It was a story any church going child should know. The story of Peter healing the lame man. It is all the more well known from the children’s song.
For a more cheesy version see:
Peter and John went to Pray,
They met a lame man on the way,
He held hand, and asked for an alm,
But this is what they had to say.
Silver and gold have I none
But such as I have give I you
In the name of Jesus Christ
Of Nazareth, rise up and walk
He went walking and leaping and praising God
Walking and leaping and praising God
In the name of Jesus Christ
Of Nazareth, rise up and walk
He went walking and leaping and praising God
Walking and leaping and praising God
In the name of Jesus Christ
Of Nazareth, rise up and walk
Acts 3
Peter Heals a Lame Beggar
1 One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. 2 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. 3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. 4 Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” 5 So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.
6 Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” 7 Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. 8 He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. 9 When all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
The song and story may be familiar from Sunday School. Indeed when we started talking about it I leaned back, slightly bored, but also slightly interested in knowing if they would say something new about the story. I had no idea how amazing what I heard would be.
Our school’s pastor started by having some of the kids in the band act out the story for her. They carried one of the boys up to her and laid him at the “temple”. She told through the whole story this way.
And then we began to look into the passage.
It was about that time that I noticed the abandoned wheelchair sitting near the cross on stage. I don’t know why I hadn’t noticed it before, but it suddenly stood out to me. I remembered in an instant something else from the story long ago.
Back when my hands were constricted in splints I came across the most remarkable thing in a book I was reading.
The book was If God is Good by Randy Alcorn. I still can’t remember exactly how the book put it, but in the book Alcorn discussed how illness, especially chronic illness could still be present if God is good. The main point that Alcorn focused on was that God could use people who were ill to demonstrate His power. The most powerful part of that section of the book was when Alcorn talked about the crutches that were cast aside when the lame man walked and how if the man had not been lame to begin with, there would have been no miracle. Those crutches proved testament to God’s power.
I still wish I could remember it better, but all I know is that that section of the book stood out to me in a powerful way. I was in hand splints while reading the book. I may have mentioned earlier that I felt very much a cripple while in those. I couldn’t do everything I wanted and more than anything were the looks of pity that people gave me. I didn’t want pity. I just wanted to be treated normally.
God was gracious and allowed my tendons to heal naturally, allowing me to take the splints off. No surgery or anything else was needed. And so it was one day after reading that section of If God is Good that I walked into my room and stopped at the sight I saw.
The splints were lying on the bed, cast off.
They reminded me so of the crutches that I seem to recall a few tears coming. I thought of God’s marvelous work in healing me and in allowing those splints to be cast off so that I could continue to play violin and piano and live a normal life. I felt hope and peace and understanding that I had not felt before.
Glancing up at the wheelchair on the stage of the chapel caused me to remember that day. The crutches, splints, or wheelchair, all no longer needed.
But even though God had already revealed something to me in that passage He was good enough to real something even more.
As our pastor spoke she said something that left me shocked. She said that this man had probably been at the temple gate for a long time. She mentioned that people would pass him every day as they went through to the temple. And then she said the unthinkable.
She said the Jesus had indeed walked through those gates before, and he might have walked past that very same man. And even if he had not walked past that man, he had certainly walked past others.
My jaw dropped. I couldn’t even think about God walking past someone. And yet in a way I could. Sure I didn’t have to wear hand splints, but my joints still ached like crazy. One of the things that I hate most about my disease is the uncertainty of it. Juvenile arthritis sometimes recedes, unlike Rheumatoid arthritis. There is no certainty of whether I will live the rest of my life like this, or I will be healed. When I was first diagnosed I grasped hold of the hope that I might find normality once again. I loved reading stories on the web of young girls who had JIA (abbreviation for juvenile arthritis) as kids and then went on to become Olympic athletes. It inspired me greatly.
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| Kristine Holzer, Olympic Athlete |
And so on that day I indeed felt like the lame man having Jesus pass by him. It wasn’t even a miracle for me to be healed, it was a possibility! And yet even then Jesus had made no guarantees to me. I felt abandoned, betrayed. How could this be the God who loved?
The pastor went on to explain the story of how a young girl at George Fox was diagnosed with a horrible disease that effected her nerves. Some days the girl could barely go to class and had to be carried there because it was so painful. Our pastor explained that she talked to the father of the girl at one point and asked him about what he thought about his daughter.
When the man talked about this particular story, the story of the lame man he had tears in his eyes. He said it gave him hope that God had a bigger purpose for his daughter. If indeed Jesus passed by the lame man on his way to the temple, he knew that God had a bigger purpose. It was not the man’s time yet. He was to be a miracle under Peter and John, not under Jesus.
God has a bigger purpose. He always does. There are so many different metaphors about how God can see the big picture and we can’t. Things about zooming in and then zooming out and how then you can see more clearly. I’ve had people talk about walking up a trail and not really being able to see where you’re going until you reach the top. But I’ve always loved the picture of God weaving a tapestry.
A fantasy book I read when I was little had a section where the young hero talks to three “witches” in the woods. I now know that they represented the fates. He looked at their weaving and could make nothing of it, and yet they explained that they were not done with it yet. If this is looked at with God rather than fate than indeed we can get a small picture of what it is like to only see the individual events.
Again my childish memory does not allow me remember every detail, but as a girl who has spent a good deal of time traveling Europe I have loved tapestries. There are several ways a tapestry fits. Zoomed in certainly you can see nothing but the individual threads. Zoomed out you can see the way every thread fits together to create a masterpiece. Similarly the back of a tapestry is knotted and ugly, but it is those knots that form the beauty of the front. And just as with the fates…when a tapestry is not fully completed it is very hard to make out exactly what the picture is of.
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| Medieval tapestry |
So for those who suffer from diseases, or for those who just suffer from anxiety over troubles and trials…be still and know that He is God. He has great plans for us, plans to give us a hope and a future. He will show us the way.
Here's a song to go with the last part. My little brother has been one of the biggest inspirations in my life. He was diagnosed with diabetes when he was two years old. I have had great sympathy for his pain over the last year, something I have been very thankful to be able to understand. However, he is well known for his outlook on his disease. He does not let it hold him back. He pushes forward and tries hard in everything he does. I am so proud to call him my brother. But one thing he’s said sticks out above all the rest. I can still remember being shocked when a friend from church quoted it in a prayer to the whole congregation. It is a simple bit of hope beyond just God’s purpose for those who struggle with pain and illness.
“Heaven is the ultimate cure”- Danny Moore
One day all our tears will be wiped away. In heaven people are liberated from the diseases that held them back. Even though they may have been “passed by” and allowed to suffer, they will ultimately receive peace. For in truth God doesn’t truly “pass by” anyone. He may appear to on occasion, but He loves each and every one of us dearly. It may be painful right now, but God has plans, and in the end heaven awaits us.
‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Revelation 21:4
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