In Whose Name Have You Done This?

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It started with the testimony of a lame man who was faithful to give praise to God for what He had done.(1) Often that’s how God begins a work of salvation. Just like it happened through the woman at the well in Sychar.(2) It also happened through the faithfulness of the young boy who gave his sack lunch to Jesus.(3) And it happened through Lazarus when he walked out of that tomb.(4)

Seeing and hearing that the man born lame was now walking, leaping and praising God, the people in the Temple were “absolutely astounded,”(5) and they “rushed out in amazement” to where the man was “holding tightly” to Peter and John.(6) “Peter saw his opportunity and addressed the crowd.”(7) He wasted no time in asking the crowd two questions to get their focus on the right Person: “what is so surprising about this?” and “why stare at us as though we made this man walk by our own power or godliness?”(7)

It would have been easy for the group to get carried away by the sight of the miracle and totally miss the Miracle Worker. i am mindful that sometimes we get carried away as we share our own personal stories of how we came to be followers of Jesus. We spend a good bit of our time talking about our days before we walked with Christ, then another bit about what our lives are now like since following Christ, but little to no time talking about the One through whom our lives have been changed. Peter never hesitated – he quickly shifted the conversation from the miracle to the Miracle Worker.

And he quickly turned their attention away from John and himself. It can be easy to fall into the trap of pride and false modesty when God has worked through us. We start to feel good about what “we’ve” done or what “we’ve” said, and we allow the conversation to linger on about how great a Christian we are for God to use us in such a great way. But Peter was careful to not allow any of that glory to be misdirected to him. He immediately redirected the focus – and we would be wise to heed his example.

“For it is the God of … all our ancestors who has brought glory to His servant Jesus by doing this. This is the same Jesus whom you handed over and rejected before Pilate, despite Pilate’s decision to release Him. You rejected this holy, righteous One and instead demanded the release of a murderer. You killed the Author of life, but God raised Him from the dead. And we are witnesses of this fact! Through faith in the name of Jesus, this man was healed – and you know how crippled he was before.”(8)

Peter knew that the men to whom he was speaking had rejected Jesus and His teachings. Approximately one year earlier Jesus had stood in that very Temple and taught and healed. Most of them, if not all, had heard Him firsthand. They had been eyewitnesses to some of the miracles He performed. And yet, they had rejected Him. They had been complicit in His execution, either directly, or indirectly through their silence. Some of them may have been a part of the crowd in Pilate’s courtyard who cried out, “Crucify Him!”(9) Many of them were those to whom Jesus was referring when, from the cross, He said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”(10)

And the Father was answering His Son’s prayer and now extending His grace and mercy to them, as Peter declared: “Friends, I realize that what you and your leaders did to Jesus was done in ignorance. But God was fulfilling what all the prophets had foretold about the Messiah – that He must suffer these things. Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away.”(11) And hundreds of those gathered there on Solomon’s Colonnade believed and repented, and received God’s forgiveness that day. Some of the group were probably Pharisees. Some of the group could have been a part of the Sanhedrin. But, on that day, they became followers of Jesus!(12)

Be mindful that where the Spirit of God is at work, Satan will show up to oppose the work and attempt to silence the witness. That was true that day, just as it is today. The same men that had plotted to have Jesus crucified were not going to sit silently by and allow this work of God to continue. In a very short while they had seen five thousand of their people turn from religion to Jesus. The power base of the religious leaders was again being threatened. If they permitted this to occur much longer, they would be left without a people to rule – and they were jealous for their own positions and power! They sent out some of the priests and Sadducees, together with the Temple guard, to arrest Peter and John, and keep them from speaking any further.(13)

The next morning the high council had Peter and John brought before them. They demanded to know, “By what power, or in whose name, have you done this?”(14) Now that was just flat out silly! They knew “in whose name” the lame man had been healed. They knew “in whose name” the message of repentance had been preached. And they knew “in whose name” Peter and John stood before them.

Remember, Caiaphas and Annas, as well as others of them, knew John and knew that he was a disciple of Jesus.(15) They knew he stood at the foot of the cross. And they knew of Peter. They probably even knew about Peter’s denial. They probably felt reasonably confident that he would cave-in under their interrogation. After all, he had denied Jesus three times in their homes when he was questioned by mere servants. Surely Peter would be so intimidated by Annas himself that he would again deny Jesus and this “movement” would be squelched.

From a worldly perspective, it wasn’t a bad plan. The council’s only problem was that they weren’t expecting the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit. Luke reminds us that Peter “was filled with the Holy Spirit.”(16) Annas wasn’t attempting to intimate a vulnerable fisherman, he was preparing to debate the Spirit of the Almighty God! Talk about showing up unprepared! Annas was ill-equipped to have that conversation. But bear in mind, so was Peter – apart from the presence, power and filling of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit was the principal actor in all of this. Peter and John were simply supporting cast members. The Holy Spirit had made the lame man to walk. The Holy Spirit had convicted the hearts of those who believed that day. The Holy Spirit had boldly spoken the Word of God through Peter. And it was the Holy Spirit who would now take on these religious leaders. Peter and John’s role in all of this was to walk according to His guidance, emptied of their own selves and filled with His Spirit. If they had attempted to do any of this on their own, they would have failed miserably – and nothing of eternal Kingdom impact would have occurred. But because everything that was done, was done in the Name above all names – the Name of Jesus – and was done under the power of His Holy Spirit, a body was healed, lives were transformed and God was glorified!

Yes, it was the testimony of a lame man … and a woman at a well. It was the faith of a young boy with a sack lunch, and the obedience of one who walked out of a tomb. It was the faithfulness of two fishermen who obediently allowed the Holy Spirit to speak through them. Each of them was a follower just like us – through whom God chose to work to bring glory to His Name. They all knew it wasn’t about them; it was all about Him. And it still is!

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Portions of this post have been taken from my book Until He Returns, chapter 11.

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(1) Acts 3:6-8

(2) John 4:28-30

(3) John 6:8-11

(4) John 11:39-45

(5) Acts 3:10

(6) Acts 3:11

(7) Acts 3:12

(8) Acts 3:13-16

(9) John 19:6