[The following is a dramatic monologue, spoken from the perspective of the beggar healed by Peter and John through the power of Jesus Christ. It covers the material about him in Acts chapter 3 and 4].
[This was inspired, an in fact the first part is a direct borrowing of the material, by a sermon by Denn Guptill that can be found at: http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/get-on-your-feet-denn-guptill-sermon-on-apostles-peter-30746.asp
It was a day, just a day like any other day. My brothers had gotten me out of bed and gotten me dressed. And on their way to work they carried me to my usual spot at the temple gate.
It was just a day, the sky wasn't any bluer, the birds didn't sing any louder, the sun didn't shine any brighter, it was just a day. Just a day, like any other day. And yet before it was finished it would be unlike any other day in my life.
It was just a day. And as I lay with my shrivelled, twisted legs extended in front of me, I thought of all the days I had laid in front of the temple gate and how those days stretched out like an endless horizon before me.
I wasn’t allowed to go into the temple. I was disabled and disregarded. I knew that as a beggar I was what folks considered one of the lowest have-nots.
I was a man unable to work, a man who could only beg as my only hope to stay alive.
I was cut off from the temple and all it meant in Israel: God’s presence, being able to offer sacrifice, receiving atonement for my sins, just to name a few.
And on this day that was just like any other day, I begged from religious folks on their way into the temple. It’s a good place to beg because when people are on their way to worship God somehow they are just more generous.
Maybe love of man and love of God goes hand in hand. Maybe that was it. Or maybe people gave their loose change to ease their consciences as they went to prayer at the temple!
The fantastic temple, the second temple, the one that Herod had rebuilt as a monument...to his own name. Took him 46 years. It was known as Herod’s Temple. Herod went all out, with gold-decorated roofs and marble columns.
The stones used in the construction were so incredibly white that, from a distance, it looked like a mountain of snow. The sun's reflection from the on it made it painful for onlookers to see.
It was just a day. And I looked down at the useless limbs stretched out on the blanket as I was being carried in. They were mine, but they weren't even a part of me, I had never felt them, really; never had control to move them where I wanted them to go. Never ran as a boy, never walked as a man.
And today was just a day, no better and no worse than all the other days that had made up my life, the life of this poor crippled beggar. But without my knowledge and without my consent today would become the day I would never forget.
And today would take me from being a beggar destined for an obscure life and obscure death, a nameless, lost soul, and today I would find my name.
I would discover my worth. I would learn that there was a God in heaven who cares for me, and who reaches down from glory, through the hands of men in order to lift me up.
I was being carried pretty roughly by my brothers, a helpless feeling, but a familiar one. I hated being so dependant, but it was a feeling that I was use to it.
We’re on the way to the gate called Beautiful. A beautiful gate that only the beautiful, the fully-abled, the blessed I guess, were allowed to walk through.
And as I’m being carried I see two fellows, and I ask them: “Brother, can you spare a dime?” My need is kind of obvious.
My broken and useless body was pretty clear evidence of my need. Surely these fine gentlemen, walking confidently to the temple to worship at the appointed time - surely they would give me something. A toonie, A loonie. A quarter?
And maybe, just maybe, they would look me in the eye when they stopped for a second. That was always something else.
A person who stops and smiles. That always felt as good, even better, than when they would just throw their change my way.
But then the man, the bearded man with a loud, low voice came up to me, looked me straight in the eye and he said the strangest thing.
He 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.”
And I’m like, you’re going to the temple and you’ve got nothing? You’re broke? Or you’re just going to give all that you have to God and lie to me? O great. Another let down.
But then something indescribable happened. He took me by my hand. He touched me. He touches my right hand and he helps me up. UP!
I have never been anything but horizontal! Maybe I could lean my back against a tree or some stairs while sitting.
But I could feel the strangest sensation of my feet stretching out, my ankles, withered to nothing...the bone starts to stretch, to strengthen.
I can feel power I’ve never felt in my body. And as I’m getting up I’m expecting to fall over. I’m sure of it. I’ve never been vertical.
My, I guess you call it my balance is getting better by the second as I arise. I feel SO strong. It’s unbelievable. I jump all the way to my feet and I’m standing. I’m walking. It can’t be happ... It’s really happening to me.
So I start to walk with the 2 gentlemen - Peter and John I learned later. And I walk INTO the temple courts. I can’t believe it!
I’m walking and I’m jumping and my heart is racing, it’s is so full I’m praising God out loud. Really loud. Maybe a little too loud.
And people gathered around. It was embarrassing. They pointed at me and I heard them whispering at first.
But then I heard a younger man say: “That’s the beggar. That’s the cripple who always sits at the gate called Beautiful”.
Someone else said: “There’s no way! Look at him jumping around. Why, that’s the beggar who has always been in the same spot. He can barely crawl. How can he be...”
So I’m a bit nervous and I’m clinging for dear life to Peter and John. A lot of people seem really happy but there are a few that are glaring at me. Then I’m surrounded by even more people...a mob that gathered in Solomon’s Colonnade.
Then Peter starts talking about this man Jesus. He says Jesus healed me and not him or John.
This Jesus, who Peter said God raised up from the dead...and that in Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through Jesus I’m healed. That’s how this happened.
But then the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees approached Peter and John.
They were really upset at the 2 men. I think it was because they didn’t want them to talk about Jesus. I didn’t understand.
They grabbed Peter and John and threw them into jail. But a LOT of the folks there…the ones that heard the message – they started to talk amongst themselves. I listened in and I could tell…they believed Peter’s message.
It seemed like a lot of them were nodding and they were looking at the priests like they were mad at them.
The next day the rulers…all the elders and teachers of the law met in the Holy City. I was there. Caiaphas was there too. So was Annas the high priest. This was a serious gathering.
They dragged Peter and John in front of them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?”
8 Then Peter said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! 9 If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame (that’s me!) and are being asked how he was healed, 10 then know this, you and all the people of Israel:
“ It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. 11 Jesus is “‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’
12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
Peter and John were very bold. They were completely sure of everything they were saying.
When the rulers saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were like totally astonished and they recalled that these men had been with Jesus.
The leaderse looked like they were frustrated and wanted to do Peter and John harm. But…I was standing right there with them. They couldn’t deny that my miracle had really happened.
They ordered Peter and John to leave them. After awhile they ordered them back. They commanded Peter and John to not speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.
Peter and John replied: “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
After further threats, they let Peter and John go. They couldn’t decide if or how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened.
Maybe that’s because I had been miraculously healed, and that couldn’t be denied, because everyone knew me for decades as the lame beggar, the paralysed one, the have-not. And I understand why.
I had been disabled. I was boxed in. Trapped. I had no hope. There was no future for me, except begging every day at the gate called Beautiful. Everybody knew I didn’t count. I didn’t merit a second look. For years and years, everyone was so sure that I didn’t matter at all. But I guess God thought differently.
And now...now I’m free. I’m healed.
My body...my life...was broken. But by the power of Jesus, in the name of Jesus, who was once dead and is now alive again by God’s own power, I have life. I can walk. I can run and jump. For the first time, I canplay. For the first time, I have hope!
It was a day. Just a day like any other. Until everything, everything in my life change. I will never forget what Jesus did for this beggar. I will never...forget...all that He’s done...for me.
