First-century Jerusalem was a cosmopolitan city of great splendor and beauty and also the focus of life-changing events.
One day, at Solomon’s Colonnade within the temple of Jerusalem . . .
Why don’t you move somewhere else, then?
What’s going on here?
Got to get closer . . .
Hey, ouch, you’re standing on my foot!
Shhh! He’s starting to speak!
People of Israel, what’s so surprising about this?
And why stare at us as though we had made this man walk by our own power or godliness?
Hey, isn’t that the crippled beggar?
But he’s been lame from birth! How is it he’s standing up?
It’s a miracle! I can walk, and even jump! How is this possible?
I myself helped carry him to the Beautiful Gate of this temple.
He’s been begging for alms there every day as long as I can remember! This man has been healed by God, to bring glory to his servant Jesus!
Who are these men?
Don’t you know? They’re Peter and John. They were friends with that fellow Jesus, who was killed on the cross.
People of Israel, you killed Jesus, but God raised him from the dead. We have seen it with our own eyes . . .
and you know how crippled he was before.
Through faith in the name of Jesus, this man was healed . . .
before your very eyes.
Faith in Jesus’ name has healed
him . . .
Can it be true? Was Jesus really sent from God?
Jesus came to turn each of you from your sinful ways.
Now God calls you, people of Israel, to repent of your sins. Turn back to God, and he will wipe away your sins.
This man, Peter, he’s awesome! What a speaker! What a message!
God raised Jesus from death and will send him to us again at the right time, just as the prophets promised!
Wait till I tell Dad about this man Peter!
It’s the priests and Sadducees, and they’re bringing the captain of the temple guard!
Run!
Or we might be arrested too!
How dare you disrupt the temple peace by teaching this nonsense about the dead rising!
Peter and John, you’re going to jail.
Oh no! Got to get away. Got to tell Dad . . .
believeYouDad!won’t it!
Everything Peter did . . .
Everything Peter said . . . Could it be true?
What is it?
Remember when that man Jesus was killed on the cross along with the two criminals?
Wash your hands, sit down, and eat your dinner.
Yes . . .
Mmf, could you pass the bread?
Today at the temple, two of his followers healed a crippled beggar!
Yeah, you should have heard Peter tell it! The colonnade was full of people, and he spoke with so much power . . .
Mmf, could you pass the bread? Who—you mean Peter? Simon Peter?
There, I told you so!
Argh — cough . . . Well, that’s certainly not the Simon Peter I knew!
Some of the women at the marketplace have been saying that this Jesus has come back to life!
That’s what they called him—Peter! He was awesome. Many people went away believing that God sent Jesus to wipe away our sins!
You know this Peter? How?
Sure, I know Simon Peter. Before coming to Jerusalem, we grew up in the same hometown in Galilee.
It was just a small village by the Sea of Galilee. In those days he was just called Simon.
always getting into trouble.
He was a hotheaded boy, not really the studious type . . .
Like many of us, he grew up and became a fisherman.
He was always rough, good at his work . . .
but unpredictable in temper.
And the more refined skills escaped him, skills like Jewish law, writing, and debating.
And then came the day a strange wild man started the chain of events that would change Simon’s life forever.