Born Lame
When I was a child learning to play the piano, one of my favorite songs was called, “Born Free.” As I grew older, I realized the lyrics were an ideal — not a reality. We are all born as needy people. There are no exceptions.
As creatures, our dependence on our Creator is profound. With what little independence we have been given (Augustine called it, “reasonable self-determination”), we have unreasonably rebelled against Almighty God, as did our first parents (Gen 3). Therefore, intervention from on high is imperative for our temporal and eternal reconciliation.
Following the events on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2), two of the apostles approached the Temple at Jerusalem. Peter and John had only recently experienced the redemptive and restorative power of God’s Holy Spirit indwelling them (Jn 14:17; Rom 8:9, 11).
Prior to meeting Jesus, their lives had been pretty lame. They were fishermen in a fairly deserted locale with little prospect of “changing the stars.” The previous few years brought change they now believed in, and the power that transformed them now possessed them. An encounter with someone who had walked with Jesus…really knew Him personally, witnessed his death, burial, resurrection, and ascension now held the same power potential as meeting Jesus himself.
What people need is for God to forgive them for their rebellion (Eph 1:7; Rev 1:5). What people want is to have their most obvious maladies remedied. None of us deserve either one. We are all uniquely lame.
The lame beggar is our representative in Acts 3:1–10. He was positioned in a helpless state fully dependent on the compassion of other needy people in his community. The cycle was daily, weekly, annual, and survival only led to death. Vanity of vanities! The hope of a new life had long since been conversation fodder, as it was for the lame man at the pools of Bethesda (Jn 5). It would take an act of God for this man’s miserable existence to change.
The miracle of the lame beggar’s healing is rich. The imagery of instantaneous power to completely heal the man eventually ascribed the name of the ultimate healer…Jesus Christ to the event.
In a similar event at Capernaum, Jesus first forgave the sins of the man with palsy, and then he healed him of his obvious malady. The Messiah had come with power to heal and forgive, and he kept the skeptical leaders spinning with His words and His actions (many times done on the Sabbath). They wanted to kill him.
In the same way, Peter and John were arrested at the end of their day of miracle healing and preaching. Preachers remain imperiled, today.
The world refuses to pay attention to the work of God in its midst. In fact, the most powerful leader in the world is blinding the minds of those who are perishing (2 Cor 4:4). Still, a simple, yet profound encounter with a Spirit-filled believer in Jesus Christ holds potential for instantaneous life transformation.
Radical life change is prepared for multitudes of lame people in the world. Much of the church is without silver or gold, but where the Spirit of God is present, the infinite power of God to say, “Rise and walk,” still lifts some to walk, and leap, and to praise God. It might be lame to say it at this point, but “you must be born again.”
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
May 26, 2021
