There’s no reason to suppose this man even knew about it. Jesus healed only one person in Jerusalem. But we don’t see anything of the kind with this man. Years later, Paul was preaching and noticed that a particular man had faith to be healed. Peter said to him, “Look at us.” The beggar looked with the expectation of receiving. On this particular day, he looked at the crowd of people as he always had, scanning faces to see who might stop and help him. And, of course, didn’t heal him.ĭid the lame man know who Jesus was? Would he have recognized Peter and John as having been with Jesus? Your guess is as good as mine. Therefore, he must have seen this particular beggar on more than one occasion. He must have just as frequently walked along all of the busiest streets. Only part of Jesus’ earthly ministry took place in Jerusalem, but he visited there several times and spent as much as a week there every time. ![]() There may have been any number of better places at other times of the day. It would peak when something, such as the evening sacrifice, was happening. There would not be a steady stream of traffic in and out of the Beautiful Gate. I can only speculate, but I suppose he begged at more than one place in Jerusalem. Why was he being taken to a particular gate at the temple at that time? New Testament (1860s?)Īcts 3:2 says the man had been lame from birth. Peter and John healing the lame man / woodcut from Half Hours with the Bible. The Holy Spirit surely made sure Peter and John noticed the beggar’s arrival and knew what he wanted them to do about it. And it’s not the only time that we easily form a mental picture that’s not quite what the Bible describes. When thinking of the healing of the lame man, it’s easy to assume that he had been sitting there a long time when Peter and John walked past. We don’t know exactly which one.Īt the same time, some men were carrying a man who had been lame from birth so he could sit at the Beautiful Gate and beg. So which of several temple gates does the story describe? Scholars have proposed three different gates. Now, the gate was called Beautiful, but not officially named Beautiful. They may well have planned to witness the sacrifice, but only the time of prayer meant anything to them. ![]() ![]() That doesn’t mean, of course, that they deliberately tried to show up late. Therefore, Peter and John went up to the temple that day not to take part in the sacrifice but for the time of prayer. They all participated in the life of the temple. But at the time, all of Jesus’ followers were pious Jews. Since Jesus’ resurrection, the traditional animal sacrifices were no longer necessary. Peter and John knew that God had provided a permanent sacrifice in Jesus Christ. Pious Jews would gather to witness it and pray. Nowadays, we don’t think of evening as starting that early, but that’s about the time of the evening sacrifice. There, priests offered sacrifices morning and evening. The temple sat on a hill, far above the rest of the city. Scale model of the temole mount in ancient Jerusalem, Israel Museum / Benjamin via FlickrĪcts 3 says that Peter and John were going up to the temple at about 3:00 in the afternoon.
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