and a certain man who was lame from his mother's womb was being carried, whom they placed every day at the gate of the temple called Beautiful, to ask alms of those who were going into the temple;
Peter and John are going up into the temple. The first thing Luke shows us is not the crowd inside, but one man carried to the doorway and set down. The whole verse turns on a contrast: a gate called Beautiful, and a beggar who has never walked through it.
The name was no exaggeration.
Josephus says there were nine gates overlaid with silver and gold. But one gate outside the temple, made of Corinthian brass, far exceeded those of gold and silver. (Wars v. 5, 3) This is thought to be the gate called Beautiful in the verse above.
He is set at the gate, not inside it. Commentators stress where he lay, because that is where the blessing found him too.
There was a man, lame from his mother's womb. Every day they carried him and laid him down — not inside, but at the gate of the temple. There he begged from those who entered for prayer or worship. He asked alms of Peter and John, who were, like many others, about to go into the temple... The man, I say again, is outside the temple, and it was there — outside — that he received the blessing.
Commentators read the scene as a picture of Israel. The nation stood near God's house, praised the way in, and never went through.
He must remind us of the equally helpless man at the pool of Bethesda, on whom the Lord Himself works a like miracle of healing. And as in that case, we cannot help seeing here the condition of the nation: helpless at a door which helplessness could not enter. God's dwelling place was powerless to bless, however near it stood, and however beautiful the approach to it might be. Indeed it was now empty — only a decent formalism. They praised the gate, but no one really entered by it into the presence of God, however great the crowd of worshippers.
The words "lame from birth" are the point, not a background detail.
For fifteen centuries Israel had lived as close as possible to God's house, but no one had ever gone beyond its gate... Why? Because of the ground on which they stood with God — that of law. At Sinai and afterwards, Israel promised to keep all God's holy requirements. Their terrible failures only proved that man is lame from his mother's womb — lame in spirit, as the cripple of our chapter was lame in body. It is a great lesson to learn our lameness — our utter inability to do anything for God. Grace alone suits lame ones.
He had lain at that gate for years, and nothing had changed. Commentators do not call that an oversight. They call it timing.
He lived, it seems, on the charity of the public, given to him as they entered the temple. He was forty years old now, and every day they carried him and laid him down at that gate. Had he ever seen the Lord passing in or out? Certainly, if he had, no healing power had reached him. Not every cripple, not every sick person, received benefit from Him... Now, however, God's appointed hour had come for this one to be made whole.
The verb Luke uses here is the language of a beggar, not of an equal making a request.
Both aiteo and erotao are translated "to ask," and in many passages rightly. But some passages lose much of their force, because the translation does not keep a very real distinction between them. aiteo is the word of pleading, as of an inferior to a superior — of a beggar asking alms, Acts 3:2; of a child asking from his parents (Matt. 7:9).
He came for coins from people going in. What arrived was the strength to go in himself.
The book of Acts gives us, we cannot doubt, many types and illustrations of grace. We mention only the healing of the helpless man at the Beautiful Gate. He lay so near all the grandeur of the ritual of the law, and it had never given him power to do anything but beg. Set free by grace, he now enters into those splendours and rejoices in his new freedom. It no doubt gives a new light to all the splendour of the temple.
- Beautiful. The costliest gate of the temple was brass that outshone gold and silver. It had never once carried this man through.
- Outside. They laid him at the gate, never inside it. Outside is where the blessing reached him.
- Lame from birth. His trouble dated from the womb. It pictures a nation that lived near God's house for fifteen centuries and never got in, because it stood on the ground of law.
- Begging. Luke's word for "ask" is a beggar's word: an inferior asking a superior.
- Grace. Grace alone suits lame ones. Grace set the beggar free, and he walked through the gate he had only sat beside.
who, seeing Peter and John about to enter into the temple, asked to receive alms.
It is an ordinary afternoon at the temple. Two apostles are walking in to pray, and a man lies at the gate where people have carried him every day of his adult life. He sees them and asks for the only thing he has ever asked anyone for — and commentators point out that his ask was far smaller than his need.
His daily place was the gate, never the inside. One writer sees in that detail a picture of the whole nation — a fine entrance to a house that could do nothing for the helpless.
He reminds us of another helpless man, the one lying by the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem, whom the Lord Himself healed in the same way. And as in that case, we see here the condition of the nation. It stood helpless at a door no helpless person could enter. God's dwelling place was near, and the way up to it was beautiful. But it had no power to bless. By now it was empty — only a respectable form.
Another writer notes that the healing happened outside the temple, not inside it:
Note it again: the man is outside the temple, and it was there — outside — that he received the blessing. God had just formed His new house, and now the Holy Spirit shows that the blessing lies outside the old house and belongs to the new.
He asked out of habit. He wanted money, and nothing here suggests he hoped for anything else. One commentator also asks a question about the years before this day.
He was now forty years old, and every day people carried him and laid him down at that gate. Had he ever seen the Lord passing in or out? If he had, the Lord did not heal him then. Not every disabled or sick person received help from Him... But now God's set time had come for this man to be made whole. When he saw Peter and John, he asked them for money. That was what he always asked for. It was all he asked, and clearly all he expected.
He aimed low. What he received went far past what he asked for.
At the Beautiful Gate, as they were about to enter the temple, a man lame from birth asked them for money and got a far better blessing. People saw him often, because they laid him there day after day. Peter looked straight at him, with John beside him, and caught the attention of a man who expected some small gift. He may have been discouraged to hear "I have no silver and gold," but then he hears of something better.
Why this man, and why in public? Because everyone who used that gate knew his history.
The next chapter tells us that this man was forty years old... Everyone knew him. He was no longer a child, and no one could do anything for his condition. Now the power of the name of Jesus reaches him. He was forty years old and well known, so no one could deny that he had been healed. God was about to work a remarkable miracle, and He makes sure it is well attested. The poor lame beggar pictures a sinner who has nothing if he does not have Christ.
The two men he asked had no money to give him. Writers have made that fact a test for the church itself.
There is a well-known story about a Pope in the Middle Ages who showed the theologian Thomas Aquinas the splendour of the Vatican, with its huge displays of gold, silver and precious stones. The Pope smiled and said, "You see, Thomas, the Church can no longer say what it said in early days, 'I have no silver and gold.'" The reply came straight back: "No, and it cannot say either, 'Rise up and walk.'" A worldly Church has lost its spiritual power.
The healing was not an isolated kindness. It was addressed to a nation that had just crucified its Messiah.
The sign was well suited to wake the Jews up. It showed the grace of God towards people who had no strength at all. It displayed the power of the risen and glorified Messiah. And it did so all the more because the Messiah was not there in person. This was His answer from heaven to His servant on earth, who had called on the power of His name. If the name of Jesus had that instant power for the lame man, what would follow if Israel believed in that name?
- Need — the man sat at a beautiful entrance he could never walk through. Commentators see in him a whole nation, helpless at a door no helpless person could enter.
- Ask — he asked for money, because that was all he had ever asked for and all he expected. His aim was low. His need was total.
- Timing — for years people may have carried him past the Lord Himself without his being healed. God set the hour for his healing, not the beggar.
- Gift — he asked for money and got a better blessing. Grace answers the deeper need, not the one we name.
- Witness — lame for forty years and known to everyone at that gate, he became a miracle no one could deny. He is also a question to any church rich in silver but unable to say "rise up and walk."