THERE ARE TIMES when I read the Bible when I like to stop and think about whether a certain word could be a symbol or a substitute for something else. Not long ago I read the narrative of the man lame from birth who was carried daily to the gate of the Temple. See Acts 3:1-8 . At the end of the account, the man is "walking, and leaping, and praising God" because he has been healed by Peter.
The word leaping caught my attention. I wondered if it could symbolize letting go of beliefs that weigh us down. These weights include believing that our body or health is shaped by physical causes, instead of recognizing that God forms every identity spiritually and perfectly. There are weights of believing in incurability; also self-pity, apathy, hate, or the fear of change and its implied demands for responsibility.
The leaping, however, could suggest that none of these had any more influence on the man. Wasn't the leaping an outward expression of an inner transformation? Wasn't the praising of God an acknowledgment of where power and authority and healing are to be found? God's law of good never leaves us unloved, uncared for, or forgotten.
