The unexpected gift.
In one of those rapturous passages in which St. Paul tries to make human language express adequate thoughts of God, he speaks of God as "able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think" (Ephesians 3:20). In saying so he does but mark, in one aspect, the distance between the finite and the infinite, and show how far the bounty of the infinite Giver outruns the desires of those who receive his gifts. The whole revelation of God's dealings with mankind is a continual illustration of this truth. How could it ever have entered into the mind of Abram to ask to be made the father of many nations, to be the father of the faithful in all ages and in all countries, to be the head of God's elect people, and to have his life and his words and his deeds handed down to the posterities through endless time? How could it ever have entered into the mind of Israel in Egypt to ask to be led dry-shod through the Red Sea, to be fed in the wilderness with bread from heaven, to receive the Law from Sinai, and to be put into possession of the land of Canaan? Or how could it ever have entered into the thoughts of a rebellious and fallen world to ask that the only begotten Son of God, their Maker and Lord, should be incarnate and expiate their guilt by dying for their sins upon the cross? The section before us supplies another instance of this exceeding grace of God. A poor cripple, lame from his mother's womb, had for upwards of forty years lived in hopeless and helpless infirmity. In the merry days of youth, while his companions and equals in years were sporting and gamboling in all the freeness of joyous spirits and supple, elastic limbs, he was bound down to his pallet, like a bird confined in a cage, or a dog chained in his kennel. In early manhood, while others went forth to their work and to their labor, earning their daily bread by honorable industry, he was reduced to be a mendicant, living in constrained inactivity upon the precarious bounty of others.
And so it was at the present time. Every day he was carried by some kind hands and laid at the Beautiful gate of the temple, in the hope that those who passed to and fro to the house of God would look with pity upon his misery and minister to his wants. They must have been sad and dreary hours passed in expectancy and frequent disappointment; watching the countenances of the passers-by; overlooked by some, turned away from with proud contempt by others; sharply refused by this well-dressed but hardhearted Sadducee, and occasionally receiving a mite or a farthing from that ostentatious Pharisee; doubtful whether he would carry home enough to supply his daily meal and his necessary raiment. On this occasion he saw two men about to go into the temple. Perhaps their aspect awakened the hope that there were kind, loving hearts beneath their humble garb. Or, maybe, he merely uttered the usual monotonous prayer like that of the Italian beggars, "Date qualque coea per l'amor di Dio." Anyhow, we may be sure that his utmost hopes did not go beyond receiving some small coin at their bands. But when, in answer to the words from Peter's lips, "Look on us," he had looked up and probably stretched out his hands to receive the expected alms, instead thereof he heard the words, "In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk." And in an instant he was whole. No longer a cripple, no longer chained down to his bed, no longer a prisoner, he sprang to his feet, he walked, he leapt, he danced for very joy, and, singing praise as he went, he entered the holy courts. Here there was an instance of God doing unto men exceeding abundantly above all that they ask or think. Here we have a type of the exceeding riches of God's grace, resulting in unlooked-for mercies to the children of men. Let us take note of it, and frame our estimate of God's character accordingly. Nothing more elevates the tone of a man's religion than a worthy conception of God's goodness. It stimulates his love, it kindles his adoration, it raises his hopes, it intensifies all his spiritual emotions. Low conceptions of God's nature beget a low standard of love and service. There is nothing like a true view of the infinity of the love of God, and of the unsearchable riches of his grace in Jesus Christ, to lash all the sluggish emotions of the heart into a holy and healthy enthusiasm. "Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it," is another mode of expressing the same blessed truth; and "Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift," is the language of those whose experience coincides with the revelation which God has given of himself in his holy Word.