Ugliness At The Beautiful Gate

UGLINESS AT THE BEAUTIFUL GATE

"Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. 2 And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple; 3 who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. 4 And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, “Look at us.” 5 So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. 6 Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” 7 And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. 8 So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God. 9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God. 10 Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him." Acts 3:1-10.

An oxymoron is a figure of speech containing words that seem to contradict each other. This contradiction is also known as a paradox. So to use the words ugly and beautiful in the same sentence is an oxymoron. Ugly is always attributed to something unattractive, unsightly, repulsive, hideous and unpleasant to look at. Ugly is to be distasteful, vile, disgusting, grotesque, dirty, unseemly, messy and offensive to the sense of beauty. Beautiful, on the other hand, has the opposite effect. Beautiful is to be amazing, appealing, good-looking, delightful, overwhelming, splendid, gorgeous, striking, attractive, picturesque, charming, wonderful, marvellous, cool, awe-inspiring and pleasing to the eyes.

It was here, at this magnificent gate of one of the most beautiful structures ever made by man, that we find this man with an ugly situation. The Bible does not give us his name. But the information written about him in the Scripture says that he was a lame man and a beggar. A beggar who had to be taken to the gate daily to beg. He had been carried from the time he was a baby, and even now in the middle ages of his life, he was still carried and laid at the gate in order to beg. He had no choice for he had been crippled from his mother’s womb. This man was by a Beautiful Gate yet experiencing ugly situation. Even though the Beautiful Gate was an extension of the Temple in Jerusalem his situation was ugly. Daily men and women go through the gate into the Temple to worship God and often comes out rejoicing, but this man situation remained hopeless and unsightly. The name Beautiful given to this gate was a daily reminder of what his life wasn’t. Looking at the splendour, wonderful and beauty of this gate he was daily reminded of the ugliness, suffering, dependence, pain and chaos that was associated with his life. The beggar couldn’t walk. Yet he saw people daily walking effortlessly through this beautiful gate into the Temple. The Temple was worth a fortune. It was beautiful to behold, but lying on its outside was a man marred, disfigured, distorted and an outcast. The lame man's condition limited his ability to function as a whole person. He was only at the Beautiful gate looking for a hand-out. At his age many already had family of theirs but for this man it was unlikely. He was dependent upon others to carry him and to take him wherever he had to go. The lame man was outside of the Temple, and he couldn’t even go in. He was in the surrounding of the Temple and heard all the prayers, reading of the Word and hymns yet he was all alone. But on a certain day, and at an appointed time, things changed. God changed his story for the better.

LIFE HAS ITS UGLINESS:

Life is full of contrasts. We all go through mountains, and we go through the valleys as well. Some will be filled with joy, and some with heartache. We go through successes, and we go through failures. There are many difficulties in life. Some of these challenges will test our courage, strengths, weaknesses, and faith in God. No one is exempted from trials. Everybody has challenges. Psalm 34:19. The fact that you're living a godly life does not mean there won’t be suffering. Men and women of faith have experienced troubles and trials throughout history! Problems are part and parcel of life, both for Christians and non Christians, churchgoers and non church goers. It doesn't mean you're a bad or an evil person. The difference is that when a child of God experiences trials, we're certain God's aware. We can be rest assured that we are safe in the hands of the Lord.