THE MAN AT THE BEAUTIFUL GATE
The Beautiful Gate – Jerusalem
By: Frank Tunstall, D. Min.
Acts 3:1-26
THE BEAUTIFUL TEMPLE
It was about three o’clock in the afternoon in Jerusalem and time for the Jews’ evening sacrifice when they offered lambs to God. Peter and John were walking toward the Temple at this hour of prayer. The outside of the Beautiful Gate made it such a dazzling structure. All around were the porches with covered walks separated by rows of large pillars.
The floors were cut and laid with marble. The pillars were so huge it took three men to reach their arms around one pillar. Some of them were a hundred feet high. Along the walls were seats for people who were coming and going throughout the day and resting on the benches.
The Beautiful Gate included dazzling brass, and it was richly decorated. The double doors to the gate were so heavy it took twenty men to open and close them.
THE LAME MAN
Peter and John were almost at the door, but they stopped before entering; a man who had been lame from birth had caught their attention.
Day after day and year after year he had sat there begging for money from the Temple worshipers. He was over 40-years-of-age but had never walked a day in his life. Nothing could be done for him except let him beg.
Peter spoke to him: “Look on us.”
The lame man obeyed no doubt thinking he would get some money.
But no! For an instant, Peter disappointed him by saying, “Silver and gold have I none.”
But wait! Peter had more to say: “Such as I have, give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.”
THE NEW INVISIBLE POWER
Peter and John took hold of the man’s hands and helped lift him. In that moment the man’s feet and ankles, legs and hips received strength. Wow!
A new invisible power was in Jerusalem, the Holy Spirit, the third person in the Trinity. This Spirit could talk and was telling Peter and John what to say and do. The Spirit was also placing new confidence in the apostles.
Nobody questions the power of the invisible virus, Covid 19, that has killed 770 million people worldwide in the modern era. But many will dispute the power of the Holy Spirit to heal and restore. What a shame! That’s what the devil does — “steals, kills, and destroys.” Jesus said the Holy Spirit had come into the world to heal and give life, more abundant life, eternal life (John 10:10).
For the first time in the man’s life he could stand alone.
Can you believe it?
Then, he started walking! Even jumping!
Picture him leaping and shouting as he went into the Temple with Peter and John, praising God every step of the way! It was the happiest day of his life! He no longer needed to be carried everywhere. The lifestyle of being a beggar had ended. He was healed in that instant, all through the power of the invisible Holy Spirit.
The people in the Temple were acquainted with the man who was healed; they all likely turned to see and listen as he praised God. With this miracle, Jerusalem had become a new place. The man was walking and leaping, and not at all afraid he might break an ankle, or a leg bone, or get a sprain.
Let’s imagine we were following Peter and John and the healed man as they walked in the temple and out on Solomon’s porch. The apostles were elated. The man had no need to hold on to Peter and John for balance.
People on Solomon’s porch couldn’t believe their eyes. It was a miracle. Jerusalem had not seen miracles like this for over 400 years, but Jesus was full of them. Miracles were normal in Jesus’ ministry.
THINK ABOUT IT. A child must take many falls before it can walk. Learning balance depends on how rapidly the nerves in his little ears make walking possible. With this lame man, it was instant. The bone structure, the nerves in his ears, the blood vessels in the man’s legs and his feet, it all had to be perfected in seconds of time.
No baby is born walking – never. But this grown man was jumping and leaping. Wow!
Only one explanation was possible. It was a divine miracle performed in the name of Jesus Christ and done in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Covid 19 can kill, but Jesus has the power to heal and restore and give life, eternal life.
What a gift, and it lasts “just as long as eternity rolls.” (Author of hymn unknown to me.)
