Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The text for today’s meditation is Acts 4:1-12

And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, ² greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. ³ And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. ⁴ But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand. ⁵ On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, ⁶ with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. ⁷ And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, "By what power or by what name did you do this?" ⁸ Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers of the people and elders, ⁹ if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, ¹⁰ let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead--by him this man is standing before you well. ¹¹ This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. ¹² And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." (Act 4:1 ESV)

The Merriam-Webster definition ofMIRACLE is: an extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs. In July of 1637 the nineteen year old Miguel Juan Pellicer was working on a farm in the province of Valencia Spain. He fell off a mule which was pulling a cart filled with wheat and a wheel rolled over his leg fracturing his tibia. He was treated at a local hospital with no effect. He traveled to Zaragoza arriving almost two months later in October of the same year where he was admitted to the hospital and his leg was amputated because of gangrene. The amputated leg was buried in the hospital cemetery as was the custom. Miguel was fitted with a wooden leg and was seen daily attending holy mass at the sanctuary where he was authorized to beg for his livelihood. After mass he would smear his stump with oil from the burning lamp in front of the statue of Our Lady of the Pillar. About two and a half years later in March of 1640, Miguel returned home to Calanda. On the night of March 29^th Miguel went to bed at about 10:00. He was forced to use a blanket that was not long enough to cover his foot because of house guests. His mother came in the room at eleven only to see two feet sticking out from under the blanket. She thought it was one of the house guests but when she looked it was Miguel. His amputated leg was back, it was even his leg with known bruises and scars. Later, the cemetery was checked only to find Miguel’s portion of a leg missing. Needles to say everyone was amazed. On June 5, two months and a week after the event, the canonical process was officially opened to validate the miracle. It was open to the public and more than one hundred people of all classes took part in it. Despite the rigor of this process, not one conflicting voice was ever heard. On April 27, 1641, the archbishop solemnly rendered his verdict. He declared the restitution of the formerly amputated right leg of Miguel Juan Pellicer, originally from Calanda, wonderful and miraculous. Human curiosity seeks to answer the who, what, where, when, why, and how. The people of Calanda sought to answer those questions in official proceedings that were completely documented. They wanted to document by whose authority this healing took place. Like the rulers, elders, scribes, high priest, and other members of the Sanhedrin they wanted answers and they wanted them in a formal hearing where it could be documented.

Peter and John were teaching the people and proclaiming the resurrection of Jesus. Their message was a message of repentance and receiving forgiveness and blessing from their God. The temple guards arrested them because they were teaching the people without permission from the Sanhedrin. Peter and John’s teaching and proclaiming upset the Sadducees because they didn’t believe in a personal Messiah or the resurrection. But notice even being arrested didn’t stop the work of the Holy Spirit. 5,000 men were added to the number of believers which means it was more than 10,000 people. This is evangelism at its finest. They spread the Word and let the Holy Spirit take it from there.

During Peter and John’s questioning before the rulers and leaders the focus of the questions was on the authority by which their "good deed" of healing was done. "By what power or by what name did you do this?" They wouldn’t even call it a healing or miracle. They were trying to figure out if it was in fact a good deed or an evil deed. If it was done by an evil ones authority it would be an evil deed. Unlike the Sanhedrin the people of Calanda believed the healing was the work of God and only sought to verify and document the specifics to validate the miracle. The Sanhedrin questioned the source of the healing and Peter answers them through the help of the Holy Spirit just as it says in Luke chapter 12, "And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, ¹² for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say." He told them very clearly that was a good deed because the healing was done by the name of Jesus of Nazareth whom they crucified and whom God raised from the dead. He let them know it was a good deed because it was a Godly deed, done through Jesus, God’s servant. He told them they rejected Jesus but God vindicated Him by raising Him from the dead which showed that "there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."

Jesus brings salvation through His name and Peter claims that salvation for the lame man in his healing. You see, the Greek word used is σῴζω which is also translated as "made whole" and also "saved." His healing was "salvation" and "salvation" is done by none other than Jesus. Not to mention that Jesus name is the only name by which we will be saved.

What is your understanding of "salvation?" I’m sure most of us would think of salvation as forgiveness of sins which we receive now and eternal life after we die. We also tend to look at salvation as just a spiritual thing and not a physical thing. This is actually a very narrow understanding of salvation. We learn from Peter that "salvation" is a matter of both "body and soul." Accordingly, Eternal life doesn’t come when we die and go to heaven but rather it comes with the resurrection of the dead and "salvation" involves healing as we learned here today. It also involves deliverance from evil as we ask in the Lord’s Prayer as well as the end of suffering and want. If you look at Jesus’ life and death; you see Him meeting people where they are and giving them just what they need. He ends suffering, wants, casts out evil, He heals. His mission is to bring salvation which included dying on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. He was rejected and crucified for saving others but God raised Him from the dead and now He sends His apostles to proclaim this salvation and promise it to all who put their trust in His name. He has sent you to proclaim this salvation in word and deed. Meet someone where they are and provide salvation of body and soul. Good deeds don’t have to be miracles; don’t rule them out, as you heard about Miguel of Calanda. Your good deed just might be a miracle to someone in need of salvation.

Amen.