After my series on the parables, I found I was drawn to look into the miracles of Jesus in the Gospels. I have never studies the mighty works of Jesus as a focused effort before and am looking forward to finding nuggets of truth that we can be encouraged by.

I have provided a general introduction, with an opportunity to download two files for your reference in my initial post Signs and Mighty Works of Jesus – Introduction. I found that the format I used for the parable posts were useful to keep me on track, and will continue to use them for this series, with some minor tweaks. With that said, let’s take a look at

Jesus Restores Sight to Two Blind Men

Matthew 20:29-34

And as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” And stopping, Jesus called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.

Mark 10:46-52

And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.” And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.” And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.

General Observations

In our previous post we looked at Luke 18, where Jesus healed an anonymous blind man as He entered Jericho. In this post,we will meet Bartimaeus, presumably the beggar who stole the show in his interaction with the Lord. In Matthew’s account, as he refers to two blind men, some would claim a contradiction, yet Mark does not say that there was only one blind man, but that the story centers around Bartimaeus, one who may have been the dominant character of the two.

I have provided the following table, as in the last post, for the readers convenience in comparing the gospel narratives on blind men being healed near the city of Jericho.

Matthew 20:30-34	Mark 10:46-52	Luke 18:35-43
Two Blind Men	One Blind Man	One Blind Man
No names given	Named – Bartimaeus	No name given
Not defined – two men sitting by the roadside	A beggar	In the act of begging
Healed as Jesus left Jericho	Healed as Jesus left Jericho	Healed as Jesus entered Jericho

Let’s dig into the encounter Jesus and His disciples have as they leave the city of Jericho.

Questions to Consider

Who were the audience?

The audience hasn’t changed much from the earlier miracle as He entered Jericho, other than the crowd is described as “great”, implying numbers have been added to it (at least the formerly blind man may be joined to the crowd). The disciples were with Him. And of course, the two blind men who would recieve from the hand of the Master thier request.

When did the Lord perform this mighty work?

See https://www.bibletimelines.net/timelines/jesus-ministry

Where did the Lord perform this mighty work?

See Signs and Mighty Works of Jesus – Introduction for downloadable reference file.

Why did the Lord perform this mighty work?

And Jesus in pity touched their eyes

Matthew speaks of the Lord’s motivation as “pity.” Compassion drove the Lord to heal these two men.

The impact of the call of Jesus upon Bartimaeus is somewhat startling, for upon Jesus’ call, as Mark 10:50 recounts Bartimaeus threw off his cloak, sprang up and came to Jesus.

He threw off his cloak. In my study, I have found that beggars in Israel, during the first century, were to wear cloaks that designated them as beggars, a requirement for a beggar to wear, so that the general population would know of thier “occupation”, or position in life. For Barimaeus to toss off the cloak indicates that he fully expected healing from the Son of David and rejected his prior life style.

This is faith in a nutshell. He gave up his prior life, even rejecting it, due to the hope he had in the Savior. And the response Jesus had for this exhuberant exhibition of faith? A question, a blank check offered to the blind man from the Son of David, the ruler of Israel and the nations.

What do you want me to do for you?

What was the message for the original audience?

For the blind men, pity, or compassion seems to be the motivation for the Lord to provide this mighty work for the blind men. Beyond this, I would like to suggest a possible additional reason that the Lord healed two blind men. You see, He had just reponded to a question previously with the very same response. As He asked the blind men “What do you want me to do for you?” (Mark 10:51), so He did in an earlier discussion with James and John, when they asked Jesus for positions above the rest of the disciples.

Consider the request of James and John.

Mark 10:36-37 36 And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” 37 And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.”

Jesus gives exactly the same response to the blind men, to Bartimaeus. Of course the motivation was completely different, for the two disciples were looking for position, glory, status and an advantage over thier fellow disciples. The blind men, on ther other hand, were reaching out to Jesus as the rightful King of Israel, calling Him Son of David, and asking for sight, not status.

Two men, each of them in two different situations with two different results. Yet only one response from the Master. Might He be reminding James and John a wee bit of thier request, showing the result of good motivations in a request as being effective in getting the Lord’s ear? Both parties were looking to the Lord as the Son of David, One who would reign, yet the disciples were looking for position and advantage, while the blind men simply to see.

What is the message for us today?

There is an element in the Christian church that seeks to obtain authority over others within the church. I have been in enough congregations to recognize “believers” that seek to obtain office, to obtain leadership over others, to be in control and to have others perform according to thier wishes, desires and demands. Of course I cannot judge motivation, for that is the Lord’s arena, and I would happily recieve correction if I am wrong, yet the general condition of the modern church seems to be rifled with men and women who use church ministries to gain a type of political power. James and John may want to correct us on that attitude, and remind us that Jesus taught that those who seek greatness must be as slaves of all.

As for the blind men, the message today is a message of an upside down kingdom, where the blind see Jesus clearly, while those of us who claim to follow may be blind ourselves, as James an John were, to the type of Savior they followed.

What “type” of Savior do you follow? Is He primarily One who is doling out authrity over others, of providing power over others to the saints who seek it, or is He the suffering slave of all, the One who is calling us to follow in His footsteps, to be countercultural, to not be as the Gentiles who rule over others? To not mimic those who exercise authority over others?

How do you see the Savior?

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Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion

Come join us at Considering the Bible

After my series on the parables, I found I was drawn to look into the miracles of Jesus in the Gospels. I have never studies the mighty works of Jesus as a focused effort before and am looking forward to finding nuggets of truth that we can be encouraged by.

I have provided a general introduction, with an opportunity to download two files for your reference in my initial post Signs and Mighty Works of Jesus – Introduction. I found that the format I used for the parable posts were useful to keep me on track, and will continue to use them for this series, with some minor tweaks. With that said, let’s take a look at

Jesus Restores Sight to a Blind Man

Luke 18:35-43

As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” And he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me recover my sight.” And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

General Observations

Jericho, Jesus and blind men. There seems to be a bit of confusion, at least on my part about how many men were healed of blindness when Jesus was near Jericho. You see, there are three accounts in the gospels about blind men receiving thier sight from Jesus near the city of Jericho. Two of the accounts (Matthew and Mark) seem to be of Jesus healing a single begger by the name of Bartimaeus as He leaves Jericho. Luke’s account of Jesus healing a blind man as He entered the city of Jericho will be discussed in this post.

