Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - How Jesus Changes Things | New Testament | Acts 3

Episode Date: April 25, 2023

When you think about Christianity, do you think about the people and the churches more than you think about Jesus? If you do, you might be getting something wrong. In today's episode, Tanya unpacks��Acts 3 and shares for Jesus changes everything. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Join the TMBT community in reading the entire New Testament in one year. Get your FREE reading plan here. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter@TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Acts 3

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Tanya Wilmuth. So first, a confession. For years, I thought the book of Acts was written by Paul. So much of it is about the mission of the church and what Paul did to advance the gospel, I guess I just assumed. But when I finally made the connection that Luke was the author of Acts, I started to think of it differently. Axe is really a continuation of Luke's gospel that follows Jesus' first followers as they went out on mission to make his

kingdom known. I tell you this, because sometimes when I see some of you out and about, you say things like, my small group is so knowledgeable and I feel intimidated, or I need to brush up on my Bible knowledge before I start going to that class. And I just want to let you know that everyone is learning, and you should absolutely not feel inadequate to step into those spaces. I promise you the people who sound like they know everything about the Bible feel just like you do. Okay, so Luke Axe is one author. It's about the miracles and life of Jesus and the work and miracles of his first followers who were empowered by the Holy Spirit. But as we would expect, there's a lot of tension among the people in Acts, because they were just a few days and weeks removed from Jesus' crucifixion,

and they were people who were all in on Jesus being the Messiah, and there were those who were skeptics. There's also a lot of passion in the Book of Acts. See, the people who know it's true, the resurrection, they can't just let it be. They, they, know that this reality has absolutely changed their life and their future, and they cannot just passively continue on without proclaiming it so that other people's lives can be changed to. So a passionate book filled with action and sermons and miracles, this is where we are today in Acts chapter 3. In the last chapter, we learned that the early Christians were still going to the temple to pray.

Now, in time, God would cause a break with formal Jewish practices, but they were still waiting for this break to come. So the temple was still the traditional place to pray, worship, and offer sacrifice. And as chapter three opens, it's time for the hour of prayer, and Peter and John were walking toward the temple gate. There was a man there at the gate who cannot walk, but he'd been carried there by his friends, probably because they assumed it was the best position for him to be, as people would be less willing to just pass him by when they were going to and from worship, and more willing to help him out. So the man seeing him, seeing him, Peter and John called out to them to ask for their charity, and Peter took notice of him and fixed

his gaze on him. I had to stop there for a moment, because I wonder if that in itself was a special moment for this man. To have someone stop, look him in the eye and pay special attention to him. And then Peter said, look at us. And the man must have been very hopeful that they would offer him something. He probably even extended his cup toward their direction, waiting for something to be dropped in. But then tried to imagine what it looked like when Peter said, I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. And Peter reached down, took the man by the right hand, and raised him, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. The ESV even says he leaped up and went into the temple with them

walking and leaping and praising God. So the crowd, having seen this man every day on their way in and out of the temple, definitely took notice. Why? Why did God? choose these people in this time for this miracle. Why don't things like this happen in other points in history? Well, the rest of the chapter helps us answer are why. Was it so the crowd would pay attention to Peter and hear the sermon he was about to give? It was a really good one. Deflecting all the credit from himself and John, Peter took advantage of their attention,

and he told them about their risen and living Savior. Basically, Peter said, why are you staring at us? And why are you so surprised? See, probably the crowd would have responded emphatically to a personal testimony from the man who could walk. They would have loved a story from Peter about his special ability to heal the man. They probably would have been moved in the moment. But that's not what Peter was trying to do. He wanted to change their lives with the truth about the living Savior.

He wasn't trying to appeal to their emotions. He was appealing to their beliefs and the source of their faith. And the best way to do that was to fix their attention. on Jesus. Now that he had their attention, he could move the needle on those who were skeptical about the resurrection and Jesus as the true Messiah. He went to the beginning of the story. Who was the one who made this man walk? Live with Jesus. And who is Jesus? Well, he is the glorified son of God, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. And then he went back even further and said, he is the author of life. Can you imagine what it was like for them to visualize

the man that they saw on the cross, the man that they crucified as their creator, as the author of life? What does it mean for you to make that connection? Maybe think on that throughout your day and let it move your emotions toward him. When you think about Christianity, do you think more about church or people or Bible stories? Or do you think more about Jesus Christ, the author of life? Those things all relate to Jesus in some way, but without Jesus, there is not Christianity. This is where Peter gets to the most challenging part of his sermon. The healed man was a signpost for what God would do for the Jewish listeners spiritually, and it was all about Jesus.

The most controversial part was that they needed to be healed, and Jesus was their healer. They weren't better off than the man who couldn't walk. They were in the same boat. Peter wanted them to hear the truth and repent of their own sin. Not a list of things they did wrong that day necessarily, but their rejection of Jesus. The sin of thinking they were okay without him. The trying to be like God instead of submitting to him and receiving Jesus as their living Savior. In verse 19, Peter says, repent, therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out.

There's three big parts to that. repent, turn back, and your sins are blotted out. Which part of that is most challenging for you? Okay, little story. There's a movement that started in the EU in 2014 that's making its way now into American journalism most recently at the Boston Globe, and it's called The Right to Be Forgotten. And it's a way for people whose mugshots or misdeeds that have previously been published to be removed from online archives when they show that they've moved forward or when it's no longer necessary for the

the public to have access to that information. It's a really controversial topic and one that doesn't really have a playbook yet. But if a journalist writes a story about a drug rehab center and highlights someone who is there when she was 18, do you think that that person who is clean and looking for a job at 25 should have the ability to erase that story from Google? Anyway, in our world, there's not really a space for wiping a slate clean. Is there? And that's why this miracle and Peter's sermon are so amazing. They point us to the power the resurrection has in our lives. If Jesus was a wonderful teacher who did amazing miracles and he died,

then Peter could comfort us and tell us nice things about how to live more like Jesus. But we have something better than comfort. We have power to be healed, to live differently because Jesus is alive. Not only our sins wiped out, but we have power to live a new life in his name. So whatever challenge, whatever difficulty you're facing, this miracle is a signpost for you too. The gospel doesn't just comfort you. It empowers you with a present life in union with Christ and a promised future with him. Maybe you feel spiritually weak, even dead. Maybe you feel like God has abandoned you because so many people in your life have. Maybe you feel like God couldn't possibly have

plan the life you're faced with right now. Maybe you don't feel close to God in this season. Maybe you think you're too far down a path that can't be reversed. Don't lose heart, but keep running your race, knowing he will carry you to the finish. Hebrews 1212 says, lift up your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees and make straight paths for your feet so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed. Ask God to let the power of the resurrection give you strength to repent and turn back. Instead of continuing to look for answers and comfort anywhere else, ask him to help you turn back to him. Before you forget, sign up for the brand new TMBT newsletter. Hit the link in the show notes and you'll get an email every Wednesday

that will help you beat the midweek slump and go deeper in your walk with Jesus. Thanks for listening.