‘One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. Now a man who was lame 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’. Acts 3: 1-2
Have you encountered times of trial or tragedy in your life? I know for most of us there will be times that we look back on times where we have experienced pain and loss, but for the large part these are seasons we walk through. In today’s verse we meet someone who has only known hardship, a man totally dependent on others to function in life. Everyday he has to beg, calling out to people as they pass by on their way to the temple. We don’t know much about his past, but what we do know is that he was lame from birth. In anyone’s estimation this has not been an easy life. Especially in a culture where disability or sickness was often seen as being a result of your own sin! This hardly bred a culture of empathy and compassion.
When He sees Peter and John we are told that he calls out to them and asks them for money.This made me think. He treated them as ordinary, he treated them as everyday people. He treated them in the same way that he would treat any other person. But the fact was they weren’t ordinary. They had been commissioned by the Messiah, they had received power from on high, they were living by faith in Jesus and his finished work. How many people are treating you and me as ordinary today? How many people can we surprise with words of life or prayer that could turn their world upside down? Peter and John did not have what the man was looking for but they did have what he needed.
Imagine they had given him financial aid that day. What would have changed for the man? Well he could have had enough money to buy food, but he would have still had to rely on others to go and get it. Even if they had supplied enough to mean that he would never have to beg again, he would still have been subject to a life of dependency on others to do even the simplest of tasks. Money was the only thing the man could see that would help him out of his predicament. If people have never encountered Jesus they can not really understand what they are missing out on. They will look for what they believe will bring them happiness, or joy or will temporarily help their problem. But with Jesus it is never a temporary fix. He will always go to the root of the issue.
I love how every detail that the bible records serves to bring deeper insight. We are told that this miracle takes place at 3pm. This would have been after the afternoon sacrifice. Now if we rewind a number of weeks earlier it would have been the precise time when Jesus cried out “ It is finished”, and drew his last breath. Here the Jews are still carrying out their sacrifices in the temple each day atoning for their sins and yet Jesus has already paid the price and now his followers are about to demonstrate the freedom and life that results from living a life of faith in the finished work at the cross!
So whatever you find yourself doing today, remind yourself of who you are in Christ. You are not ordinary. You are not limited by the natural systems of this world. You have a supernatural God living on the inside of you who can set the world on its head and turn lives around. Be open to the Spirit’s leading and believe in his power in you today.
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Unshakeable Hope Series – Exchange Church Belfast 2021