Explore the Bible: Acts 3:1-2

Chapters 3 and 4 of Acts center on a miracle performed in the name of Jesus in the Temple. We don’t know exactly how long after the events of Acts 2 this took place, but the impression left by the Biblical account is that it wasn’t long after Pentecost. This is particularly true if the number 5000 mentioned in 4:4 is the total number of believers, rather than a new group of 5000. (I lean toward the first interpretation, for reasons I won’t expand on here.) Thus, it comes at a time when the city of Jerusalem is still widely aware of the events of Jesus’ crucifixion and people are beginning to hear that this Jesus is still alive. Many have believed, but God also used miracles to bring opportunities to preach the Gospel and to validate the message of the apostles.

One question raised about this miracle is exactly where it took place. It was definitely in the Temple precincts, but the specifics given in the text aren’t as obvious to us as we might like. Luke tells us that the lame beggar was carried to the “Beautiful Gate” of the Temple. However, no gate had as its given name “Beautiful.” The name was probably a popular nickname for one of the gates of the Temple. Knowing which gate Luke meant gives us some insight into both the possible audience for the miracle and how the events following the lame man’s healing flowed.

The prime candidate for the “Beautiful Gate” is the gate that led from the outer Court of the Gentiles to the Court of Women, which was the beginning of the actual sacred space of the Temple. Gentiles were not allowed to progress beyond this gate, and warning signs were posted threatening death to any who dared. This was the Nicanor Gate, which was unusual in that it was covered with Corinthians bronze instead of gold or silver. While scholars aren’t certain, this is likely the gate Josephus refers to in “The Jewish War” as being more valuable than the other gates covered in silver or bronze (5.5.3). If this were the case, it must have been a beautiful gate indeed, and to have earned that designation from those who attended at the Temple. It would also explain why the lame man chose that location to beg; if it was at the entrance to the Temple proper, he would encounter many Jews going in to worship who might be more inclined to bestow alms on a poor man as a good deed.

If this was the gate, the narrative flow would look like this:

1) Peter and John, entering the Temple from the Court of the Gentiles, see the beggar there and heal him in the name of Jesus.

2) The man joins Peter and John in entering the Temple, where they would have participated in the afternoon prayers. For the lame man, this might have been his first time to go into the actual Temple.

3) As they left, the people, who recognized the man and had seen him enter the Temple praising God, crowd around Peter, John, and the man in one of the exterior porticos, Solomon’s Colonnade. As this crowd gathers, Peter begins to preach.

4) Given that they were still within the outer courts of the Temple, word would spread to someone who would report to the priests, who sent our representatives to stop Peter’s sermon, which was accomplished by arresting Peter and John.

While this is not the only possible solution to the location of the healing of the lame man, it does make sense and provide a reasonable flow of events. If Peter was preaching in Solomon’s Colonnade, a significant crowd could have gathered, resulting in another large response to the Gospel message. The church continued to grow, but now began to face serious opposition from the leaders of the Temple. This account also shows us the Spirit-filled boldness of Peter, which should inspire us to be bold as we face opposition to the Gospel in our own witness.

NOTE: There is a nice schematic plan of Herod’s Temple on the Bible History Online web site. 

Explore the Bible: Acts 2:1-12

One of the questions raised as you read Acts 2 is just where the followers of Jesus were when the Holy Spirit descended. Traditionally, most scholars have held that they were in a room together, most likely the same room mentioned in Acts 1:13. Such a room must have been large (it held 120 people) and located in Jerusalem somewhere not far from the Temple area. It has been speculated that it would have been in the poorer part of town, since most of the followers of Jesus were from the working class and were visitors who had been in the city for almost two months.

A few scholars, however, argue that the coming of the Holy Spirit happened in the Temple itself. They point out that the word “house” is sometimes applied to the Temple, and that there was certainly room in the Temple courts for 120 people to gather. The time given in verse 15, 9:00 AM, suggests that the disciples would have already have gone to the Temple to observe the festival. If this is the case, then the coming of the Spirit would have been heard and seen by a huge throng at the Temple and in its vicinity, which could explain the amazement of the crowd and the powerful response to Peter’s preaching.

As attractive as this idea is, I think there are two facts in the text that make it unlikely. The first is that the group is described as “sitting” in the house where they were. Worshippers would not have been sitting in the Temple on a feast day; they would have been standing amidst a mass of people gathered for the feast. The Greek word translated “sitting” does have a secondary meaning of “staying” or “dwelling,” but the more common translation seems to be appropriate here.

The second factor that tells against the Temple theory is that we do not read that the crowd was amazed by the visible and audible phenomena that surrounded the descent of the Holy Spirit. Rather, they were amazed by the fact that the followers of Jesus, although distinctly Galilean, were speaking in their own native languages, and this all at the same time. Those who derided them as drunk may have been natives who, of course, only heard them speaking Aramaic or Hebrew, the common languages of Israel. It was this phenomenon that drew the crowd and attracted their attention.

I think the most likely scenario goes like this: The followers of Jesus were gathered in an upper room not far from the Temple. Sometime before 9:00 AM, perhaps as they were preparing to leave to go to the Temple, the Holy Spirit came with audible and visible signs, and as they began to talk about what was happening they were intelligible to all people in their native languages. (This is often seen as a reversal of Babel.) As they went out in the street and moved toward the Temple, they began to attract a crowd of amazed onlookers, Jews from all over the Roman and Parthian empires. Peter rose to the occasion, and the Spirit moved the crowd through Peter’s preaching so that 3000 people responded and were saved.

Whatever the facts are, we can see that the power of the Holy Spirit, coming at Pentecost, brought about conviction of sin and conversion of hearts. The same Spirit is still at work today, and we should not be surprised when, in any place and at any time, we see Him working in power today to draw people to Jesus and to bring salvation to any who yield to Him.