Chapter 3 - At the Gate Beautiful

Acts 3:1-11  
A New World at the Gate Beautiful  

Peter and John are going to the temple to pray. 
Outside the temple, at a gate named beautiful, there is a beggar, a man lame from birth who was placed each day at the gate to beg from alms, for money. 
This presence of this man may have been noticed by passers-by, but he was barely noticed, not as an actual person at least.  
In the aftermath of crucifixion and resurrection, that was about to change. 
The tendency in reading this passage is to focus on the healing, it is the big news after all. 
A man who had never walked winds up jumping and leaping and praising. 
There is, and there will be, fullness and joy in the world after crucifixion and resurrection.
There is much more to note, though. 
This is a man who had suffered not only by way of his physical limitations, but also by way of the judgment of others. 
To them he was a less than.  
But there are no “less thans” in the kingdom of the risen Lord Jesus. 
We see this before the healing.  
Peter and John look at the man, into his eyes.
The man looks into the eyes of Peter and of John.  
The people are astounded after the healing because they notice the lame man is leaping. Peter and John noticed the lame man before he was leaping. In following the way of Jesus, they see the humanity of all people. They see the humanity and dignity of each person. Such recognition, in the power of the name of Jesus, can make a blind man leap. 

May you be blessed today with eyes that see the beauty and humanity of all people. 
We are so deeply blessed in this life.