He followed the same routine every day. His friends helped him get ready, and then they carried him here, to the temple, where they left him beside the gate called Beautiful, just in time for the three o’clock prayer service. It was the most sensible hour to come, because surely those moved to pray would have generous hearts and something to spare, even if it was just a few measly coins.
There was little dignity involved in begging, but a man who had been crippled since birth couldn’t afford to worry about things like that. he just had to survive. If he didn’t beg, he wouldn’t eat. So each day he came, he sat, and he begged. Holding out his arms, palms upwards, he asked if they would just give him their dregs.
So this day had started like any other, and he found himself again at the Beautiful gate. Two men walked towards him, and he made his usual request for money, holding his hands out in expectation. But these two did not respond as he had hoped. Instead, they looked at him intently. People rarely stopped to look at him. They just tossed him a coin or two and moved on. Out of sight, out of mind.
But these two were really looking. And then one of them spoke. He said, “Look at us.”
The lame man wasn’t accustomed to making eye contact. He usually kept his eyes firmly fixed on the ground, but such was the authority in the stranger’s command that he felt compelled to obey. So he looked up, and their eyes met. The man’s pulse quickened as he wondered what these two new arrivals would do. Perhaps they would be extra generous and give him more money than he could hope for. But they surprised him again, and the next words he heard made his heart sink.
“I don’t have any silver or gold for you.”
The beggar felt angry. If they had nothing for him, then why hadn’t they just passed him by as so many others did? Why had they engaged in conversation only to disappoint? Why had the man with the loud authoritative voice insisted he look up? He was so angry and ashamed that he nearly missed the stranger’s next words.
“But I’ll give you what I have.”
What could they possibly have that would help him except for money? He just needed enough to survive. Just to know he could afford his next meal. Of course they had money! Everyone did, didn’t they? Everyone apart from lame beggars like him who couldn’t do anything to earn it. if he could, he would happily work. He would willingly graft from dawn till dusk. But his defect had put pay to all that, and a lifetime of knowing he was a burden on everyone around him had taken its toll. He didn’t want to hear, but the man was still speaking.
“In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk.”
The stranger spoke as though the thing he was suggesting was an everyday occurrence. Then he held out his hands, and despite his frustration, the lame beggar felt compelled to latch on. Suddenly strong arms pulled him up, and an electrical current of supernatural strength buzzed through his lifeless feet and ankles. He wasn’t just standing. He was walking! Then he was leaping, and then he was praising! He couldn’t contain it. he just had to praise God because he knew where his healing had truly come from. Yes, the man he heard them call peter had spoken the words and pulled him to his feet, but it was Jesus, the Son of God, who had healed him.
Now he wouldn’t have to sit at the beautiful Gate begging every day. he could go into the temple. He walked right in beside Peter and John, still full of awe and praise. He knew people were talking, but he couldn’t keep it in! They had to know! Everyone had to know!
***
I’m sure many of you have read that story from Acts chapter 3, and you’ve probably heard the old Sunday School song “peter and John went to pray”. As I often say, these stories can become overly familiar because we hear them so many times. It’s easy to skim over them and miss the new things God might want to show us.
As I read this account as part of my current Bible in a Year, I tried to put myself in the place of the beggar. That’s why I decided to re-create his story above in my own words. For me, it helped the narrative come alive.
Pardon the pun, but just try and walk in this man’s shoes. Every day he sat begging. How degrading must that have felt! What a life! His only hope of a decent meal rested on people feeling sorry for him. As a disabled person myself, if there’s one thing I struggle with, it’s people pitying me, because I don’t feel I need their pity. But I live in an era where I have options. This man didn’t. It was beg or starve, so he had to choose the former.
A person who begged every day would likely have fallen into a beggar’s mindset. He would have been fixated on everything he didn’t have, and the one thing he needed – money. So when peter refused to give it to him, he would doubtless have been disappointed. Especially when peter made such a big issue about asking him to look up. what was Peter up to? The beggar couldn’t see beyond his immediate need, but peter saw a much greater requirement the lame man didn’t even know he possessed. It would have been easy for peter to just give him money and move on. A good, charitable deed, and something worthy of a faithful Jewish temple attendee and a follower of Jesus Christ. But Peter felt compelled to do more. No doubt, he was moved by the Holy Spirit as he spoke.
How many times have I been so fixated on the one thing I was sure I lacked that I missed out on the greater thing that God wanted to do in my life? Answers to prayer have not come as I hoped, so I mistakenly presumed God either hadn’t heard or wasn’t willing to answer. Yet God was at work. He could have swept in and fixed my immediate problem, but then I wouldn’t have become aware of a greater need hiding under the surface. I am angry or frustrated, so I open a bar of chocolate and indulge. It makes me feel good for a while, but the problem is still there. The chocolate hasn’t fixed anything, and I soon feel guilty for the extra calories. I know that’s a trivial example, but I’m sure you get the picture.
If the man had received more money from peter and John, he would have gone on being a beggar. However, by receiving his healing, he embraced not only the freedom to move around independently, work, and do whatever he wanted, but also the wonderful gift of salvation in the name of the one who had healed him. He didn’t just have hope for this life, but for all eternity. He didn’t get silver or gold, but upon receiving his healing, he felt richer than a millionaire, as evidenced by his exuberance as he danced and leapt his way into the temple to give thanks.
I am challenged that when I pray, I need to be open to the many ways in which God might choose to move in my life, and to accept the fact that he knows best and will ultimately work for my good. He knows my needs better than I do. Even the ones I am hiding from or afraid to admit. God is a big picture thinker, whereas I only see the here and now.
If Peter had given the beggar the money he requested, the man could have just carried on sitting. He never would have had to take a step of faith. But the instant peter told him to get up, he had a choice to make. He could either allow peter to help him to his feet, or say no. His logical brain probably told him to stay where he was. He’d never walked before, so why should one man’s words make all the difference? But for whatever reason, he rose, believing that for the first time his legs would hold him. I wonder what steps of faith God might be calling us to take. Perhaps, like the beggar, god’s solution for us might involve a bit of work on our part. The easy option we are hoping for would allow us to stay in our comfort zones, but if God is going to deal with the bigger issues, we might have to get up and exercise our weak spiritual limbs.
Whatever we are called to do, I can guarantee it will be worth it. I believe the end result will have us walking and leaping and praising God. We will look back, and we’ll be glad god didn’t answer our prayers our way. We’ll be thankful for any effort we had to make, whether it was great or small. He wants us to thrive, not just survive. he is a big picture thinker, and if we desire to follow after him, then we need to be too.