Note the differences in each gospel account.

Matthew 20:30-34	Mark 10:46-52	Luke 18:35-43
Two Blind Men	One Blind Man	One Blind Man
No names given	Named – Bartimaeus	No name given
Not defined – two men sitting by the roadside	A beggar	In the act of begging
Healed as Jesus left Jericho	Healed as Jesus left Jericho	Healed as Jesus entered Jericho

Both instances of healing provide the Lord performing that which no other prophet of God had ever done in the history of the Old Testament. Granted, there are some similarities, such as both instances, the blind cried out for healing twice, and in both instances, the blind were rebuked of the crowd. Of course, in both instances miracles were performed by the Lord, and He was referred to as Son of David.

In my mind, I see these as two separate instances of Jesus performing His Messianic ministry of healing the blind and giving evidence to the leadership of Israel, His disciples and the general popoulation of His identity

Questions to Consider

Who were the audience?

The audience in the healing of the blind man as Jesus entered Jericho was of course “the crowd”, His disciples and the blind man himself.

When did the Lord perform this mighty work?

See https://www.bibletimelines.net/timelines/jesus-ministry

Where did the Lord perform this mighty work?

See Signs and Mighty Works of Jesus – Introduction for downloadable reference file.

Why did the Lord perform this mighty work?

Notice that the crowd referred to Jesus as of Nazareth, whereas the blind man called out to Him as Jesus Son of David. This change of designation of the Messiah may help us in understanding the thoughts of both the crowd and the blind man, for one was blind and one wasn’t.

Truly Jesus was from Nazareth, though not born there, and His adult life was associated with Nazareth, for that is where Joseph and Mary settled after returning from Egypt with the child. Matthew 2:21-23 speaks of God’s guidance in directing the parents to raise Jesus in Nazareth, and that the Lord’s association with Nazareth stuck. He was Jesus of Nazareth, the carpenters son, from a town that was abhored by the finer Jews. Nazareth was considered a village from which nothing good came (John 1:45-46) , distant from the temple, racially mixed with Samaritans and even Gentiles! What a town!

Yet out of a backwater town of disdain, the blind man called Jesus out as the Son of David. Quite a statement, not only to the Lord Himself, but as a rebuke to the crowd. They assciated Jesus with His worldy, earthly, history whereas the blind man could see that Jesus was much more. He could see that Jesus was the One, the Son of David, who would rule Israel, and the nations.

And Jesus gave this man a blank check. What do you want me to do for you? What an opportunity! Bring in world peace, end all hunger and strife on the earth, a new candy apple red Maserati(?). So many options, yet this blind man who saw who Jesus truly was, requested his sight.

And he got it, due to his faith. And the crowds, when they saw the miracle, gave praise to God.

Yet, has the crowd come to a point where they see Jesus as the Son of David? Something tells me they may still be blind.

What was the message for the original audience?

The message to the blind man was simply life changing, the restoration of sight to a blind man who understood who Jesus is. His position before the Master is seen in his request for mercy, (for he knew he had no rights before the Lord), but he understood that Jesus was a merciful man, the Son of David who was known for His grace to the downtrodden, weak, blind and crippled.

The message for the crowd was, well it was somewhat different, for the next stop on the journey was the city of Jesusalem, and some of the crowd may end up with the disciples facing a week of drama that ultimately ends in “Jesus of Nazareth” hanging on a cross as a criminal. They gave praise to God, yet they seemed to accept this miracle as simply one of many, something to be expected, something that was – oh so ho hum? I may be somewhat exagerating the condition of the crowd, yet if this is the same general crowd that comes out of Jericho and meets more blind men requesting help and healing, thier continued treatment of the blind with disdain, seems to show me that nothing was learned.

What is the message for us today?

How do you see Jesus today?

Is He simply an itinerant preacher from a small town in northern Israel, a man who got caught up in some political turmoil and was a victim of circumstances, eventually being condemned by the Jews and Romans? Is He simply Jesus of Nazareth?

Or is He the Son of David, the One who is reigning over all, providing sight to those who seek Him, understanding to those who look for Him, and life to those who cry out to Him.

Your choice my friend. How do you see Jesus?

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Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion

Come join us at Considering the Bible

After my series on the parables, I found I was drawn to look into the miracles of Jesus in the Gospels. I have never studies the mighty works of Jesus as a focused effort before and am looking forward to finding nuggets of truth that we can be encouraged by.

I have provided a general introduction, with an opportunity to download two files for your reference in my initial post Signs and Mighty Works of Jesus – Introduction. I found that the format I used for the parable posts were useful to keep me on track, and will continue to use them for this series, with some minor tweaks. With that said, let’s take a look at

Jesus Raises Lazarus from the Dead

John 11:1-45

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.” When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?” Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him,

General Observations

Talk about not getting it. I have provided the full narrative for the miracle of Lazarus coming back from the dead for the sake of describing the communication problems Jesus was facing. Consider the misunderstandings simmering in the folks associated in the recounting of the raising of Lazarus. Remember – this confusion is with those who want to understand the Messiah.

• Lazarus is ill (v3)
  • Lazarus’ illness does not lead to death
    • Jesus stays away for two days.
      • Yet Lazarus dies
        • Don’t you understand? God’s glory is the purpose – his death is a side issue!
• Jesus decides to go to Judea (v7)
  • The Jews are trying to kill you.
    • A description of walking in light and not stumbling
      • Don’t you understand? – Walk in the light (death is not a factor!)
      • This response from the Lord must have been very confusing to the disciples.
        • Lazarus has fallen asleep – I go to waken him. (v11)
          • Why go? we will die and the sleep will be beneficial to Lazarus.
            • Lazarus has died.
              • Ok, so why go now? He has died, and we will be in danger now without any benefit to anyone.
                • Don’t you understand? His death will feed your faith.
                • By now the disciple’s heads must have been spinning!
• You could have prevented His death (v 21) – Martha
  • Martha, in the midst of her grief, expresses disappointment in His delay, and why He arrived then.
    • Jesus teaches Martha that her “brother will rise again”
      • Martha assumes the general resurrection.
        • Don’t you understand? Lazarus’ specific immediate resuscitation is offered.
        • Everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die.
        • Another bomb in the discussion (never die?), yet Martha simply confesses Him to be the Messiah.
          • Don’t you understand? The Messiah will work today!
• You could have prevented His death (v 32) – Mary
  • Where is his body?
    • Take away the stone
      • There will be an odor due to death
        • Don’t you understand – You will see the glory of God
• You could have prevented His death (v 37) – Crowd
  • His abilities of preventing death have become an expectation, even by some in the crowd.
    • Don’t you understand? The crowds expectations will be exceeded!
• Lazarus exits the tomb

Questions to Consider

Who were the audience?

