Monday, May 21

That Jesus

Narrative Lectionary Daily Devotions written by Kace Leetch from Clergy Stuff.

A moment of truth. The people who witnessed Peter's healing of a crippled man were astonished that a man could heal. But Peter pointed out it wasn't he who healed the man, but Jesus. You know, the Jesus they had arrested. The Jesus they had tortured. The Jesus they had killed. Oh, that Jesus.

But there's more to the story than that. It was that Jesus who was still in the world, healing and performing miracles through his apostles. It was that Jesus who still cared for the world, even though the world had rejected him. It was that Jesus who would continue to be alive and active, perfect in a broken world. That Jesus would forgive, heal, renew, and love. Oh yes, that Jesus.

Narrative Lectionary Text: Acts 3:11-16

While he clung to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s Portico, utterly astonished.

When Peter saw it, he addressed the people, “You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you.