Thoughts for the Day

One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, at three o’clock in the afternoon. And a man lame from birth was being carried in. People would lay him daily at the gate of the temple called the Beautiful Gate so that he could ask for alms from those entering the temple. When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked them for alms. Peter looked intently at him, as did John, and said, ‘Look at us.’ And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, ‘I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk.’ And he took him by the right hand and raised him up; and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. Jumping up, he stood and began to walk, and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. All the people saw him walking and praising God, and they recognized him as the one who used to sit and ask for alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

The end of Chapter 3 of the Acts of the Apostles Luke, the author, tells us that 'many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles' in the immediate aftermath of Pentecost, though it is not until the next Chapter that he gives us the example of the healing of the lame man by Peter and John. The disciples are still attending the Temple for prayer, though not for the time of sacrifice, for they most certainly realised the ultimate sacrifice had already been paid by Jesus. As they come to the Temple they are accosted by a lame beggar. Notice the words to do with sight in this short account - we are told he 'saw' and 'looked'. Something about the disciples, from the hundred going past, attracts his attention. The man expects to receive money, it was after all what would keep him alive, for he had no other means of earning a living. Each day would have been a struggle, to get his helpers to take him to the best place to catch the crowds, and then to gain enough money to feed himself. He has no thought for anything else.

Many of us never get to the point of realising we need to ask God for something, instead we do all we can to make sure we can manage on our own, until we finally give up struggling and turn to God. Or perhaps we ask for his help and define the solution. We say "Dear God, please will you give us... so that we can sort ourselves out!" The person of faith needs to simply look towards God and ask for help, allowing God to dictate the solution.

With the battle cry of "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth" the disciples heal the lame man. When our prayers are closed with the words "through Jesus Christ, our Lord" we need to have faith that the prayer will also be answered, though we might find we have been asking for the wrong solution.

Lord God,
may we have sufficient faith
to know we need to turn to You
before we have exhausted
trying to find solutions to our problems.
May we also learn to expect the unexpected,
for your answers are always wiser than ours.
We ask this through Jesus our Lord.
Amen.