In Acts 5:12–16, we see an amazing scene glowing red hot with signs and wonders and astounding church growth. But nestled within this wild scene is an exhortation that we can’t allow to sneak past us for all the action. Don’t stand aloof from Jesus. Come to him.

We find the action that gives rise to the dramatic results in verse 12,

 

Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico.

 

God the Holy Spirit powerfully works signs and wonders through the apostles among the people and in the gathered church. The result:

 

more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

 

Now, at this point in Acts, the Lord had already been adding people to the church in huge numbers: Three thousand at Pentecost. Two thousand or perhaps even five thousand after Peter and John heal the lame man. So the church, counting women and children, is already pushing ten thousand at this point. And now more than ever believers were added to the Lord (Acts 5:14). The scene had to have been a wild one in Jerusalem. How do you even begin to report it. Well, Luke essentially drops us into a theater seat here and offers us a glimpse of the glorious, divinely directed play. People in the streets on cots. People pouring in from all the surrounding cities threatening to burst the walls of Jerusalem. All healed.

A good question to ask at this point is this: did the signs and wonders do this? They certainly played a part, or Luke would not have pointed them out. But what part did they fill in this divine comedy? Were they the lead role? Or, were they the supporting role. Acts 2:22 gives us the answer:

 

“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know” (Acts 2:22).

 

The purpose of signs and wonders and the miraculous when Jesus walked the earth was to attest to Jesus. Acts 14:3 confirms that this remains the purpose of signs and wonders and miracles in the ministry of the church. There Luke describes Paul and Barnabas’s ministry in Iconium, saying,

 

So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands (Acts 14:3).

 

Thus, the Holy Spirit performs signs and wonders through the church for the purpose of attesting to and bearing witness to Jesus and the gospel. Signs and wonders are the supporting character that shines the spotlight on the lead character, Jesus. Signs and wonders show Jesus. That’s their purpose, and they cannot be divorced from that purpose. They are never alone, but accompany the gospel.

So, when we consider a scene like Acts 5:12–16, we must recognize that Luke assumes the gospel here. These signs and wonders were done while the apostles boldly proclaimed the gospel (Acts 4:30–31). If this is the case, then, people are flocking to Jesus and availing themselves of all his benefits promised in the gospel. Thus, as Luke notes, believers, that is believers in Jesus, were added to the Lord (5:14). And as they came bringing the sick and demon afflicted, or perhaps sick and afflicted themselves, they found healing. Here in Acts 5:12, you can see the desperate hope. You can almost smell the mass of humanity. You can hear the commotion—cries of need from the sick and afflicted mingled with spontaneous exultations of the healed and delivered. Wonder upon wonder!

And, tucked away in this sensory scene is an implicit exhortation. In v. 13 we read,

 

None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem (Acts 5:13).

 

While believers frantically flock to Jesus, there are others or the rest, the people (formulaic in Acts for those outside the church) who keep their distance. And yet, we also see that these people are divided even within themselves.

The people, while not daring to join the church still hold them (the apostles and the church) in high esteem. A more literal translation could be they magnify them. This Greek word that we render hold in high esteem or magnify (μεγαλύνω) usually attaches itself to the Lord or Jesus in the NT. For example, the Lord Jesus was extolled or magnified in Acts 19:17. In the OT, the Greek word translates the Hebrew word that communicates the idea of making great. Again, this word most often refers to God being made great. However, when it is applied to a man in the OT, that man is typically made great or magnified only because of his association with God and his glory. That is, God makes them great in the eyes of men (For example, Genesis 12:12; 2 Samuel 5:10).

The payoff of this little word study is this: These people who keep their distance magnify the apostles and the church not in spite of Jesus and his glory, but because of him. They recognize that God is with the church and doing something through them for his glory in the name of Jesus. And yet, they dare not join them.

When Jesus enters the scene, we can rest assured that there will always be division. That’s because Jesus demands all or nothing. But in return, he gives so much more,

 

“For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it” (Mark 8:35).

 

When these people in Acts 5:13 see Jesus, they sheepishly stop short—content just to spectate and admire. Others see Jesus and furiously fly—not content until he is theirs and they are his. And it is only those who come to Jesus who find healing (Acts 5:16).

Let this exhort us.

When God reveals his glory to us in face of Jesus

When Scripture shows Jesus in all his exacting elegance

When the preached Word pricks our hardened hearts with the call of Christ

When the Holy Spirit works a sign or wonder or miracle to throw light on the love of God in Jesus

Do not stand aloof. Fly to the fount.

 

Nothing in my hand I bring

Simply to the cross I cling

Naked come to thee for dress

Helpless look to thee for grace

Wretched to the fount I fly

Wash me Savior or I die [1]

 

[1] Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me by Augustus Toplady (1776).