jesus crucified, and reveals to them that they have executed God’s chosen one, the Messiah, who will come again; and that they must repent and be ready when that happens.

What the lectionary scholars think next Sunday’s preacher is supposed to do with the Acts 3:12-19 snippet out of context is beyond me; so I’m going with the lesson from First John, or maybe the post-resurrection appearance in Luke’s gospel. Meanwhile, Luke’s story from Acts chapter 3 is below, and it goes on over into chapter 4.

TW+

Acts 3. One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, at three o’clock in the afternoon. ²And a man lame from birth was being carried in. People would lay him daily at the gate of the temple called the Beautiful Gate so that he could ask for alms from those entering the temple. ³When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked them for alms. ⁴Peter looked intently at him, as did John, and said, ‘Look at us.’ ⁵And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. ⁶But Peter said, ‘I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,^* stand up and walk.’ ⁷And he took him by the right hand and raised him up; and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. ⁸Jumping up, he stood and began to walk, and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. ⁹All the people saw him walking and praising God, ¹⁰and they recognized him as the one who used to sit and ask for alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

11 While he clung to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s Portico, utterly astonished. ¹²When Peter saw it, he addressed the people, ‘You Israelites,^* why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk? ¹³The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant^* Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. ¹⁴But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, ¹⁵and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. ¹⁶And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus^* has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you.

17 ‘And now, friends,^* I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. ¹⁸In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah^* would suffer. ¹⁹Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, ²⁰so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah^* appointed for you, that is, Jesus, ²¹who must remain in heaven until the time of universal restoration that God announced long ago through his holy prophets. ²²Moses said, “The Lord your God will raise up for you from your own people^* a prophet like me. You must listen to whatever he tells you. ²³And it will be that everyone who does not listen to that prophet will be utterly rooted out from the people.” ²⁴And all the prophets, as many as have spoken, from Samuel and those after him, also predicted these days. ²⁵You are the descendants of the prophets and of the covenant that God gave to your ancestors, saying to Abraham, “And in your descendants all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” ²⁶When God raised up his servant,^* he sent him first to you, to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.’ (NRSV)