I had indicated previously that I was studying through Acts with a beautiful group of ladies in my church. This is part of an ongoing series of what God is teaching me as I work through these chapters.

In the first two chapters of Acts we see the New Testament church beginning to blossom. After Jesus’s time on this earth, the disciples are wondering what’s next as they await the promised Holy Spirit.

On the day of Pentecost, as described in chapter 2, the awaited Spirit arrives and the church grows tremendously through its powerful work. Chapter 3 is really the beginning of the persecution this new church will face, but it all opens with a miracle.

And this miracle is one that can speak to us so vividly.

Peter and John – new leaders of this newly born church – are heading in to the temple to pray and they come across a man who cannot walk. One who depends on the aid of others to daily carry him to the gates of the temple to beg for sustenance. This man is fully dependent on the goodwill of others for his entire survival – from being carried to the temple, to the money he receives, to being carried back home. Every. Day.

And every day people pass by him, maybe they toss him a few coins, maybe not. But he is used to not being seen, to keeping his eyes downcast, even as he hopes for just a meager act of charity.

Until Peter arrives.

And Peter “directs his gaze,” as some translations say. The Greek word here is so meaningful – atenizo. When I stumbled across it, among the plethora of synonyms Luke uses to describe the act of looking/seeing/noticing in this entire passage, I didn’t even take notice of this one at first. But then I saw that it meant to “look intently” and as one who has always loved the concept of “El Roi,” “the God who sees,” as named by Hagar back in Genesis 16, I’ll admit I was trying to insert my own significance into this verb and I began to seek if it was used to describe how Jesus saw people – maybe the woman at the well, or the woman with the issue of bleeding, or the “sinful” woman who anointed Jesus with her oils and tears (so many nameless women who were seen and loved by Jesus).

But what I discovered surprised me. It’s not used to describe how Jesus looked upon anyone. At all. Ever.

Instead, it is used when it describes people who have seen the works of the Holy Spirit and are intensely interested and eager to see more. This word is used of the disciples when they are looking into the heavens in Acts chapter 1, waiting and wondering how long before Jesus returns. It’s used of the crowds at various places in Acts when they see the works and miracles of the apostles. It’s even used of Paul as he looks intently upon the council who is questioning him after his arrest later in this same book, wanting them to really hear what he’s about to say.

And here is Peter, giving this intense attention and focus to a simple lame beggar. It’s as though he can already see what the Holy Spirit is going to do through this man. Because this is the only instance where we see someone giving this kind of attention to someone before the Holy Spirit acts.

Where others saw a man who was broken and helpless, Peter saw an opportunity for God to be glorified. And he focused intently on that opportunity and obeyed.

By the name of Jesus, that man is healed. He immediately leaps up – in fact, he can’t stop leaping for the joy overwhelming him. Someone who has never been able to go anywhere without the arms of another to carry him is now able to stand on his own two feet and allow them, his own legs, to carry him wherever he wishes to go. And he cannot contain his excitement. He is not content to walk, but to leap.

And a crowd gathers and Peter sees them noticing (looking intently – atenizo – that same word!) and grasps this opportunity to see God glorified and he begins to preach. And I mean to preach. Peter didn’t do this half-heartedly ever.

In verse 16, he says (in the CSB): “. . . So the faith that comes through Jesus has given him this perfect health in front of all of you. “

Perfect health. That word, in the Greek, holokleria, has implicit in it a meaning of wholeness, completeness.

By the name of Jesus, this man is complete. He is whole. What once was broken is broken no more.

And people can see this – it draws their full attention. They look intently upon the fact that he was once broken beyond repair and yet now, beyond anyone’s understanding, he is whole.

And this healing is the open gate for Peter to preach the good news of Christ and by the time he’s done, as the high priest and the captain of the guard are binding him in chains (at the beginning of chapter 4), the number of the church is swelling in growth, to 5,000, in men alone. Because of the testimony that is proclaimed and seen through watching this crippled man become whole.

No one took notice of this man until the Holy Spirit drew one believer’s eyes to him.

God is in the business of restoration. Of healing completely – not partially or only when we feel ready and strong and able to follow – but completely, even when our eyes are downcast and we are beyond hoping for anything more than what has always been.

He sees us in our flaws and our weakness and he restores us. And this restoration is the evidence of His glory.

In reading this, I was reminded of a concept I ran across once of the ancient Japanese art of Kintsugi. In my limited research (thank you, Wikipedia), I read that once upon a time, when pottery was broken through the process of heating, and came out of the kiln cracked, incomplete, useless, rather than tossing out these broken pieces, the Japanese would instead repair the pieces, but not with an attempt to hide the imperfections. Instead, they would seal the cracks with a lacquer colored with golden dust that would bring a new beauty to this piece. Where others would see only brokenness they saw an opportunity for beauty, for art, for a masterpiece.

“As a philosophy, it treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise.” (Wikipedia)

Because there is glory in our brokenness – not just in our physical weakness or healing, but in our addiction, our pain, our suffering, our anger, our faults, flaws, and imperfections.

When we have been broken and restored by God, these are the areas where others can see Him. When we have received wholeness by faith in His name, this is where we need to proclaim Him – not by hiding or disguising what once was, but by leaping so others may see we are not just a little healed, but made complete.

This is when we say, “See?! Look at this! I used to be broken. And now I’m not!!! I am beautiful and complete and whole by faith in His name!”

Would you like to study the Bible on your own and dig out truths the Holy Spirit is revealing to you? Get started with this Bible Study Background Worksheet and keep reading for tips and suggestions to help you study God’s Word (including this post about how to use that worksheet!).