The disciples, the sisters of the deceased and the crowd. All of them, as they watched the Master, asked Him questions, and tried to understand, yet fell into confusion and misunderstandings. Confusion and internal questioning must have been the general sense of the crowd right up to Lazarus walking out of the tomb.

This reminds me of the current state of our walk with the Lord. So many ways of looking at the Word and so many opinions of His follower get in the way. When He speaks, performing an action that is undeniable, it does not always answer all our questions. The confusion is often overtaken by simply seeing the bigger picture. But I am getting ahead of myself

When did the Lord perform this mighty work?

See https://www.bibletimelines.net/timelines/jesus-ministry

Where did the Lord perform this mighty work?

See Signs and Mighty Works of Jesus – Introduction for downloadable reference file.

Why did the Lord perform this mighty work?

Jesus gives us the motivation of this miracle in verse 4. It is for the glory of God and that the Son of God may be glorified through it.

I sometimes wonder if I understand what glory is. I often think of glory as a “bright shining” emanating from the person who is glorified, and that may be correct. Yet in this instance, as Jesus tells us of the glory that will be exhibited through the miracle, there is no witness in the gospels of any shining face on Jesus, or any extra light coming from the heavens.

So to be glorified in this passage may have an alternate meaning. As I do a little digging, I find that to be glorified may include the concepts of opinion and reputation. To be glorified speaks of those impacted by this miracle as changing their opinion, of His reputation growing in the minds of the crowd and of the disciples. To be glorified is to be thought of in a higher, greater way than before, to be lifted up in one’s opinion of the One glorified as to His true status, abilities, person.

This is very pertinent to those of us who say we are followers, for we are to be on a journey of discovery, of growing in our opinion of His person, of His abilities, of His character. This, in a small way, is what glorifies the Son of God.

This resuscitation (not technically a resurrection in the manner of Jesus’ resurrections, for Lazarus will die again) was the capstone of His miracles by this time in His ministry. None of His previous miracles raised one from the dead after so long of a period of time. And none of His miracles set off the Jewish leadership into making specific plans to get rid of this troublemaker!

One fallout from this miracle was that for Jesus to be glorified in this act also brought about His eventual death. Which would also glorify Him!

Is there no stopping this Messiah?

What was the message for the original audience?

As mentioned above, the messages prior to the miracle seemed to be “lost in translation” to the hearers for the most part. Either the messages were completely misunderstood, watered down, or no response was supplied. Numerous teaching efforts were recorded, and yet the miracle is what spoke loudly to those in attendance.

The message was seen in this instance, supporting His oral teaching earlier. He is the resurrection and the life. Personally, individually, and in dependence on the Father, Jesus called Lazarus from the grave, and Lazarus obeyed. Whatever or however the audience understood His teaching became a secondary issue to the fact that this miracle glorified God and the Son.

What is the message for us today?

It is easy to complain about the condition of the modern church, and this post is not intending to repeat oft mentioned issues we face as believers in the modern era. Yet the message from this miracles seems to be so obvious for me that I cannot resist from seeking to encourage those who are seeking to follow Him, to also focus on Him.

He is the resurrection. He is the life. Our petty doctrines that divide, our opinions that keep us apart, our different understandings of the Bible must be seen for what they are. At best, instructions and directions to the Master Himself, and at worst, the distraction and walls we build to become a divided church, each of us saying we own the Master, and throwing darts at our brothers.

He is Lord, and not our opinions. Priorities are critical in this instance. Worship Him, and Him only, for He is good, and He is good all the time!

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Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion

Come join us at Considering the Bible

After my series on the parables, I found I was drawn to look into the miracles of Jesus in the Gospels. I have never studies the mighty works of Jesus as a focused effort before and am looking forward to finding nuggets of truth that we can be encouraged by.

I have provided a general introduction, with an opportunity to download two files for your reference in my initial post Signs and Mighty Works of Jesus – Introduction. I found that the format I used for the parable posts were useful to keep me on track, and will continue to use them for this series, with some minor tweaks. With that said, let’s take a look at

Jesus Cleanses Ten Lepers

Luke 17:11-19

On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

General Observations

Ten lepers, standing at a distance. Of course they had to for leprosy required a distance from others, a space that was demanded by the law to protect the non-leper. Leprosy is a horrible disease that brings about the deadening of the nerves, and therefore the inability to feel pain. The progression of this disease results in tissue degeneration, extremities (fingers, toes, noses etc) eroding, and unintentional damage to the body due to the warning system of pain not functioning. Have you ever thought of pain as a gift? A leper may hold a coal of fire in his hand without experiencing pain, further damaging his hand, further crippling him in the process.

This disease was a much feared condition in the ancient world, and the Jewish religion provided many safeguards for the nation to restrict its spread among the population. One of these restrictions was a required space to be maintained when the leper was in the company of the non-leper. The leper also had to declare openly amongst the community his condition, by crying out “Unclean, unclean” (Leviticus 13:45).

The law did provide a process of being declared clean, and this included the leper going to the priest and requesting an examination. This process must have been one of the priests least favored responsibilities, since it may include the examination of a person who still had leprosy, making it possible for the priest to contract the disease himself.

Of course this process of examination by a priest within the nation of Israel is never recorded, and only one person in the Old Testament is ever spoken of as experiencing healing of his condition. Naaman (an enemy and foreigner to Israel) followed Elisha’s counsel and experienced a healing. As for Miriam, Moses sister, as she was dealt a judgement of leprosy for her rebellion against Moses, there is no record of her healing.

So for centuries, to be a leper was to be condemned to a life of isolation, rejection, self deterioration and poverty. Until an itinerant preacher showed up and began to heal lepers. And the blind. Raising even the dead!

So far, Jesus has brought healing to a single leper by approaching him, and actually touching the leper (See Signs and Mighty Works of Jesus #7 – Jesus Cleanses a Man With Leprosy) Everything about that miracle was unconventional, yet Jesus goes further with this mighty work!

