The Adventures of Jesus Christ
Episodes from the Life of Jesus for Young Readers
by Vincent Cheung
[ Contents ]
Chapter 34. The Adventures Never End
IN THE NAME OF JESUS!
The disciples had a strong start. The Holy Spirit made a spectacular entrance. Peter’s first sermon prepared the disciples to spread the message of Jesus even further. And they made 3,000 new disciples on the first day. The group continued to grow both in number and in maturity.
One day, Peter and John went to the temple. As they approached the temple, a man was being carried in. He was crippled from birth. Each day he was placed beside the temple gate, so that he could beg from those entering the temple. When he saw Peter and John about to go in, he asked them for some money.
Peter said to the man, “Look at us!” The man gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them.
But Peter said, “I have no silver or gold, but I will give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!”
Then Peter took the man’s hand and pulled him up. And as he did, the man’s feet and ankles instantly became strong. He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk. Then he entered the temple with Peter and John, walking, jumping, and praising God.
All the people saw him walking and heard him praising God. Then they realized that he was the crippled beggar they had seen so often at the temple gate. And they were shocked.
The man was so happy, he was holding tightly to Peter and John. All the people were amazed. They rushed out and gathered around them.
When Peter saw this, he said to them, “People of Israel, why does this surprise you? And why are you looking at us as if we have healed this man by our own power or goodness? God has honored and glorified Jesus. This is the same Jesus whom you handed over to Pilate, demanding that he be put to death, even though Pilate wanted to release him. You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this.”
He continued, “You know this man that used to be crippled. It was by the name of Jesus, by faith in the name of Jesus, that he has been healed. There is salvation in no one else. God has given no other name by which we must be saved.”
Peter finally learned the key! Now he gave the same reason for success and failure as Jesus did. He said it was by faith, faith in the name of Jesus, that the miracle happened.
When we say or do something “in the name of Jesus,” it means that we are acting with his authority and permission, or that we are acting in his place. When Peter told the man to be healed “in the name of Jesus,” he meant that he was doing it as a follower of Jesus and under his orders. But then the miracle happened because Peter had faith in Jesus.
Peter himself did not heal the man, Jesus did. Years later, Peter met another man who had been paralyzed for eight years. He said to the man, “Jesus Christ heals you,” and the man was healed. Peter did not say, “I am a special disciple of Jesus, who has come to heal you.” And he did not say, “Jesus could have healed you” or “Jesus will heal you.” But Peter said, “Jesus Christ heals you.”
Years after Jesus returned to heaven, he was still working miracles through his disciples. And Jesus is alive today. Jesus is working miracles today. The key is faith. Faith in Jesus. Faith in his name.
The disciples did not disappoint Jesus. They obeyed the Great Commission. They were preaching the gospel and healing the sick. Even when people were against them, they continued preaching the gospel and healing the sick.
It was only the beginning. The power to work miracles and experience the supernatural expanded to other kinds of people. Some of the most spectacular miracles and visions happened to seemingly ordinary disciples. There were visions and dreams, visits from angels, and appearances from Jesus. There were even miracles of teleportation, where a person would disappear from one place and appear in another place.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever. If you have faith in Jesus today, then he will work miracles today. The adventures will never end, because when you have faith, the adventures will continue through you. Now rise up and walk, in the name of Jesus!