Silver and Gold I Have None
Peter Heals a Lame Man at the Temple Gate
Acts 3:1–26Every single day, a man is carried to the temple gate in Jerusalem. He has never walked — not once in his whole life. His friends bring him to the gate called Beautiful so he can beg for money from the people going in to pray. It is all he knows how to do.
One afternoon, Peter and John are walking toward the temple at the hour of prayer. The lame man sees them and holds out his hand, hoping for a few coins.
Peter stops. He looks straight at the man and says, "Look at us." The man looks up, expecting silver or gold.
Then Peter says something remarkable: "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk."
Peter reaches down and takes the man's hand. And something extraordinary happens — something only God can do. Immediately, the man's feet and ankles become strong. He jumps up. He walks. He leaps into the temple courts, praising God at the top of his voice!
All the people who see him are completely astonished. They know this is the beggar from the Beautiful Gate. They have walked past him for years. But now he is jumping and shouting for joy.
Peter turns to the amazed crowd. He explains that this healing did not happen because of anything special about himself or John. It happened because of faith — trust in the name of Jesus, the risen Messiah. Peter tells the crowd that God had promised through Moses and all the prophets that He would send a Savior. Jesus is that Savior. The healing they just witnessed is proof that Jesus is alive, raised from the dead by God the Father.
Peter also says something tender and important. He tells the crowd that even though they handed Jesus over to be killed, God used it to fulfill His plan. And there is still time — they can turn back to God and receive forgiveness. The covenant promises God made to Abraham, to give blessing to all the families of the earth, are being fulfilled right now, through Jesus.
The lame man clings to Peter and John, still praising God. He spent his whole life outside the temple, unable to enter. Now, through Jesus, he is inside — whole and free.
God is doing something new. He is healing broken bodies, forgiving sin, and opening the door to His presence. And it all flows from one name: Jesus Christ.
Christ in This Story
The lame man at the gate is a picture of every person who cannot come to God on their own — helpless and stuck outside His presence. Jesus, the true Messiah, is the only one with the power to make us whole and bring us near to God. Peter's words point back to Moses and all the prophets: every covenant promise God made was pointing forward to Jesus. Just as the man was lifted up and brought inside the temple, Jesus lifts up all who trust in Him and brings them into God's own family.
Historical Context
The 'Gate Beautiful' is widely believed to be the Nicanor Gate, a magnificent entrance on the east side of the inner temple courts described by the Jewish historian Josephus as being made of Corinthian bronze and considered far more valuable than the silver- and gold-covered gates around it. Beggars commonly positioned themselves at busy temple entrances because Jewish law encouraged charitable giving, especially during the three daily prayer hours (morning, afternoon, and evening). The afternoon prayer hour Peter and John were observing — the ninth hour, around 3 p.m. — was also the time of the evening sacrifice, one of the most attended moments of the temple day.
The healing Peter performs echoes imagery from Isaiah 35:6, which promised that in the age of restoration 'the lame will leap like a deer.' A first-century Jewish reader hearing about a lame man leaping in the temple courts would immediately recognize this as a sign that the long-awaited age of God's kingdom had arrived. Peter's sermon in Acts 3 is one of the earliest and most explicitly covenantal sermons in the New Testament, tying the healing directly to the Abrahamic covenant (Genesis 12:3) and identifying Jesus as the prophet Moses foretold in Deuteronomy 18:15.
Let's Pray
Heavenly Father, thank You that Jesus is alive and has the power to heal and forgive. Help us to trust in Your name, not in anything we can earn or buy. Thank You that Your covenant promises are all 'yes' in Jesus. Amen.