Nothing to say, yet
Transcription
Peter and John encounter a lame man at the Beautiful Gate in Jerusalem. They heal him in the name of Jesus Christ, causing astonishment among the people. The priests and rulers become angry and imprison Peter and John. They are brought before the council and questioned about their actions. Peter boldly proclaims that the healing was done by the power of Jesus Christ and that there is salvation in no one else. The council warns them not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus, but Peter and John refuse to obey. After being released, they report to their friends and pray together, receiving the Holy Spirit and speaking the word of God with boldness. At the beautiful gate from the New Testament Book of Acts, all around the temple in Jerusalem there were wide and richly-paved porches, while the roofs were supported by exquisite pillars of colored marble. Jesus Christ used to sit in these porches and teach the people who crowded around him, and after his death and resurrection, Peter and the Apostles sat there day after day telling the glad news that Jesus Christ had indeed risen from the dead. From Solomon's porch, wide steps rose up to a great gate called the Beautiful Gate, made of a mixture of silver and gold and copper. At three o'clock every afternoon there was a sacrifice in the temple, and one day as Peter and John were going up the wide steps, they noticed that some men were carrying a poor lame man, that they might seat him near the gate to ask for alms. On seeing Peter and John, the man began to beg, and instantly the Holy Spirit of Jesus whispered to them what to do, and Peter answered the man, saying, Look at us. The lame man looked up eagerly, thinking that Peter meant to give him some money, but Peter said kindly and earnestly, Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have, I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately the man's feet and ankle bones received strength, and leaping up he entered with them into the temple, walking and leaping and praising God. As the people saw this wonderful sight, they were filled with astonishment. The news spread like wildfire amongst the crowds, so that when Peter and John returned from the sacrifice, with the lame man holding on to them as though he could not let them go, the people stared until at last Peter turned to them and said, You men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why do you look so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk? And he began to preach, clearly and forcefully, about Jesus and the power of his name. Yet as he talked, the priests and the rulers of the Jews began consulting angrily together, and as darkness fell, soldiers sent by the ruler of the temple came and seized Peter and John and bore them off to the common prison. The next day the rulers and elders and scribes were gathered together and set Peter and John in their midst. They asked, By what power or by what name did you do this? Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a cripple, by what means this man has been healed, be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him this man is standing before you well. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated common men, they wondered, and they recognized that they had been with Jesus. But seeing the man that had been healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say. But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred with one another, saying, But what shall we do with these men? For a notable sign has occurred, but to stop it spreading among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name. So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered them, Whether it is right to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard. As soon as they were released, Peter and John went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God. And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness.
