Acts 3:16

Acts 3:16. And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know. We will take these words in the order of the original Greek: ‘And through faith in His name.' Peter had just related (in Acts 3:15) what was the ground of his perfect faith: he had been one of the witnesses of the risen Lord. He now proceeds to tell them that the miracle they are wondering at is the result of that faith.

In his name. The miracle of healing was worked by the name of Jesus, uttered under the condition of perfect faith above mentioned.

This man strong, whom ye see. Here Peter doubtless pointed to the man standing, as we know, close by the apostles.

Yes, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness. The faith which Peter possessed, and by means of which he had healed the lame man, is represented as the work of Christ (i.e. faith in Christ is the gift of Christ); in other words, the expression ‘which is by Him' may be explained thus: Faith in Jesus of Nazareth as Messiah came to Peter partly owing to his having witnessed the life and work, and especially the resurrection, of Christ partly through the revelations of the Spirit sent by Christ from the Father at Pentecost. This seems a fairly accurate statement of the conditions under which this first great apostolical miracle was wrought: (1) It was worked solely by a perfect faith in Jesus of Nazareth as Messiah (which faith, as we have seen, was the gift of Christ); and (2) The faith was the faith of the apostles, not of the lame man who was healed; it was evidently money, not health, that he hoped to receive from them. ‘Silver and gold have I none,' said Peter. All that can be said of the restored cripple is, that he was an eminently fit subject for the distinguished mercy shown to him. Peter and John, guided by the Holy Spirit, no doubt perceived this. His brave and grateful conduct after he was restored to health and strength, is a sufficient index to his character.