“But Peter said, ‘I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!’ And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong.” Acts 3:6–7
Have you ever heard the phrase, “Stop, in the name of the law!”? We don’t hear it as often these days in TV and movies as we used to, but a character would be robbing a bank or hurting someone, and then the hero would jump in and yell, “Stop, in the name of the law!” The hero is compelling the antagonist to stop his crime by appealing to a higher order. “In the name of . . .” invokes the authority of that body. In this case, it’s the authority of the laws of the land.
Peter uses a similar expression in today’s text: “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” Knowing he didn’t have authority in and of himself, he called upon Jesus’ authority to do this amazing miracle. Jesus, by the power of his Spirit, gave Peter the power to heal.
“In the name of Jesus Christ” are not magic words a person can say anytime to get what he or she wants. Moving in God’s power is not like summoning a genie by rubbing a magic lamp. But sometimes God loves to display his glory and power through his people in miraculous ways. We should ask him to do it for the sake of his name being known in our world today.
Read
Read verses where Jesus uses the phrase “in my name” or where people invoke or are told to invoke the phrase “in the name of the Lord.”
- What things are do people do or are we exhorted to do in Jesus’ name?
- What happens if we do or attempt to do these things without invoking Jesus’ name?
Prayer
Our Father, thank you that you are powerful to heal and save. May your name be known by more and more people throughout our world. May you continue to do marvelous works to draw attention to who you are and your power over all of creation. Amen!
This devotion is adapted from Week 6 of the Acts Study Guide.