Questions to Consider

Who were the audience?

The ten lepers, the twelve disciples and possibly some villagers. Yet even as I say that, for the lepers to be in the area would mean the villagers would not be. It is likely that the lepers were all alone with the Master and His disciples.

When did the Lord perform this mighty work?

See https://www.bibletimelines.net/timelines/jesus-ministry

Where did the Lord perform this mighty work?

See Signs and Mighty Works of Jesus – Introduction for downloadable reference file.

Why did the Lord perform this mighty work?

The lepers requested mercy, and Jesus is a merciful God. Later on in the apostle Paul’s writings, He is described as rich in mercy. And we know our God is One who is good to all, and that His mercy is over all that He has made (Psalm 145:9)

How often has Jesus expressed mercy to those who deserve judgement? I think of the woman caught in adultery, and the Lord not condemning her, though He was the only One who had the right. I think of the times I have missed the mark, and yet the Lord is constantly overseeing my life, guiding, comforting, challenging and directing. He is a merciful God and the lepers were in good standing at this point of the text. They identified Jesus correctly as One who was merciful and able to heal. Astute lepers!

What was the message for the original audience?

The lepers, by heading to the priest, exhibited obedience to Jesus call, received healing. The text does not teach us that upon healing, they began to venture to the priest. No, the text describes the healing to be in response to thier obedience to the command of Jesus.

Ten clean lepers. Ten lepers who had heard the voice of Jesus, acted upon the voice of Jesus, and received a physical healing of leprosy. Ten lepers who were in the process of obeying Jesus, yet one leper “disobeyed” and returned to the Master, expressing thankfulness, praising God with a loud voice, and worshipped the Rabbi.

Imagine the other nine, for they must surely have heard the one who turned to Jesus. Did they intentionally ignore the one who turned to Jesus instead of a priest? Did the group dynamic keep them in lock step to the priest’s home in order to get on with life? Did they consider the one leper to be over zealous, extreme, unbalanced, even radical?

What is the message for us today?

Do you remember when you first met Jesus? Did you experience a sigh of relief, how you escaped the flames of hell, how you found relief from judgement. Did the experience center on you or Him? Did you head to the priest (become religious) or did you turn to Jesus and give thanks.

How about today? Is there a heart of thankfulness for the person of Christ? For His ever present mercy, for the very character of Christ? Have you maintained a thankful spirit throughout your sojourn with Him? Or did a rule keep you from seeing the person of Christ?

A preacher once challenged his congregation to consider God to be the antithesis of Jesus. Non merciful, non gracious, non truthful… It is a frightful thought!

Keep your eye on the One who showed mercy to those in need. Mercy is His first desire. He loves to show mercy.

We often take for granted the nature and character of the One we follow. Let us not be like the nine who obeyed to receive, but like the one who returned to Jesus, the one who praised Him and thanked Him for His mercy, the one who left the nine to be with the One.

Give thanks to God for His abundant mercy, for His holy character, for His truthful nature and continual love towards His creation, for His guidance and direction, for His unending care, for His justice and grace, for being God!

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Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion

Come join us at Considering the Bible

After my series on the parables, I found I was drawn to look into the miracles of Jesus in the Gospels. I have never studies the mighty works of Jesus as a focused effort before and am looking forward to finding nuggets of truth that we can be encouraged by.

I have provided a general introduction, with an opportunity to download two files for your reference in my initial post Signs and Mighty Works of Jesus – Introduction. I found that the format I used for the parable posts were useful to keep me on track, and will continue to use them for this series, with some minor tweaks. With that said, let’s take a look at

Jesus Heals a Man With Dropsy on the Sabbath

Luke 14:1-6

One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” And they could not reply to these things.

General Observations

Can you imagine the hospitality of this Pharisee? What a gracious man, that in the midst of tensions between his political/religious party and this new Rabbi, he has the foresight to invite the Master to dinner for a chance to discuss differences. Truly a man seeking the truth!

And can you imagine, that as friction is building between those Pharisees and Jesus, Jesus has the grace to accept an offer for dinner at the Pharisees house and enter into what may become a time of debate.

Let’s check out the passage to see if my initial observations bear the scrutiny of truth.

Questions to Consider

Who were the audience?

As we read the passage, we find that the ruler of the Pharisees had invited Jesus (along with His disciples) to dinner. Verse 3 mentions that lawyers and Pharisees were present. The ruler, it is safe to assume, stacked the room with his friends and influential members of the ruling party, (as it was common for them to associate with their own), those who were of the same thinking and status. You know, none of those unworthy “unwashed”.

But wait, there is one more participant, one more in the house of the ruler of the Pharisees. A man who had dropsy. A disfigured nameless person, who must have simply wandered in off the street to enjoy a feast with the Pharisees!

When did the Lord perform this mighty work?

See https://www.bibletimelines.net/timelines/jesus-ministry

Where did the Lord perform this mighty work?

See Signs and Mighty Works of Jesus – Introduction for downloadable reference file.

Why did the Lord perform this mighty work?

First lets consider the condition this poor man experienced. Dropsy is an old word for a condition that is commonly called edema, or fluid retention. During my time writing on Jesus’ relationship with the Sabbath, I reviewed the disease quickly. See Jesus on the Sabbath – Part 13 – Swelling Opposition. The man’s condition may appear to be merely swollen legs (acute pulmonary edema) but this symptom indicates a greater threat to his life, for it may indicate congestive heart failure. This poor man may have been a ticking time bomb, with his ticker on the edge of failure. He was not simply experiencing an inconvenient condition of swollen legs and arms.

Secondly, my initial assumption on the motive of the ruler and his buddies may have been somewhat incorrect. For you see, when Luke describes them as “watching him carefully”, it wasn’t innocent curiosity that motivated them. The term is paratēreō, and it carries with it the idea of watching assiduously, a scrupulous observation, to observe diligently and carefully.

I love how Luke provides the setting, and then the disabled man appears (out of nowhere). The stage is set and the watchers are watching! Watching oh so carefully. They know of the Master and his disdain for the law of God, His utter disregard for the Sabbath and His dangerous teaching that completely destroys the nation of Israel’s covenant with God.

Jesus simply asked a question.

