There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.
-Acts 4:12 (NRSV)
AFTER the crowd scenes and drama of Christ's resurrection, his disciples feared the hostile and uncompromising religious leaders. But they found comfort in prayer, fasting, and breaking bread together. Acts 3 tells us about Peter and John going to the Temple to pray.
At the Temple gate they met a man who had been lame from birth. Peter said to the man, "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk" (Acts 3:6). The man not only stood up, he leaped and started to praise God. What many people who knew the man considered impossible, the power of Christ made possible.
The power of Jesus Christ can transform us. Jesus gave new life to the mentally ill man at Geresa; he healed many who were blind; he set free those controlled by evil. What people who knew these thought impossible, the power of God made possible.
The tragedy of our world is that people are often written off by their families, by institutions, by society. But God can take any person and recreate him or her. God can take any adulterated life and remake it. In the words of Paul, "Anyone who is in Christ ... is a new creation" (2 Cor. 5:17). This is the power of Jesus Christ, and it is still available to us.
