A Lame Miracle

The Lame Walk

3pm moving heading out to the temple

Table of Contents: Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the ends of the earth

Gate called ‘Beautiful’; a 75 foot giant. This massive structure made out of Corinthian brass glimmers like glass in the sunlight. It stands proud and tall.

Because his legs didn’t work, he was considered unclean, cut off to the gate that led to the place where God lived.

Moments before Peter and John walk through Gate Beautiful, a little voice from the ground breaks their concentration. “Would you be so kind to offer a donation to a crippled man, sirs?” The beggar feels his voice is a broken record; to him begging is a job, a job with one repetitious request. At this point in his life, he doesn’t care about those who stare at him in his crippled state.

But Peter and John stop dead in their tracks. They put their mission to pray on hold. They have a new agenda. Peter bends down and says, “Look at us

The tendons, muscles, and bones twist and turn to the way they are supposed to be. The Holy Spirit is the world’s fastest surgeon.

He looks up and down the 75-foot giant he sat beside for so many years and says Peter and John, “I’m walking through that today!”

Acts 3:1-10

Jewishness

pious Jews: prayer and almsgiving Money coming in Lev 22

Eye-contact

Intro: listen to glisten: experience of salvation.

‘With then’: he’s part of the Apostles Crew

v 9-11: man ‘clings’ to them.

The Lame Walk

3pm moving heading out to the temple

Days filled with Wonder

v.43: “Many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.”

Beggar beside Beauty

Beggar:

Beggar: Over 40, put there every day

Lame from birth

Carried there

Beauty

Debate about Gate Beauty

Corinthian brass: Josephus said ‘greatly excelled those that were only covered over with silver and gold’.

75 feet high, huge double doors

Separated the “Court of Women” and the area where the Priests performed religious ceremonies.

Could also be the “Eastern Gate”, which separated Jewish men and Women from Gentiles.

Either way, it is one of the Gates that separate the Jews from Gentiles, and that’s important...

Was the Beggar allowed to Pass through Beauty?

Leviticus: 21:21-22: 21 No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a blemish shall come near to offer the Lord’s food offerings; since he has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God. 22 He may eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy things, 23 but he shall not go through the veil or approach the altar, because he has a blemish, that he may not profane my sanctuaries, for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.”

This passages says that IF the beggar was from the offspring of Aaron, that he couldn’t be a priest… Doesn’t say he can’t come into the Temple?

“According to modern Jewish practice his physical condition marks him as an ‘outsider’ to the temple community” NIVAC

AND NOW THAT’S ALL ABOUT TO CHANGE!

Beggar Through Beauty

Peter and John came to pray. As Jewish men, they were allowed to through Gate Beautiful

They hear a voice asking for a donation

That request stops Peter and John and they they gaze at the man...

The man keeps his head down, assuming he’ll just receive some cash. Eye-contact was probably not something worth the man’s time...

But Peter says, “Look at us!”

That got the beggar’s attention and his eyes are locked on them...

I love the details Luke gives us with regards to the eye-balls.

Peter directing his attention on the beggar

Peter demanding the beggar, “Look into my eyes.”

The beggar suddenly looking up and giving his attention to them...

It’s like Luke is trying to direct us as the readers:

You see all the busyness in this scene? The Temple? The altar? The commerce? The religious hustle and bustle?

That’s all peripheral: Look at this! Look at this statement…

I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give you to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”

All the beauty, the hustle and bustle, all the distractions happening in this passage, that’s not the focus right now...

The focus is the Power of Jesus Christ!

The focus is in this POWER; everything else periphery!

And with this singular focus, Peter takes the man by the right hand and helps him up.

Immediately, the tendons, muscles, and bones twist and turn to the way they are supposed to be.

The Holy Spirit is the world’s fastest surgeon.

He looks up and down the 75-foot giant he sat beside for so decades and says Peter and John, “I’m walking through that today!”

That’s what I would say, anyway...

Just a couple of feet away from being ‘in’ every day of one’s life.

Just a couple of feet away from feeling accepted not only by his own kind, but God himself!

He was taught his whole life: “You shall not pass!”

But now he’s on his feet, walk and leaping and praising God!