I want to stop there and consider the wisdom of questions. Debates and arguments may produce great entertainment, but I have rarely been in a verbal battle and come away knowing a heart has changed. Arguments and debates introduce a “pride” factor that makes at least one of the debaters busy finding a defense as opposed to considering the truth of the statement just heard. Questions allow for a freedom to consider the concept or idea that is presented. A well framed question is powerful, as we see in this passage, for those who were passionate about the Sabbath, remained silent. No response. Two time Luke tells us they were silent. Amazing!

And what was the question? During each of the previous miracles on the Sabbath, this issue was present in some form.

“Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?”

Everyone in the room knows where this is going. Jesus may have well said – I’m gonna heal this man – tell me of any restrictions prior to my healing him, because I’m gonna heal him! Jesus warned them of His intent, knowing they were watching Him with intent of judging His actions. In my mind this was a set up that Jesus walked into, and He turned the tables, healed this man, taught truth to those through two questions and left the audience gasping for breath.

He is incredible!

One additional item that I find encouraging is that Jesus took the sick man, healed him and sent him away. Jesus wasn’t going to allow the Pharisees attack the one healed as they did with the man in John 9. See Signs and Mighty Works of Jesus #26 – Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind. They pounced on that man, and though he stood strong, Jesus simply healed the man with dropsy and sent him away.

His final question revealed an added layer to the Pharisees hypocrisy. Let’s consider that next.

What was the message for the original audience?

Jesus second question drove home a personal application, an application that showed the two faced Pharisees (and us) of our confused reasoning for ignoring or not allowing a good work to be done, based on some religious law or commandment.

It truly is simple, that if we find something that is good to do for someone in trouble, someone in need, someone who is suffering, the religious exercise can take a back seat.

I think of a time when on the way to church we saw someone that needed some help along the road. I reasoned that we would disturb people in the service if we were late, and passed right by him. This doesn’t look like Jesus, that I know now, yet the chains that bind us through religion have a strength that is surprising.

On second thought, if a donkey or child did fall in a well on the Sabbath, if the ruling class was consistent, the victim could stay in the well for the remainder of the Sabbath. No harm no foul and the religious man could remain pure. But alas, this is not the assumption that is made and with the silence of the Pharisees to this question, it seems it wasn’t their practice. So what gives?

Their religious practice exposed their covetousness and hypocrisy, and when sin is exposed, two results may occur. Confession and repentance, or a need to silence the Messenger. They decided to maintain their course and silence the Messenger. Let’s be clear. Jesus was showing them their legal inconsistencies and they couldn’t handle it, and instead of learning from truth, they planned on suppressing the truth by crucifixion. Death was the answer the Pharisees who “sought God” came up with and all they needed was an opportunity.

What is the message for us today?

I can’t help but think of an application for us in the simplicity of a single concept, a single message that the Lord, I believe was trying to communicate. He was giving us guidance in relation to our interaction with the law of God and those who are in need.

Paul also had somewhat of a similar audience, an audience that was consumed with rule keeping, and his guidance to those wrapped up in religiosity was simple. The whole law, (that is the law that is from God and not man) is fulfilled in one word, one concept, one thought!

Galatians 5:14

For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Paul continued with his discussion to these poor Galatians, those who were wrapped up in religion, of keeping a law provided by some man, and wrote the following famous text, which if it wasn’t so familiar, would be shocking.

Galatians 5:22-23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

No law against something? Total freedom to exhibit any of the fruits of the Spirit? No restrictions on love?

Many laws are by their very nature prohibitive, they keep us from doing something. (There are of course those laws that require some action, but the intent of this passage was to release followers from prohibitive laws, so we will stay within the boundaries of the passage!) There are no laws that keep you from providing acts of love or of having a spirit of joy, or acting as a peacemaker with those who are in stress. No laws that would bring you into any condemnation with God.

Of course those in the religious community may give you some trouble, but that may simply indicate you are getting the Jesus thing!

While you are pulling the donkey out of the well, stay focused on the donkey in the well, not the “donkeys” that are complaining!

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Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion

Come join us at Considering the Bible

After my series on the parables, I found I was drawn to look into the miracles of Jesus in the Gospels. I have never studies the mighty works of Jesus as a focused effort before and am looking forward to finding nuggets of truth that we can be encouraged by.

I have provided a general introduction, with an opportunity to download two files for your reference in my initial post Signs and Mighty Works of Jesus – Introduction. I found that the format I used for the parable posts were useful to keep me on track, and will continue to use them for this series, with some minor tweaks. With that said, let’s take a look at

Jesus Heals a Crippled Woman

Luke 13:10-17

Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold, there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.” And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God. But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, “There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” As he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him.

General Observations

At this point in the Lord’s ministry, things were getting pretty tense, to say the least. The Pharisees were plotting and the Romans had noticed Him. He had become well known in northern galilee and the news had spread. His appearance in Jerusalem on the feast days had only added to the fervor about Him.

And we find Him in synagogue. In the region of Judea. With the ruler of the synagogue inviting Him to teach. Did not the ruler hear of the potential for “divisive teaching” coming from this Rabbi? Surely the congregation had heard of His fame. We aren’t supplied with the teaching He was providing, yet it must have been about the kingdom of God and His person. His identity was on display in the synagogue, since the Word was being taught and the Word speaks of Him.

The conditions were ripe for an incident!

Questions to Consider

Who were the audience?

As mentioned earlier, the audience is a faithful Jewish congregation in a synagogue, with the disciples. Although the disciples are not mentioned in the text, I assume they were with Him. Also present, the ruler of the synagogue and a poor nameless woman who was bent over.

When did the Lord perform this mighty work?

See https://www.bibletimelines.net/timelines/jesus-ministry

Where did the Lord perform this mighty work?

See Signs and Mighty Works of Jesus – Introduction for downloadable reference file.

Why did the Lord perform this mighty work?

He saw the woman bent over and called her. The text simply states He saw her. He noticed her, and acted. He called her to come to Him, presumably in the middle of His teaching. He interrupted His teaching time to minister to a lone woman. A woman who was bent over, most likely a woman who had little possessions, since she was cripple, who may have had very little influence, for she was bent over, a woman who had little importance, for she was a cripple. She was a nobody, with Luke not even providing her a personal name.

