Verse 8 says that “Leaping up the man stood and walked and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.” Now is that right? Should he have been praising God, or praising Jesus?
It is right and there is a verse to show that it is. In chapter 4 Peter and John get out of custody and go to a prayer meeting and ask the Lord to do it all over again. They say in verses 29–30, “And now, Lord, look upon their threats, and grant to thy servants to speak thy word with all boldness, while thou stretchest out thy hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of thy holy servant Jesus.”
So who stretches out his hand to heal? God the Father. And through what means? Through the name of his holy servant Jesus. So we have the same cooperation between the Father and the Son that we had while Jesus was on the earth. The Father is the ultimate source of all healing. Through Jesus the Father does his healing will. Jesus, in agreement with the Father’s will, gives the faith to Peter. Peter recognizes that this is the time for the man to be healed. And by the faith given him, he speaks the healing in Jesus’ name.
And God gets the praise. Abundant. Leaping. Exuberant praise. That is the content of the wonder—the work of the Father and the Son through faith in the name of Jesus, for the praise of God!
Knowing God through His Word ... Day by Day 