Both today’s first reading and the gospel reading have a quiet moment of dashed expectations. In the reading from Acts, we have a crippled man who only had one request from these passersby (Peter and John). It was the same request he had for all passersby: alms. Peter and John didn’t give that to him. In fact, Peter explicitly says they don’t have any money, and then he grabs hold of the beggar: Peter said, “I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have I give you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, rise and walk.” Then Peter took him by the right hand and raised him up . . .
In the Gospel of John, two of Jesus’ disciples were walking along a road when they met a stranger (who they don’t realize was Jesus). One of the disciples says: “. . . But we were hoping that [Jesus the Nazarene] would be the one to redeem Israel; and besides all this, it is now the third day since this took place.” He was probably hoping that Jesus would restore Israel as a mighty kingdom; that clearly hadn’t happened yet, and its prospects didn’t look great.
In both cases, neither the beggar nor the disciples got what they thought they wanted. And, for a brief moment, both men may well have been disappointed. No money? No Israel? Why won’t God answer our prayers?
Yet, in both cases, each man received more than they could have hoped for. The beggar — crippled since birth — could walk for the first time. The disciples wouldn’t find a mighty kingdom of Israel awaiting them or the rest of the Jews, but an even grander prize — the Kingdom of Heaven — was open to them . . . and to all the world.
The beggar and disciples both have another moment in common: the epiphany of realizing what has happened to them. If Peter had lifted up the beggar and the beggar immediately struggled and sat back down, the beggar might not have realized that he could walk (or, perhaps worse, when he did realize he could walk, he might not have realized it was in Christ’s name). If the disciples hadn’t invited the stranger to stay with them, they may never have had their eyes opened to the reality of the greatest gift the world has known.
If it seems our prayers haven’t been answered, perhaps it’s because we haven’t opened our eyes. Perhaps we have been given greater gifts than we can scarcely fathom, but we’re struggling to return to the life we knew, begging for things we don’t realize we no longer need. Or we’re so set in our ways we’re eager to return to the path we knew, mumbling about disappointment and trying to make sense of the world, not realizing that Christ was walking with us the whole time. God may not answer all prayers in the manner we expect or thought we wanted, but the Bible is full of examples of those who received even greater answers to their prayers. We shouldn’t be afraid of where the Lord’s path will take us . . . even if we’re walking for the first time.
