He asks for alms and receives healing Acts 3 1-11

Healing of a cripple

Acts 3, 1-11
Peter and John went up to the temple for the prayer of the ninth hour, while a man, lame since his birth, who every day lay at the door of the temple called "Bella", to beg for alms to those who entered the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to enter the temple, he asked them for alms.

Peter, with John, staring at him, said, "Look at us!" And he looked at them carefully, waiting to receive something from them.

But Peter said, "Of silver and gold I have none; but what I have, I give to you: in the name of Jesus Christ, the Nazarene, walk!" He took him by the right hand, lifted him up; and at that instant the soles of his feet and ankles were strengthened. And with a leap he stood up and began to walk; and he entered with them into the temple walking, jumping, and praising God.

All the people saw him walking and praising God; and they recognized him for he who sat and begged at the door «Beautiful» of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and wonder for what had happened to him.

Reflection

The Bible says that he was lame from the womb, the disease was engraved in his flesh from birth, so he had never known normality and in his childhood therefore could not develop that mechanism of adaptation to survive, in that he had never walked; infirmity was his normality and the hope of one day being able to walk did not belong to him. So, unable to reach that place alone, he had found people who brought him every day, they placed him at the door called "Bella" and there he sat begging for alms to live.

Peter and John, arriving at the hour of prayer, meet this man who is stuck at the door and stop because he confronts them asking them for alms. The spontaneous gesture of man reflects how he usually dealt with others, and what he could hope to receive from those passing through to enter the temple. There is no exchange of words other than what he asks and which implies a silent gesture of solidarity.

Strangely, he does not ask to be healed: he probably did not want to get out of what had now become his normal, otherwise he would have been forced to explore what he had never experienced; certainly, it takes courage to grow, it takes courage to heal, It takes courage to evolve, it takes courage to go where you’ve never gone before.

Now Peter intends to break his dependence, so he does not say "I will give you what you expect", because "I will not throw coins in your dysfunctional hat, I will not allow you to have another excuse to lay at the door of your reason, not to evolve into what you must be; I will not help you to stand here motionless, I expected something from you, because silver and gold I don’t have, but what I have, I give you". What Peter can give exceeds all human expectations: much more than a gold or silver coin, Peter gives him salvation itself in the name of Christ, giving new vigour to his legs.

For this reason we should not be surprised by the first words that Peter addresses to man. They are neither the proclamation of Christ, nor the promise of an offering. They are simply the invitation to look to him and John. Evidently, the man asked everyone without caring who passed him, nor staring at their face. What Peter is about to give to man, on the contrary, requires a full and conscious look. The man in fact thinks that the unusual request of Peter will follow the coveted offering.

But Peter adds: «Of silver and gold I have none; but what I have, I give to you: in the name of Jesus Christ, the Nazarene, walk!» He takes it by the right hand, lifts it and, in that instant, the soles of his feet and ankles strengthened.

The healing of man transforms his journey into a kind of dance, in which the whole body, finally, can celebrate the works of God. His prayer begins just like this, from his body and his jumping of joy. This man could not communicate with his God, because access to the world of praise and thanksgiving was barred to him; this until he meets the gaze and hand of Peter and can now pass the threshold of the door "Beautiful"enter the temple and praise God together with the apostles from whom he had healing.

The man who asked for alms at the door of the temple, became the man who no longer asks for the little to live, but thanks the Father for the abundance of his gifts. This cripple discovers Christ through the words and hands of Peter and then walks and prays with them.

This event must shake our immobility, our resignation for the spiritual paralysis in which we have fallen, and our inability to ask for healing in order to be able to walk under the whirlpools of prayer and praise. How often do we ask God only for material things! It would be extraordinary, however, if we could meet true men of God, of faith, like the apostles of that time, that seeing us stuck in our paralysis, staring into our eyes, lifting us and taking us by the hand, they said: "walk in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene".

The Lord sometimes and incredibly offers us what exceeds all our expectations: Salvation itself in the power of His name. Yes, the lame was "still", his illness kept him still, far from a life lived in fullness, but then in the name of Jesus, of the "God who saves" he is freed from his immobility and begins to dance, dance and praise God. In one word, start living.