Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will shout for joy. (Isaiah 35:6)
My relatively short drive into work each morning is rarely boring, and today was no different. Just as I was turning the corner on a back street that I take, a doe suddenly jumped from behind a bush and out into the road. I slammed on the brakes while quickly thinking, I’ll bet there’s another one nearby.
Sure enough and right on cue another beautiful doe appeared from behind the bush, briefly shocked by her close proximity to my car. She hesitated about whether or not to follow her sister, but decided to run back towards the field from where they came, making what had to be a 10 foot leap into the air over an embankment and a barbed wire fence. While that deer’s initial hesitation was hilariously goofy, her graceful jump which followed reminded me of the agility and power of this skittish creature.
In Acts 3, Peter and John went to the temple in Jerusalem to pray; that’s what they did everyday. Outside the temple there was a lame beggar, ironically and strategically located at a gate into the complex called “Beautiful”. He was doing what beggars do; that’s what he did everyday.
But this particular day wasn’t like any other day which had come before it, because Acts 2 had happened. As the beggar turned to Peter and John for a charitable contribution, Peter said to him (and I paraphrase), “Give us a minute of your time. We just started and haven’t been able to establish a church benevolence fund yet. No food pantry or clothes closet or job training facilities exist just yet. Here’s all we can offer you today: in the name of the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, get up and walk!”
Not only did the lame beggar walk, but Acts 3:8 tells us that he was walking and leaping and praising God! Luke, the author of Acts, is making a point here: the promises of Isaiah 35:6 were being fulfilled in the presence of those Apostles. Not only had the Messiah come, but he had given a precious gift to the church – the body of Christ – the Holy Spirit. Now the blind might see, the deaf might hear, the mute might talk, and the lame might leap like a deer…graciously, powerfully, and magnificently.
