Peter and John were going up to the temple area
for the three o'clock hour of prayer.
And a man crippled from birth was carried and placed at the
gate of the temple called "the Beautiful Gate"
every day to beg for alms from the people who entered the temple.
When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple,
he asked for alms. But Peter looked intently at him,
as did John,and said, "Look at us."
He paid attention to them, expecting to receive something from them.
Peter said, "I have neither silver nor gold,but what I do have I give you:
in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, rise and walk."
Then Peter took him by the right hand and raised him up,
and immediately his feet and ankles grew strong.
He leaped up, stood, and walked around,
and went into the temple with them,
walking and jumping and praising God.
When all the people saw him walking and praising God,
they recognized him as the onewho used to sit begging
at the Beautiful Gate of the temple,and they were filled with
amazement and astonishmentat what had happened to him. (Acts 3:1-10)
Yes, Peter and John were going up to the temple. It was the ninth hour, or three o'clock in the afternoon, which was the usual time of prayer for the Jews. But it also had special significance to the Christians, because it was the very hour Jesus had died on the cross. Peter and John were on their way into the temple when they met this man who had been lame from birth. He was waiting at the gate of the temple. And the striking thing about this is that when he asked alms of Peter, Peter stopped, and said to him, "Look at us." This is very important, because it is right in line with what Jesus would do whenever he wanted to heal anyone. He never walked up to someone and merely touched and healed him without first directing his attention to himself. He always captivated the attention of the individuals he wanted to heal, directed them to focus their gaze upon him. The reason was to arouse a sense of expectation. It always quickens faith. This is what happened here. This man expected to receive something from Peter and John. He did not know what he was going to get -- thought it was money, no doubt - but his faith was quickened by Peter's words. This is very necessary in order to receive anything from God. You must expect something from him.
The minute Peter had this man's attention, he did two things which are most interesting: First, he admitted his bankruptcy in the material realm: "Silver and gold have I none," he said. "If that is what you are looking for, I can't help you." And then, he demonstrated his amazing adequacy in the spiritual realm: "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." And, in that electric moment, as this man was looking at Peter and John, and heard these words, at the mention of the name of Jesus something remarkable happened. Strength came flowing into his ankles, and Peter, sensing it, took him by the right hand and lifted him up. The man rose and began to leap and shout and jump around, trying out this new-found strength in his legs which he had never known, because he was lame from birth. No wonder it had an amazing effect upon the people.
The lame man is a picture of the world, lying at the door of God, asking for help. Here is a sick, lame, crippled society, unable to be the kind of men and women God wants them to be, and looking in vain to the church, to the door of God, for help. They do not know what to ask for; neither did the lame man. They ask largely for material help. And the church has responded. There is nothing wrong with that kind of help; it ought to be given. But that is not the real help the church can give. If that is all we give, we are no better off than any other charitable organization. What is needed is what Peter and John gave - not silver and gold, but the name of Jesus, the power of a new life, the impartation of a new strength in order to achieve the result they achieved: A man was made whole. This is what God offers today. He offers to make men and women whole, not only outside but inside!
What struck me about the story of the lame man was that he clearly did not know or believe that he had been healed and could “rise and walk.” Peter had to actually take him by the hand and raise him to his feet before he understood what had been done for him.
ReplyDeleteWe tend to think of miracles as being done in a flash of lightening or maybe something like the wave of a magician’s wand—a couple of passes through the air and there’s the rabbit for all to see. But often they’re a process—one where we didn’t see it start, had no idea it was happening and didn’t know when it was finished. And then someone has to actually wave that rabbit in front of our eyes before we believe it happened.