“In the Name of Jesus, Get Up”

Introduction

A man is there, every day, at the temple gate known as the Beautiful Gate. He has been lame from birth. He holds out his hand. He is waiting for a little money, enough to get him through the day. Peter and John are going up to the temple for the three o'clock afternoon prayer. They walk past him. The man looks at them, hoping to receive something. Then Peter says these words you may know by heart: "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" (Acts 3:6).

This is one of the best known accounts in the book of Acts. It comes right after Pentecost. Peter is no longer the same man. A week earlier, you would have seen a nervous fisherman, the one who swore three times he did not know Jesus. Today you see him standing before a disabled man, sure of the power of the name he proclaims. What happened? The Holy Spirit came down. And a man filled with the Spirit stands firm on the only confidence that matters: the name of Jesus.

Outline

1. The Beautiful Gate: an ordinary encounter that changes everything

Peter and John go up to the temple at the hour of prayer. The disabled man, meanwhile, is carried to the same spot every day to beg. The text says he fixes his eyes on the apostles, expecting to receive money. Peter looks at him in turn and says, "Look at us" (v. 4). The man looks up. He expects a coin. He is about to receive far more.

Notice the gesture: Peter takes the man by the right hand (v. 7). He does not simply speak a word into the air. He touches, he acts, he raises the man up at the very moment he proclaims the name of Jesus. Immediately, the man's feet and ankles become strong. He jumps up, walks, leaps, praises God, and enters the temple with Peter and John.

2. Peter before Pentecost: a hesitant faith

To understand what has just happened, we need to look at Peter beforehand. In Matthew 19:27 he says to Jesus, "See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will there be for us?" This is the voice of a disciple who has followed Jesus, yet is still looking for reward, confirmation, security.

After the resurrection, in John 21, Jesus meets Peter on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias. He calls him by his full name: "Simon, son of John." Not "Peter." Not the nickname Jesus had given him. His birth name. And three times Jesus asks him, "Do you love me?" Three times. The same number as the three denials before the servant girl, at the fire in the high priest's courtyard.

In the Greek there is a play on words that gets lost in English. Jesus uses the verb agapao, sacrificial love, unconditional love, the love that gives without taking back. Peter, for his part, answers with the verb phileo, the love of friendship, brotherly affection, a good love but a conditional one, dependent on the relationship. Peter does not dare to match Jesus' word. He knows what he has done. He no longer wants to promise more than he can keep.

3. A holy surrender

The preacher quotes an expression an old pastor used to say: "holy resignation" (in Japanese, seinaru hirakinaori). This is not sad resignation. It is a clear eyed surrender. Peter seems to be saying, "Lord, you know I betrayed you. I may betray you again. But right now, I love you, with the love I am capable of."

This is where Pentecost changes everything. A man who has stopped building his faith on his own strength is a man ready to receive the power of the Holy Spirit. Peter, at the Beautiful Gate, no longer says "look at me." He says "in the name of Jesus." And it is the name that heals, not the man.

4. What I have, I give you

Peter is honest: "Silver and gold I do not have." He does not hide his poverty. He does not pretend. But he possesses something far greater: the name of Jesus, and the certainty that this name lifts up, heals, saves. A Christian filled with the Holy Spirit is not a Christian who has everything. He is a Christian who knows what he has, and gives it.

The preacher recalls those sanctification retreats in the mountains of Hakone, twenty, thirty, forty years ago. There, he often heard this question: "Are you a dry Christian, a Christian who says 'gimme, gimme,' or a Christian who has been filled and overflows?" The difference is not in the intensity of feeling. It lies in the source. The dry Christian relies on himself. The filled Christian relies on Jesus.

5. Peter's speech to the crowd

When the people run to Solomon's Colonnade, astonished, Peter does not take the credit. He says, "Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us, as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?" (v. 12). The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has glorified his servant Jesus, the very one they handed over and disowned before Pilate. God raised him from the dead. "By faith in his name, his name has made this man strong, whom you see and know" (v. 16).

Peter does not put himself at the center. He puts the name of Jesus at the center. It is the surest sign that a man is truly filled with the Holy Spirit: he fades away, and Christ appears.

Key Takeaways

A Christian filled with the Holy Spirit trusts Jesus, not himself. Peter does not say "look at me," he says "in the name of Jesus."
Holy surrender comes before power. You must stop relying on your own strength to receive God's.
Whatever you have received, give it away. Peter had neither gold nor silver. He had the name of Jesus. That was enough.
Pentecost does not add an emotional coating, it transforms the source of faith. It is no longer you carrying your faith, it is the Spirit carrying it in you.
True healing always points to Christ, never to the instrument. Peter refuses the crowd's praise and redirects it to Jesus.

Personal Application

Right now, are you a "dry" Christian or one who overflows? Where does your confidence come from today?
Is there an area of your life where you keep telling Jesus "I love you" with the small word phileo, because you no longer dare to promise agape? What does he want to say to you in that place?
What is the "what I have" you can give this week, in the name of Jesus, to someone around you who is holding out a hand?
Is there a denial, a betrayal, a moment of cowardice you are still carrying? Are you ready for holy surrender, to acknowledge your weakness and let Christ take your place?
When you see God at work, whom do you give the glory to? The instrument, or the Lord?

Verses Cited

Acts 3:1-16 · Healing of the lame man at the Beautiful Gate
Matthew 19:27 · "See, we have left everything and followed you"
John 21:15-17 · "Simon, son of John, do you love me?"
Matthew 11:28 · "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened"

FAQ

What does "in the name of Jesus" mean in Acts 3?

It is not a magic formula. In biblical culture, a name carries the authority and identity of the person. To speak "in the name of Jesus" is to act under his authority, relying entirely on who he is. Peter is not using a technique, he is stepping aside for the one who heals.

What is the difference between agape and phileo?

Agape is sacrificial love, unconditional, the love God shows at the cross. Phileo is the love of affection, of friendship, closer to the ordinary human heart. In John 21, Jesus questions Peter with agapao, and Peter answers with phileo. Peter acknowledges his inability to promise absolute love, and Jesus restores him anyway.

What does it actually mean to be "filled with the Holy Spirit"?

It is neither an emotional state nor a spiritual achievement. It is letting the Spirit become the source of your confidence, your words, your actions. A filled Christian is not a perfect Christian, he is a Christian who no longer relies on himself, but on Christ.

Preacher: [TO BE COMPLETED, pastor of the May 31, 2026 service]
Text: Acts 3:1-16
Date: May 31, 2026
Church: Yokohama Zion / Numazu Zion (free translation from the Japanese)

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