Begging at the Gate Called Beautiful

¹One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer-at three in the afternoon. ²Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. ³When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. ⁴Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, "Look at us!" ⁵So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.

⁶Then Peter said, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." ⁷Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong. ⁸He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. ⁹When all the people saw him walking and praising God, ¹⁰they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

- (Acts. 3:1-10 NIV)

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1. A QUICK THOUGHT:

Something made the ragged beggar notice Peter and John. Day after day, the cripple sat at the temple gate called Beautiful, surrounded by dusty men bustling by, bickering over politics or theology. Few ever stopped. But the beggar called out to Peter and John anyway, without knowing who they were, and they stopped.

Peter and John hadn't gone to the gate called Beautiful to perform a miracle. They hadn't called ahead to arrange for a podium, audiovisual equipment, and news coverage. They were just being obedient disciples of Jesus Christ.

Like the downtrodden beggar, we sometimes sit despondent and paralyzed outside God's temple, vaguely asking for help and not recognizing the spiritual giants in our midst. Maybe we're so mired in self-pity or the demands of survival that we don't even look up. Until they command us to. And when we do look, instead of receiving what we think we need-the beggar asked for mere money-God meets our real needs. The ones we don't know we have.

2. GOING DEEPER:

We are all beggars at the Gate called Beautiful.

Everyday we hold out our hands and hope someone will have pity on us. Our enablers carry us to the gate so that we can collect something to help us get by another day. We do not recognize the spiritual giants who stride past, and we have long lost any hope of jumping for joy.

The gate called Beautiful was the favorite entrance to the grand, bustling temple court-the center of the Jewish culture and the heart of the faith. On this afternoon the man, crippled from birth, was starting his work shift. Month after month, year after year he sat, anticipating nothing, waiting numbly for someone to slow down and toss him a few coins.

Something made the beggar notice the apostles Peter and John, although he didn't know who they were. He must not have seen them before, among the clump of dusty disciples who had trooped through the temple with Jesus before his crucifixion. To the beggar, Jesus and his tag-alongs were just another gaggle of angry young men arguing politics or theology. He was surrounded by their kind every day. Or, by their legs: From his ground-zero perspective, passers-by were just blurred limbs whizzing by. Ignoring him. A first-century Invisible Man. They never stopped.

Peter and John stopped.

In obedience, Peter and John had come to the temple to pray. Praying there daily was what was expected of two adult Jewish men. They may have been companions of the Son of God, but they did not shake off the mundane human customs of their countrymen.

Nevertheless they were different. They walked in obedience to the Holy Spirit's leading, not society's dictates. Even so, Peter and John did not enter the temple that day planning to perform a miracle. They had not called ahead to arrange for a podium, audiovisual equipment, seating arrangements and news coverage. Peter wasn't carrying talking points. They were just being. Spreading the gospel and ministering to needy people was just how they were.

They saw a needy man and stopped to meet his need.

The beggar had no idea what his real need was. He likely was just hoping for supper. As he squinted up at the two apostles, he had no sense of what could happen, what was about to happen.

Look at us! Peter commanded. Why? Here he sounded like a parent of a distracted or ornery child. Focus on what I am about to say to you. Comprehending who Peter and John were also would highlight this fact: that ordinary men were about to be used mightily by God.

Something made the beggar obey Peter's command. Perhaps it was only sycophancy, since the Bible implies he expected to get something from them and wouldn't have wanted to ruin his chance. Surely all his interaction with people outside his family - if he had family - was shaped by obsequiousness. Perhaps also there was a bit of fear. After all, Peter was by all biblical accounts a powerfully built man, and surely the beggar had been bullied over the years. Or perhaps the beggar saw a kind look on their faces and an aura of authority, and sensed in these two men something different.

Whatever, the beggar took Peter's hand, and was yanked into a new life. Real life.

For what Peter had he gave to the beggar? What did Peter have? An introduction to Jesus Christ of Nazareth and his power over life. A miracle, yes; but more: a relationship, with God Almighty.

Instantly, the man's feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet. He left behind his place of begging and went with Peter and James into the temple courts - a holy place he had been unable to enter unless someone carried him - walking and jumping and praising God. Some of those people who had passed him by year after year now stopped and looked at him. He was no longer invisible.

In a following verse the Bible says the beggar held on to Peter and James. He may have been healed, but after forty years he had a lifetime of practices to unlearn. Interestingly, he needed to unlearn them fast. In the next chapter, after Peter and James spent a night in jail for speaking the truth, the beggar stood with them as they addressed the ruling authorities, who ordered them all to shut up.

My guess is that, even if the beggar was inclined to, like Peter and James he wouldn't have been able to shut up. Five thousand men responded to Peter's presentation of the gospel in the temple courts after becoming intrigued by the beggar's miracle. Some of them surely would no longer leave him alone. People were abuzz, and he was no longer invisible.

After a lifetime of hiding in the shadows of the periphery, the beggar was dancing at the gate called Beautiful.

Prayer: Lord, help me to look up from my problems and accept your help.

Thought for the Day: We must watch daily for spiritual giants around us.