But she is called by Jesus, and He refers to her later as a “daughter of Abraham”. All Jews considered themselves children of Abraham, so this may have been unsurprising, especially since she was in synagogue. But let us consider how Jesus used this term, for He definitely did not relate to the Jewish population with this assumption. He actually debated with some of the leaders of the Pharisees over their lineage, and linked them to the very enemy He released this woman from.

She was a daughter of Abraham in Jesus eyes, yet was bound by Satan. In the Jewish leadership, they considered themselves children of Abraham, yet they were controlled by the enemy, seeking to kill the very Messiah. How upside down!

Things are simply not as they appear when it comes to Jesus and His ways. A discerning heart and a patient spirit is required to understand the situations we find our selves in, and few are the times when I stop to consider. As my wife is so fond of saying – Man looks on the outward appearance, but God judges the heart.

Jesus saw a woman who was a true believer, bound by Satan and determined to release her of her burden. He had, as far as I can tell, no requirement to perform this miracle, other than hearing the voice of His Father. But come on, – to perform it on the Sabbath was like poking the ruler in the eye. But I am getting ahead of myself.

What was the message for the original audience?

The audience in Judea saw a woman bent over for decades, stand up straight. Did the congregation know of this woman’s suffering of 18 years? We do not know if she was a regular attendee of the synagogue, yet I assume she was due to a number of factors. Jesus called her a daughter of Abraham, indicating a faithful Jew. Due to her disability, she most likely resided near this synagogue, since travel would be an onerous task for her. Also, the synagogue ruler did not address her as an intruder or was surprised by her presence. Although this is an argument from silence, once the miracle happened, the ruler sought some way to debunk it. If she was a visitor, he may have simply called on the woman as an imposter, a faker, yet this was never brought up.

What was brought up, by the ruler was that this was the common people’s fault, they were sinning by coming for healing on the Sabbath.

WHAT?

I sometimes feel sorry for those Jewish leaders, committed to their understanding of Sabbath keeping during the days of Jesus. They trusted in writings that extended the purpose of the Word to unsupportable conclusions.

I recently read that during Sabbath, the leaders established that a man could walk no further than a half mile from his home. In order to get around this man made rule, a faithful Jew would take a bit of food and deposit it near a stone or tree a half mile from his home previous to his travels. On the Sabbath, he could then travel to the same spot, retrieve his food and travel another half mile. For you see, the food established that place as his home, temporary as it was, but it supplied a way to ignore even their own rules. What a mess!

Getting back to the ruler, by this time I imagine He knew of the skill and power of the Lord in debate and did not attack Him, but the crowd. Read it again..

But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, “There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.”

Have you ever been in a service, or in discussion with a religious person and come away feeling like everything is your fault, that the religious person is faultless and convincingly shifts the problem onto your shoulders. This congregation was under a ruler that was a blame shifter, a weak man that would would not address his concern directly with the Master, and expressed his frustration (indignation) with the miracle performing Messiah on those to whom he “ministered” to.

This is outrageous, and is such a common occurrence nowadays. But again, I am getting ahead of myself.

His statement to the people leads me to believe he had miraculous healing powers also, for he surely had healing meetings on the other six days of the week. He surely was a mighty man of ministry, that provided relief and restoration on the other six days of the week. Am I reading too much into the text? How could he have said such foolishness? Like I said, I sometimes feel sorry for the religious leaders, for they have boxed themselves into a position that is indefensible.

Yet the Master defended the congregation by addressing the ruler directly, with a harshness that becomes more apparent as we follow Him into Jerusalem for His passion.

Hypocrite! (Sometimes I just wanna cheer Him on, until it settles on my mind that I am more like the ruler than like Him.)

Jesus enters into a logical argument with the ruler. He refers to their own teaching and shows the logical inconsistency of the ruler, of their greed and self centeredness, of the ruler’s unloving spirit towards their own congregation. He hits them hard with truth, based on their own teachings.

But let me ask you something. Do you see Him at this time as a finger pointing, voice raising, red faced brawler, looking to take the ruler out? Is he wearing His feelings on his shirtsleeve, for all to see? I ask for I have always assumed He also is indignant with the ruler, as the ruler is indignant with the situation, but this is not necessarily true. The text simply states “the Lord answered him…”

The Lord answered him. He communicated a logical response to the ruler, based on their own teaching, exposing the rulers inconsistencies. Would yelling at the ruler add to the power of the argument? The truth is powerful, and the addition of rage, anger or frustration may not provide greater effect.

The ruler unbound his animal on the sabbath in order to provide the animal the basics of life. The Ruler (of all) unbound his follower on the sabbath to provide her relief, freedom and deliverance from an ungodly influence.

Where is the problem here? For those who do not need to defend a contrived religious position, and are willing to consider a logical argument based on revealed truth, the message is clear. He is the Ruler, and has the right to perform His mighty works of release and deliverance whenever He chooses!

What is the message for us today?

Blame shifting

The ruler attacked the congregation. He blamed those he was charged with caring for. They needed to come to the Monday healing service to be healed. This is incredible, for it seems obvious that there was no healing service held, for the cripple woman was cripple still. Yet he reverted to this argument, since a fundamental doctrine he loved was slighted. How blind to a miracle can a man be, when his response is voicing his obligation to defend a teaching instead of realizing what happened in front of his very eyes.

How many times have you been in a meeting, and come away thinking you are the problem. The church isn’t growing because you are not doing something right, you are not working hard enough, or at the right ministry, or providing sufficient funds, or praying enough or or or….

We have much to be responsible for, and we need to follow His leading, yet I fear some “rulers” in our churches seek to blame shift problems onto their parishioners. Please don’t hear me that we are free from responsibilities to be faithful to the Master – that is not the issue. The issue is who are you listening to? Are you accepting everything your church leadership is feeding you? Or are you listening for the Spirit, confirming the Word in your circumstances?

Emotional response

In an effort to support religious fallacies and inconsistencies, some “rulers” may resort to an emotionally laden message. You know the type, where the man behind the pulpit raises and lowers his voice, yells at the devil or cries uncontrollably.

How often have you been gripped with the emotion of a preacher, and left your mind behind? Personally, I find this style of preaching to be generally lacking in substance, and I walk away, at least mentally. I raised a bunch of chillun that presented their cases with screaming, crying or yelling. It didn’t impress me then, and it certainly doesn’t impress me now. This style of communication (through intimidation or emotional manipulation) is a common method for salesmen to close a deal, for that mattress salesman to get you to sign on the dotted line. It does not reflect, in my opinion, the gracious nature of the Lord, and the fact that truth in inherently powerful on its own!

