The Cripple at the Gate Beautiful

Holy Spirit and I have been talking about healing, lately and this revelation just blessed my socks off:

So I'm taking Si for a walk and I’m thinking to the Lord, what about that guy at the Gate Beautiful in Jerusalem? The cripple who was brought there every day to beg. Jesus didn’t heal him while He was here in His own personal earth suit. I’ve always had an inkling, and I might have heard it taught, that Papa instructed Jesus not to heal him so that Peter and John would have something to do. (Acts 3:1-10)

So what’s the deal with this kind of timing and Your goodness, I’m thinking, you heal the whole crowd that came to you more than once, how come this guy doesn’t get – and suddenly Jesus interrupts my thoughts and says, “That man didn’t come to me.”

And suddenly it’s like Sarayu downloads understanding into my brain: Jesus healed every single person in those crowds, more than once, but all those people came to HIM, he didn’t seek them out or recruit a single one. And when he was in the cities and towns traveling and teaching and walking the streets, those who got healed were the ones that sought him out. The woman with the issue of blood, the Centurion, the family of Lazarus, even the demoniac. That beggar never came to him like those ones did!

Okay, now to be fair, he’s a cripple, right? And he's living in Jerusalem, so how could he get to the meetings on the hill or on the shore or even walk up to Jesus on the street? True, but then, how did he get to Beautiful Gate to beg everyday? Doesn’t it say that he was laid there? So if he WANTS to come to Jesus because word is spreading about the miraculous happenings on the sea shore or wherever he is, he’s got to convince his family or those people in his circle of care to bring him there. This may be a case of the unbelievers in his family or friends keeping him from receiving his miracle. Something to think about in our own lives, eh?

However, I wonder how much of an effort he made to have them bring him to Jesus? If he had put up enough of a fuss I wonder if they would have given in just to shut him up? Which started me thinking about another beggar who couldn’t get anyone to bring him out to where Jesus was healing everyone, blind Bartimaeus, (Mark 10:46-52) – he’s doing the same thing, begging on the side of the road, when Jesus walks by and he begins to shout as if his life depended on it. If he got what he wanted, despite the opposition of people around him, this man at the Beautiful Gate could have done the same, yeah?

And, you can’t tell me that for the entire three years that Jesus was functioning under the anointing he never walked past the Beautiful Gate. I don’t know which gate he came in to enter Jerusalem for the last time when everyone was shouting “Hosanna” and whatnot, but chances are fairly good that at some point Jesus and his rowdy, sinning, mocking, seeking crowd strode past that other beggar. So why didn’t he shout out to Jesus since he couldn’t walk over to him? That’s how beggars beg for crying outloud! (Pun intended ;) ) This guy wasn’t afraid of asking perfect strangers for something. If anyone paid attention to him, he knew he was getting something. So why not petition Jesus? To be fair, maybe he did. But we know what happens when a poor beggar starts causing a real ruckus while someone important is around – the other people try to shut him up. They probably threw some coins at him and told him to be grateful and be quiet or some other equally religious nonsense. So either this guy didn’t believe enough to call out at all, or he didn’t believe enough to keep calling out despite the pressure.

Either way, what the Lord spoke to my spirit is true – this man never came to him. Then.

Fast forward into the future to just before Peter and John get to him (again, probably not the first time they’ve interacted with this guy). So by this time, this poor beggar has been KICKING himself in the pants that he was such a pushover and never took advantage of having a human filled with God himself walking around his city. Who cares if the people told him to shut up? He’s heard what happened to Bartimaeus and he’s ready to get in on the action, but guess what? The Guy up and got Himself executed before he could work up the nerve and get another chance! Sure, there’s been some talk that He rose again, and that the Wayists are walking in that same anointing but how’s he supposed to know who they are? It’s not like there’s the huge crowds around that there used to be following Jesus. Most people still swear He’s dead and gone and that those folks are loonytoons. So what’s a guy to do? He does the same thing he’s done every other day. Those folks bring him to Beautiful Gate and he calls out to everyone who passes asking for a handout, for alms. Couple guys get ready to pass him and he does the same thing. A lot of folks just throw stuff at him as they walk by or ignore him completely, or worse, they kick him or tell him to get a job, so he’s learned to keep his head down. He has no hope, no right to even look into the faces of people walking by. But these two stop and they talk to him and they tell him to look at them! So he does, even though they might just mock him, “beggars can’t be choosers”, right? And they say they don’t have any money but what they have they’ll give him “In the name of Jesus the Anointed one of Nazareth rise up and walk!”

Can you imagine how that must have gone off like a fireball in his soul? The very one he had missed out on making the effort to come to and be healed and thought he’d lost all hope and now here they were offering him hope in that same Name! There was a problem though, just like last time, Jesus was waiting on him to do something he couldn’t do – come to him. But this time he was just as determined if not more than ex-blind Bartimeaus. He didn’t care if he had to walk there himself, dragging his crippled legs all the way. he was coming to the Healer! And look what happened: “And immediately he jumped up and (as in and THEN when he did the thing he was not previously willing nor able to do) his ankle bones were made strong and he went into the temple with them leaping and jumping and praising God.”He immediately responded to Jesus, came to Him, whereas before he was unwilling or too fearful of other people or too conscious of his own infirmity versus God’s power to do so.

Lemme tell you, that revelation rocked my world! It was such a relief to find out that our Papa hadn’t decided to keep this man in three more years of lack and infirmity just so that Peter and John could have some kind of religious ego-stroking experience! Thank you, Jesus!!!