Acts 3:1-7
v1One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. v2Now 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. v3When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money1. v4Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” v5So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.
v6Then 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.” v7Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong.
this is the second or third time i’m coming back to this passage. each time, there is a slight change in the message. yet, the message remains unchanged. it’s like, although there are things that are made clearer to me, the main gist is the same.
a lot of people would interpret this passage as saying that as long as we are full of faith, if we sincerely ask in Jesus’ name, we can make even the lame walk. that’s true. however, for me, the passage kept drawing me back to the crippled beggar.
the crippled beggar has been crippled all his life. notice though that this miracle took place outside the gate that was called Beautiful. in the preceding chapters before Pentecost, we read that the apostles have gathered in Jerusalem. this miracle also took place after the death of Jesus. in Jesus’ lifetime, He has healed the sick, healed the lepers, made the blind see and made the lame walk. He has even brought back people from the dead. so, why was this man not healed by Jesus? was there something more to this? surely this man is well known. he was lame since birth and he was carried to the gate every day of his life to beg. why wasn’t he healed by Jesus?
as i was praying about this and wondering, a thought came to me. in a lot of passages in the bible, Jesus often said to the people He has healed, “go. your faith has made you well.” that’s a thought isn’t it?
let’s look at the woman with the issue of blood:
Mark 5:25-34
v25And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. v26She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. v27When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, v28because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” v29Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.
v30At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”
v31“You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”
v32But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. v33Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. v34He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”
in this passage, we can see that Jesus did not set out to heal the woman. unlike the other people whom Jesus has healed (Bartimaeus, the blind man whom Jesus healed by the roadside; the leper; the centurion’s slave), this woman was healed because of her faith in Jesus. she didn’t set out to ask Him to heal her. all she did was touch his cloak. unlike the man with leprosy, she did not beg Jesus.
Mark 1:40-41
v40A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”
v41Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!”
so what was the whole deal with the crippled beggar? obviously, we cannot say Jesus did not have compassion on him. Jesus is love. Jesus died for his sins as well. so why wasn’t he healed? as i kept on wondering, i realised that maybe, the beggar had no faith.
Mark 6:1-6
v1Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. v2When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.
“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles! v3Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.
v4Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor.” v5He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. v6And he was amazed at their lack of faith.
we can clearly see that in this passage, in Jesus’ home town, He couldn’t do any miracles because there was a lack of faith.
so what happened to the crippled beggar now? why is it that all of a sudden, Peter and John were able to heal the crippled man? was it because they were more powerful than Jesus? of course it wasn’t. even the healing was done in Jesus’ name. so what was it? what was the difference?
let’s take a closer look at verses 4 and 5.
Acts 3:4-5
v4Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” v5So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.
behold! the man was expecting something.
he didn’t know what it was he was going to receive. it could be money. it could be food. it could be anything! but what did Peter say?
Acts 3:6
v6Then 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.”
and what was the response of the man? did the man say or do anything? we may never know. but in verse 7, Peter took him by his right hand and helped him up to his feet. what does this tell us? i was wondering what was the significance of the right hand. why couldn’t the author just write that Peter helped the beggar to his feet? then the words jumped out at me.
when you are expecting to receive something from a person and he says “look at me”, wouldn’t you be getting ready to stretch out your hand?
so here, we have the beggar expecting to receive something from Peter and John. it could be alms, it could be money, it really could be anything but this man was already stretching out his hand to receive it. and the miracle took place.
i was wondering about this when i read it. and i saw how relevant it is in my life. am i expecting something? do i have that expectant faith? am i even now reaching out to God, expecting to receive His graces? it’s not enough to be desperate and to pray and ask God. we have to have the faith to expect miracles to happen. and we have to move. we have to act. faith without action is dead. likewise, when we have this expectant faith in God for miracles to happen, we must stretch out our hands to receive the miracles.
and i wonder. am i doing it right now? in a way, i guess i have started. is it enough? i don’t know. but one thing i do know. as long as i trust in Him and His promises, i need not fear. God will provide.
Lord, i ask that you help me to reach out and stretch my hand to receive your graces. that despite the many setbacks, i will have the faith and the courage to be like Job, to stand resolute and firm. that like the crippled beggar, i will have the same expectant faith to receive something from You. in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, i pray. Amen.
- in some translations: he begged them for something[↩]