He leaps his way through the Spiritual barrier and his feeling of belonging overwhelms those who can’t believe what their seeing.

They were filled with wonder and amazement, transfixed on what they’re seeing and an audience begins to grow...

All the attention is now on this 40 something beggar who can’t stop jumping!

It’s as if the cold stones of the temple floor were mini-trampolines.

The scene is so radical, so unbelievable, and so spiritually earth-shattering...

Beautiful Steps:

Two Things to focus on:

Two Major Steps in the Right Direction:

First Baby Step of Christianity Asserting Itself as Something Entirely New

This is an ‘in house’ miracle

The stones, the walls, the GATE

“No Oddballs Allowed”: Philip Yancey

The Temple and all it’s fixens obsolete...

Just a few steps away from where this beggar sat for decades was a room dedicated to those who were healed from leprosy- the place where lepers would come and be inspected by the priests!

That way of discerning healing, obsolete!

The purpose of this miracle and to get ALL of Israel’s attention: This whole project that has been a part of our history for centuries? This whole building and the work of the priests? That’s NOT the focus anymore.

Assuming it was the Nicanor Gate:

The Women just got to peak through the doors of Gate Beautiful to see their sins being atoned for on the Altar.

Only Jewish MEN were allowed to be in that courtyard of the priests to watch their sins be atoned for on the alter.

Everything turning to Jesus!

Rather than people peeking in to see whether they can see their sins atoned for, out there, on that alter… Luke is invited the reader to FIX THEIR EYES ON JESUS!

Atonement is not something to peak in to see, it’s an experience all were able to watch visibly just outside the city walls a few weeks ago.

Many of them watched the Lamb without barriers. The Sacrifice was laid bare for all to see. The Cruficix demanded your attention. Old young, Jew, Gentile, ALL could fix their eyes on that Jesus of Nazareth who died, and this parable is invited the broken to fix their eyes on this JESUS!

TURN YOUR EYES TOWARDS JESUS, BECAUSE IN JESUS THOSE THAT WERE FAR OFF ARE NOW BROUGHT NEAR.

Second Major Step towards Joy

One thing this passage does for me, is it reminds me of the joy we are called to have in Jesus.

This scene at the end is just so exuberant. So filled with hope and happiness! Amazement and wonder!

God is on the move in this scene and the result is just absolutely joy.

If you’re in Jesus, have you experienced this type of joy??

Struggled with anxiety...

Fix your eyes on Jesus

Been a couple of weeks since I’ve brought up anything about baseball:

Bernie Carbo:

Game 6 of the World Series: Red Sox vs. Reds

2-2 fast ball over the fence

He yelled at Pete Rose as he rounded 3rd base: “Don’t you wish you were this strong?”

Look at the video, Carbo looks like he’s on top of the world!

“The truth is, however, is that I was totally miserable. I was addicted to drugs— I had even used some before the game. I was dealing with deep insecurities. I thought my fahter didn’t love me, yet I couldn’t stop seeking his approval. Meanwhile, my mairrage was shaky at best...”

Over the next several years, Carbo battled his additions. His mom committed suicide. His dad died 3 months later. He married and divorced twice...

Rehab, hospital: Rock bottom, ended up in a room with a retired pastor who taught him about Jesus… It was only then that he began to understand the power of Jesus.

Even after this amazing transformation and even after starting up a Christian ministry that would use baseball as a way to communicate the Gospel to young people, he relapsed in 1994.

Shortly after this relapse, he met Tammy who would become his 3rd wife. Tammy and her son Chris would regularly preach the Gospel to Carbo, and despite the amount of grace given to Bernie, he verbally abuse Chris.

He almost lost his 3rd wife because of it...

But through persistent work of the Holy Spirit through Tammy and her son, Bernie would grow, and mature, and change.

Stuck in drugs

Stuck in anger and anguish...

But he writes:

“Not only does Jesus Christ offer the way out, but he also offers the way in to a life more a joyful and abundant than anyone could imagine. Truly, our God is an awesome God.”

This passage teaches us that Jesus “offers us a way in to a life more joyful and abundant than anyone could imagine.”