The Healing of the Lame Man (Acts 3:1-10)
Luke informs his readers that this incident occurred at the Beautiful Gate of the temple. It received this title because of the beautiful appearance it had because of the various metals with which it was adorned. This gate was very large: it was about 75 feet tall and 60 feet wide, and twenty men were required in order to open and close it. No doubt, this gate was a very impressive one. Yet as we read the passage we can sense other reasons as to why we can call it the Beautiful Gate because there beautiful actions took place and beautiful attitudes were revealed. What are some of these beauties?
The beauty of the insignificant
Luke now moves from describing the activities of the crowd and the effect the growing Jerusalem church had on the community to detailing the conversion of an individual and the effects his experience had on the onlookers who saw what had happened to him. In doing so, Luke is reminding us that our great God can use large movements or individuals in the furtherance of his kingdom.
Sometimes we wonder what would be the effect on a community if one of its important residents was converted. We think about politicians, sports stars, leading businessmen and imagine the effect their conversions would have. Of course, when such a person is converted, we rejoice and sometimes there is a powerful effect on those not yet converted. We could regard the conversion of the apostle Paul in this way. People must have discussed the change in his life.
Yet at other times, the Lord can work in the life of an insignificant individual and use them in a dramatic and effective way. The Bible has many such characters – David the shepherd boy, Amos the herdsman, and Peter the fisherman. Church history is full of insignificant people who did things for God that became the catalyst for great spiritual movements.
We see one such insignificant person in this incident. The cripple is that person. Luke does not even tell us the man’s name. In other words, his identity is not important. Yet he became the means by which God worked in the lives of the onlookers of his healing. This mind reminds us of the beauty of the insignificant.
The beauty of spiritual friendship
It is good to have a close friend, one with whom we can have profound spiritual experiences. Peter and John are one such pair. True, they had moments of profound enjoyment when they along with others met with Jesus Christ. At times, they had occasions of special blessing along with James, such as on the Mount of Transfiguration and in the Garden of Gethsemane. Yet they also had wonderful moments as a pair of disciples. We can think of their experience on the Resurrection morning when they both ran to the empty tomb after Mary Magdalene came and told them that the Lord was no longer there (John 20).
Another detail worth noting is that God blessed Peter and John in the path of duty. They were making their way to a prayer meeting which was held in the temple courts (the hours of prayer were 9 am, noon and 3 pm). No doubt, there were many reasons which they could have given for not attending this prayer meeting. Others would be present, so they would not be needed. It was now three in the afternoon and perhaps they had had a busy day. Still they went, and on their way God used them to bring blessing into this poor man’s life. We will never know, in this life, what opportunities we have missed of receiving God’s blessing just because we omitted to perform our duty.
A third detail to note is the rather amazing fact that Peter and John did not have any material resources. Peter has to inform the man that he has no alms for the poor man. Yet Peter was not embarrassed by his lack of resources. From one perspective, the cripple had asked the totally wrong person. He wanted alms, yet the person he asked could not give him any. Peter, however, had something far more valuable to give to the cripple – the resources of the risen Christ.
Peter was aware that he had a special gift as an apostle. In the previous chapter of Acts, Luke had stated that the apostles were performing signs and wonders and here he records one of these miracles. Peter was not speaking into the dark when he made this announcement. He was fully aware that the man would be healed, which is why he stretched out his hand to help the man stand. The lesson for us is not to try and imitate Peter and work a miracle; instead the lesson is to use whatever gift the Lord has given us for his glory, and whenever we use it we should expect the Lord to bless others through it. Such gifts can range from hospitality in obedience to Jesus to preaching about Jesus. Every disciple of Jesus has received at least one gift from the Lord and it is essential that they use these gifts in his service.
Peter wanted the cripple to receive blessing from Jesus Christ. Therefore, he causes the man to pay close attention and listen. Peter does not want the man to imagine that he had been healed by the apostle himself. Instead he wants the cripple to understand that his healing will have come direct from Jesus Christ through his servant. In this attitude, we can see the beauty of Peter’s humility.
Sometimes we ask, what is the clearest mark of humility? I would suggest it is the willingness and determination to give Jesus Christ all the glory in every situation.
The beauty of the healed cripple
As Peter and John reach the Beautiful Gate, they were stopped by a cripple asking for alms. Luke gives us a description of him and initially we cannot see any beauty in him. Instead we see a picture of misery because he is a man who had been a cripple for forty years. His only role in life is to lie on the roadside begging.
Yet as we continue to look at him, we can see beauty coming into his experience. First, we can see the beauty of a person who appreciates mercy. The cripple had learned many years previously that his only hope was in the mercy of those who saw his need. Up until now, he had been dependant of human mercy as far as we can tell. Yet once he experienced healing, he realised that he had experienced the mercy of God.
What should be our response to the mercy of God? One detail of our response must be to realise that divine mercy is always undeserved. This is the essential feature of mercy. Mercy is always given to the undeserving, to those who do not have a right to it. When we see a person who realises that he has been the recipient of undeserved mercy, we are looking at something beautiful.
Second, we can see the beauty of a person who experiences a miracle of grace. This man experienced a physical miracle at least, and if he was not converted before he also experienced a spiritual miracle. The man who could not walk could now take steps. It was not a gradual recovery, but an instantaneous and complete restoration to health. His experience here is a wonderful picture of what takes place in the heart of a sinner when he or she believes in Jesus. Such a person was not merely a spiritual cripple with several handicaps. Instead he was spiritually dead, unaware of God. He was unable to walk in the paths of God and had no desire for them. Yet the grace of God touched him through the gospel, in a manner similar to how Peter’s hand lifted up the cripple, and brought spiritual life into his previously dead soul. Such a person is truly beautiful, spiritually alive.
Third, we can see the beauty of a person who enjoys deliverance from his former condition. The cripple’s response was ‘walking and leaping and praising God’. He was thrilled with what had happened to them. There is nothing more beautiful than to see a person who is full of spiritual joy. His joy was rooted in gratitude to the God who had sent his servants to bring him deliverance, therefore he associated himself with them. The change in his outlook caused the onlookers to be ‘filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him’. Similarly, believers should be full of joy: the joy of forgiveness, the joy of a divine Companion, the joy of a heavenly home, the joy of the family of God, the joy of sharing in the things of God. Such a person is truly beautiful to behold.