A Paraphrase of Acts 3:1-10

For one of my classes, I had to write a paraphrase of Acts 3:1-10. I presented my work in class and received some good feedback so I thought I would post it. I wish you could have seen and heard some of my other classmates' work: a rap song, comic strip, pirate poem, an allegory, painting, paper sculpture, and many, many others. Anyway, here is my project.


A DAY DIFFERENT THAN ALL THE OTHERS

When I woke up that morning I didn’t know it was going to be the day that changed my life forever. It didn’t feel any different. Nothing spectacular happened that morning. I woke up at the same time to the same sights and sounds. Same bed clothes on my body, same mat I slept on, same morning breath, and….the same lameness still affecting my legs.

I have been lame since birth. My parents took me to different doctors to see if I could be made better, but there was nothing any of them could do. Eventually my parents gave up trying and gave up hope. It was a hard decision for them to make. See in my culture, people believe that my parents must have done something wrong, and the result was my lameness. They tried to make me better not only for my sake but for theirs as well. By deciding not to continue treatment of my condition, my parents lost honor in sight of their friends and the whole family suffered.

I was fortunate enough that my parents let me live with them instead of turning me out on the street as I had seen happen to other lame people. They never complained to me but I know that I was a burden to them. All I could do was lie around the house all day and be in my mother’s way. When I was a teenager, my mother arranged with her nephews to have me taken up to the temple every day to beg alms from people. I didn’t like doing it at first. The people were always staring at me, the weather was often hot, and I would sooner or later be in pain from lying so long. It was demeaning, but eventually I got used to it. The people passing by weren’t too giving but every little bit was appreciated.

So anyway, back to the day that changed my life forever. My cousins took me up to the temple and laid me down at the gate the people called Beautiful. After laying in different positions all around that gate for years, to me the gate had lost its beauty long ago. It was in the middle of the afternoon and the sun was hot. There wasn’t much shade either. My cousins laid me down, left, and I started begging.

After years of begging, I’ve gotten pretty good. I can spot those with iron money bags and those who are loose with their money. I know when to play it up and also when to keep it quiet. While lying there, I see these two guys walking toward the temple. They looked like all the other guys around, but there was something different about them. I don’t know what it was, but they were…just… different. I started begging when one of them turned to me, looked intensely at me, and commanded me to look in his face. I thought he was going to give me a big amount and wanted to make a show of it, but that wasn’t the case.

The man continued to look at me intently and said, “I don’t have any money to give you, but I will give you the greatest possession I have. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth get up and walk!”

While he was talking, I was starting to get disappointed because I knew he wouldn’t give me any money but I was also getting confused by what he was saying. What was this guy talking about? Why did he mention Jesus? What does Jesus have to do with it? Now, I knew who Jesus was because I had heard of Him and the things He had done. I knew that He was a Jew and from a similar background as me. He went all over the country teaching, and preaching, and casting out demons, and even healing blind people and lame people. The religious authorities didn’t like Him at all, and I think what aggravated them the most was that they could never find a way to win a debate against Him. The people, though, respected and admired Him not only for what He said and did but also how He acted among us commoners. This Jesus wasn’t afraid to be among us or to even touch us. It seemed as though He enjoyed spending time with us even though everyone could tell He deserved the status of the religious authorities. I guess he rubbed the authorities the wrong way too many times because they had Him executed.

It was scary in the city during that time; people didn’t know what to think. A few days later people saw Him come back to life and then He went up into heaven. All His followers began to speak about Him and that He was the Son of God and talk about repentance and how the kingdom of God was near and stuff. There was also that day when they all suddenly started speaking in different languages. My family had talked about these events and thought that they were all crazy and that Jesus deserved what He got for going against the authorities like that. They had decided that He couldn’t have been the Son of God or the authorities would have recognized Him. I didn’t know what to think. I didn’t know if He was the Son of God or not. All I knew was that He did more for us throwaways of society than any religious person did.

I never met Jesus of Nazareth. I think I would have liked Him and I think we would have been great friends. He might have even healed me, I don’t know. What I do know is that He would never have looked at me the way everyone else does. I know He would have seen me as whole instead of lame. He would have seen me as the person I wish to be instead of the person I was. Yeah, I think I would have liked Jesus. He was a man’s man and I have to give respect to anyone who cares about people like me. But He was dead, or alive, or in heaven, or something, but in any case He couldn’t heal me now.

This is why I was confused when that guy mentioned Jesus. As soon as he finished speaking he grabbed my hand and yanked me to my feet. Before I knew what happened I was looking that guy eye to eye. I was standing on my own two feet! By some miracle they had been strengthened! I thought I was going to fall down but I didn’t! I kept standing! I looked at that guy, gave a laugh, and started walking around. You have to understand, I have never stood on my feet in my entire life. Here I am, an adult, and walking for the first time in my life. It was the weirdest thing to pick one foot up, put it down, pick the other foot up, and put it down. With each cautious movement I was afraid that I would fall down and be lame again, but it didn’t happen.

As I gained confidence with each step, joy flooded my body. Walking no longer became enough and I started leaping and dancing and sidestepping and wiggling my toes and just doing anything that made my feet move. I know I looked like a fool but I didn’t care. I was walking! My feet had never looked so beautiful until that day!

I started to go into the temple with the two guys who had healed me. You know, I don’t think I ever told them “thank you.” Anyway, as I was entering the temple I realized why they had mentioned Jesus. He did have the power to heal me, and by them calling His name it was as though His power had traveled from wherever He was, through their words, and to my body. I knew then that Jesus had to be the Son of God to have power like that.

I started praising God right there. I praised Him and thanked Him for making me walk again. I praised Him for Jesus and sending His Son. I praised Him for the two guys who healed me. I praised Him for allowing others to see what had happened to me. And I made sure they all saw. I walked around the whole time I was praising God. I couldn’t get over the new feeling of walking but I also wanted the people to see what God had done for me. Up until then, I didn’t have hope at all. To me hope was worthless and gave more pain than it took away. There was no reason to hope. But then Jesus healed me and I could walk. I wanted others to see me so that they would know that they could have hope and hope in Jesus. I just kept going around and around the temple praising God.

Well, what do you think I did next? You’re right I went home, but instead of walking I ran! I left those two guys in the temple and took off as fast as my feet could go. I wanted to see my parents and to have them see me. I wanted to show them how well my feet worked. I wanted to tell them what had happened with the two guys and Jesus. I wanted them to know so that they could feel the same joy I was feeling.

To say that all the rest of my days after that were completely different than before would be a gross understatement. It hasn’t been easy but every second has been worth it. I no longer think that I would have liked Jesus; I know I love Jesus now and live for Him. I haven’t forgotten the life I used to have, one full of pain, humility, and dependence, but I don’t live out that life either. I now am the person I wanted to be. And to think, my life is new and different not because of anything I had done but because of what someone, Jesus, had done for me. Praise God through Jesus His Son!