Bible Study series. Acts 5:12-16. By God’s sovereignty, Peter healed them by his shadow.

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At the link to the original post, next, I write more commentary and dig a little deeper into the Greek. I also offer a section titled Observations for Discipleship at the end. Check it out!

Acts 5

In this post, links are provided in the commentary section for further study.

Let’s begin.

Scripture: Acts 5:12-16

¹² Through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders took place right in front of the people. And all of them were together in Solomon’s Colonnade. ¹³ No one of the rest of the people dared join them, but the people held them in great esteem. ¹⁴ More than that, believers in the Lord were added, a large crowd of both men and women, ¹⁵ with the result that they even carried the disabled to the streets, placing them on beds and mattresses, so that when Peter went by, even his shadow would fall on some of them. ¹⁶ And so the people from all the towns around Jerusalem gathered together, carrying the disabled and those troubled by unclean spirits, and all of them were being healed. (Acts 5:12-16)

Comments:

True acronym:

F-A-I-T-H

=

Forsaking All, I Trust Him

Here faith is connected to “saved.”

Word Study on Faith and Faithfulness

15:

The power of God was so thick and awesome that Peter’s shadow would heal. Bock points out that some pagans and Jews claimed unusual miracles, but nothing that attests to exact parallels (comment on v. 15, p. 232). However, the text, if you read it carefully, does not say Peter’s shadow healed, though this is implied. (See Schnabel’s comment, below.) Yes, Renewalists believe these things can happen today. Reports from the Developing World say similar things. Some healing evangelists in the West, particularly in America, try to see these unusual miracles in their meetings.

What Does ‘Greater Things’ Mean in John 14:12?

Let’s hope they are not moved by soul power that manifests in shrieking and freaking and dancing and prancing on the platform. One gets the impression from these verses that Peter never did those outlandish displays. He was calm and authoritative, as he walked by or laid hands on people. Happily today, outlandish displays of soul power are in decline (or so I hope).

Maybe God will restore miracles like this when people are as humble and obedient as Peter was. Or maybe this is a one-off. We shall see.

Schnabel: “Luke does not see these happenings in a critical light. He is convinced that the conversion of thousands of people was accompanied by a mighty display of God’s power that healed many people in miraculous ways, and that the reputation of the apostles was linked with the healings that took place during this period. For Luke, it was not the shadow of Peter but God who caused healings to happen when people come to faith in Jesus (3:16; 4:10, 30)” (comment on v. 15).

16:

“were being healed”: the verb is in the tense is imperfect, which means unfinished or incomplete action. People were continuously being healed; this is not to say their healings were gradual (though healings can often be gradual). Rather, the imperfect tense means that Peter’s and the eleven’s ministry was never done—they kept on healing and delivering people. Exhilarating and exhausting, in one! Another important point is that the verb is passive, which means (in my opinion) the divine passive. That is, God is healing behind the scenes. Not Peter. God. This God-centered emphasis shows that Luke is careful not to credit power to Peter and to other disciples. This agrees with Schnabel’s comment.

“Unclean spirits”: The spirit was unclean, and Luke had to remind his pagan or former pagan readers that all spirits were bad, for some pagans believed that some spirits were good or a sign of blessing. People need to be healed of demonic oppression, after the demon leaves. They must be sure they do not fall in the same trap that led them to oppression in the first place, like drugs or sex addiction or unhealed abuse or unforgiveness and bitterness and so on. Life must be surrendered to God; then the devil can be resisted (Jas. 4:6-8). An unsurrendered life gives access to the devil.

GrowApp for Acts 5:12-16

1. Many people turned to the Lord. Have you ever been a part of an evangelistic campaign to see people convert? Have you ever prayed for one?

2. If you belong to a church that believes in signs and wonders like these, how must you be careful to give glory to God? How does the church avoid being gimmicky but instead simply love people?

RELATED

The Historical Reliability of the Book of Acts

Book of Acts and Paul’s Epistles: Match Made in Heaven?

SOURCES

For the bibliography, please click on this link and scroll down to the very bottom:

Acts 5