This is so very common in todays modern church, emotional appeals to “do better” based on little more than a popular religious theme of the culture. These methods bring no lasting fruit to the church, only providing fodder for those who would mock the church.

Let each of us quietly listen to the Spirit, grapple with the Word (for there are many questions to understand) and peaceably attend to the Christian teachers we allow ourselves to be influenced by. Of course, you control who you are being influenced by – so this may be an appropriate time for you to consider the value of those you attend to.

Be a Berean. They were checking out the teaching of the apostles – We can surely check out mere ministers and pastors, if what they are feeding us complies with the Word.

Act 17 10 The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea,…… 11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

Don’t let a ruler intimidate or influence you with anything other than the naked hard truth of the Word. Stand up straight when it comes to who you will listen to, and do not bend to those who seek to influence you through intimidation or emotional appeals.

The truth is worth standing for. He is good, all the time!

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Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion

Come join us at Considering the Bible

After my series on the parables, I found I was drawn to look into the miracles of Jesus in the Gospels. I have never studied the mighty works of Jesus as a focused effort before and am looking forward to finding nuggets of truth that we can be encouraged by.

I have provided a general introduction, with an opportunity to download two files for your reference in my initial post Signs and Mighty Works of Jesus – Introduction. I found that the format I used for the parable posts were useful to keep me on track, and will continue to use them for this series, with some minor tweaks. With that said, let’s take a look at

Jesus Heals a Blind, Mute Demoniac

Matthew 12:22-32

22 Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. 23 And all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?” 24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.” 25 Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. 26 And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? 27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 28 But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29 Or how can someone enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house. 30 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. 31 Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

Luke 11:14-23

14 Now he was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the people marveled. 15 But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons,” 16 while others, to test him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven. 17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls. 18 And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. 19 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 20 But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 21 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; 22 but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil. 23 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

General Observations

This is at least the second time Jesus heals a deaf mute man. Consider Signs and Mighty Works of Jesus #23 – Jesus Heals a Deaf and Dumb Man. This is not the same miracle, for He is in a different region and the response provided to this miracle is much different. In the previous miracle, the response of those who witnessed the healing was

Mark 7:38 “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

This miracle has a different response, with some of the crowd (can we guess who it may be?) claiming His power is from the devil! Let’s begin looking at this mighty work of Jesus!

Questions to Consider

Who were the audience?

I think we can assume the disciples were present, along with a general crowd, and of course there were “some” who just couldn’t handle what was going on. Though Luke calls the protagonists “some in the crowd”, Matthew identifies them as Pharisees. That group of religious guardians, protecting the nation from heretics and charlatans. What saviors!

When did the Lord perform this mighty work?

See https://www.bibletimelines.net/timelines/jesus-ministry

Where did the Lord perform this mighty work?

See Signs and Mighty Works of Jesus – Introduction for downloadable reference file.

Why did the Lord perform this mighty work?

The miracle of exorcising the demon in order for a deaf mute man’s healing seems to sometimes get lost in the reading of the passages above due to the Pharisee’s claim of Jesus working with the devil. Yet this miracle pushes a group of religionists into voicing a claim that they could not resist. Jesus worked for the devil. They had no alternative argument, for it was obvious that Jesus had powerful “friends”. Yet they could not admit Jesus was a true prophet (little lone the Messiah), for He did not fit into their preconceived notions/beliefs of the Messiah.

Preconceived notions and hardened beliefs of their Messiah!

So why did the Lord perform this miracle?

Did He perform the miracle to release a poor man from suffering? Obviously His compassion led Him to free some from bondage in very specific ways, and though nothing is stated in the text, His care for those suffering must have been a motivator. After all, He is on a mission to provide healing and freedom to all.

Or did He deliver this man from the demon to initiate this discussion? Possibly, for we see the Lord providing other situations where He performed a miracle to make a larger point. Consider healing on the Sabbath. He definitely could wait a few hours to keep from “working on the sabbath”, but He didn’t – He healed on the sabbath, and out of multiple sabbath healings, opinions were expressed and teaching of His person came to light.

What was the message for the original audience?

The message to the original audience concerning the miracle is the response Jesus gives to the Pharisees claim that He worked for the devil. This claim, though ridiculous, brought to the Godhead an ultimate defamation of the character of God. Certainly this charge by the religious guardians was not to go unchallenged. Yet Jesus argued logically, and not (as far as I can tell) emotionally. He knew their thoughts, and entered into a discussion with them. These men that stated such a ridiculous claim were “dyed in the wool” religionists, committed to their stance and belief in their view of God. Committed and willing to make claims that were extreme, in order to protect their world.

Jesus responded to the Pharisee’s claim with a three part message.

Divided Kingdom

“Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls. And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul.

Jesus began addressing the Pharisee’s claim by a general precept no one can argue against. No kingdom can be united and strong by being divided. A kingdom cannot fight against itself. Jesus reiterated the Pharisee’s belief in the dark world, in Beelzeeb, speaking of Satan (the accuser) as the one who typifies the dark kingdom, the leader of the kingdom of darkness. In speaking of Satan’s kingdom, Jesus did not shy away from admitting of the enemy, but also spoke of the staying power of a kingdom. Satan, or any king, will not orchestrate a condition where He intentionally weakens his own kingdom, for that would be foolish and lead to the kingdom becoming waste. Thankfully, Jesus will actually perform this destruction of Satan’s kingdom, but His argument for this discussion is internally based. Satan would not hurt his own reign!

Fellow Casters

And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

The Pharisee’s must have had men in the ministry who also cast out demons, and Jesus turns their claim back on them. They surely did not think this out, but then again, they had no other option at this point if they were going to continue to resist the mounting evidence of proof that He was the Messiah!

Strong Man

When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

Who is the strong man? When I first read this passage years ago, I automatically assumed the strong man was Jesus. (Jesus was the answer for every question, just like in a 3 yr old sunday school class! How silly!)

The strong man was obviously not Jesus. Jesus is describing the condition He entered into, a situation where Satan guarded his own house (or kingdom), and yet was able to strip Satan’s authority over the deaf mute. Jesus openly overcame the one who had authority over the deaf man, providing on going proof of His greater strength and ability to overcome the strong man (Satan).

Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

Jesus last statement is telling, and I often think of this statement out of context. Yet He does not speak this statement in a vacuum. You Pharisee’s, you are against me. You are not with Me, and your actions are proving that you are actively against me.

You Pharisees are scattering!

Remember, that during the Messiah controversy, the Pharisees motivation for arguing against the Messiahship of Jesus was that He would destroy the kingdom of Israel, that His teaching would divide and destroy the nation.

What is the message for us today?

Preconceived notions. I spoke of this earlier and the path it led the Pharisee’s down when they encountered a Messiah unlike they expected.

For myself, I have been a believer for over forty years, and the Lord has been very kind to me in my understanding of His nature. Do not get me wrong, I do not think I ever claimed His workings to be sourced from the devil, yet I have made comments and statements that were surely as foolish as the Pharisees did after this miracle.

My concern is that any preconceived notions of the Master have to be pliable, based on His teachings! No, I am not saying we need to accept any and all thoughts on Who He is, what He is like and how He relates to us. Not at all. Yet we all fall into a religious thinking process that can become a trap, an opportunity to become stuck in an opinion that needs to be shook up.

His life and teachings, found in the New Testament, are a blinding revelation of God’s nature. Though the Old Testament provided glimpses of light, as a candle in a dark cave, His appearance fully revealed God’s character, nature, love and mercy. To go back to an Old Testament passage to build a picture of God may not be the wisest of choices, if we are not firmly settled in the picture of God given by our Suffering Servant Savior.

As I grew into my Christianity, I sometimes veered into teachings that could be supported by obscure texts, passages in the Old Testament, or logical extrapolations of texts that seemed to make sense. One example was my commitment to a literal Bible. (See my A Literal Bible – Part 1 & A Literal Bible – Part 2 for my current understanding.) I often would claim that the Bible is to be read literally, and the Old Testament, since it was provided first, should interpret the New Testament. I elevated the Old Testament to a level above the revelation of the Son of God, and it made sense to me. I struggled for years with seeming contradictions and passages I had to make excuses for. Some of these excuses were surely to defend the honor of God, yet as I look back, I find I may have had my own interest in heart as opposed to the truth.

It is an act and a process to turn from religion to Jesus. The disciples struggled with it. Surely Peter thought Jesus was honored by the appearance of Moses and Elijah on the mount. His disciples (ancient and current) sometimes completely misunderstand who He is!

And Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 6 For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. 7 And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” 8 And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.

Jesus is not on the same level as Moses and Elijah. Listen to Jesus. Let the revelation of Jesus change your preconceived notions and begin to gather with Jesus, and not to scatter from Him.

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Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion

Come join us at Considering the Bible

After my series on the parables, I found I was drawn to look into the miracles of Jesus in the Gospels. I have never studies the mighty works of Jesus as a focused effort before and am looking forward to finding nuggets of truth that we can be encouraged by.

I have provided a general introduction, with an opportunity to download two files for your reference in my initial post Signs and Mighty Works of Jesus – Introduction. I found that the format I used for the parable posts were useful to keep me on track, and will continue to use them for this series, with some minor tweaks. With that said, let’s take a look at

Jesus Provides the Temple Tax

Matthew 17:24-27

When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax went up to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the tax?” He said, “Yes.” And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax? From their sons or from others?” And when he said, “From others,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free. However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself.”

General Observations

Matthew the tax collector tells us of the temple tax teaching. No other telling is found in the New Testament, and I find that Matthew telling us this occurrence in the life of the Messiah provides us a picture of the freedoms the Lord allows in each of our travels with Him. He provides freedom to address those things that we may be inclined to, but with the added impact of the kingdom influence.

Did you catch the fact that the Lord asked Peter of his thoughts? He allowed Peters personal experience with tax collectors to become part of the teaching. This is a recurring theme in the Lord’s ministry, for He often asked others questions to communicate truth. He drew folks into His teaching through getting them actively involved in the discussion.

I also love Peter’s response, for he was always protecting the ministry and told the collectors that the Master paid the tax. Obviously He had not paid the tax, or there would be no miracle to discuss here! But Peter was a reactionary type of guy, reacting to issues that came up, looking to protect his friend. Maybe running a bit on fear, or simply seeking to find the quickest resolution to a problem. I can identify with Peter!

Questions to Consider

Who were the audience?

Seems to be primarily a personal discussion between Peter and Jesus. The disciples and Jesus were present for the original question from the tax collectors, but Jesus pulls Peter aside to do some personal counselling, some personal enlightening.

Since the Lord instructed Peter to go “cast a hook”, this was not a team effort of fishing with nets that he was typically accustomed to. This seemed to be a lone effort on Peter’s part, and the audience for witnessing this miracle most likely was Peter himself.

When did the Lord perform this mighty work?

See https://www.bibletimelines.net/timelines/jesus-ministry

Where did the Lord perform this mighty work?

See Signs and Mighty Works of Jesus – Introduction for downloadable reference file.

Why did the Lord perform this mighty work?

First off, this miracle highlights the identification of those who follow the Lord. Followers are sons of the kingdom. Jesus used a current structure of taxation to highlight the freedom believers have specifically in relation to “temple” tax. Followers need to pay it! This might easily transform into an exhortation to commit to a consistent faithful giving to a local church, but I do no think the Lord had this in mind. I think the issue was much bigger, much more impactful. For Peter was to pay the temple tax for a specific reason, and it had nothing to do with supplying the needs of professional religious people.

The reason? Yes – that is the rub in this miracle. Peter said He paid it, and the Lord used this interaction with the temple tax cops for a time of clarification for Peter.

Pay it. But for the right reason. What is the correct motivation?

Provide no offense!

What was the message for the original audience?

Provide no offense. Do not place a tripping hazard in front of anyone. In the old KJV, this word was translated as “stumbling block”.

I can imagine the Lord’s message to Peter –

Look Peter, these temple folk are already tripping over My being the Messiah.  Let us not add unimportant tripping hazards to these folks in order make a point. 

One additional topic that is important to recognize is that Jesus, when speaking of kingdoms, claimed His kingdom, the Kingdom of God, would be the kingdom that received tolls or taxes from other nations. Let us not make this teaching walk on all four legs and claim the kingdom of God is to receive financial benefit from the nations surrounding it, for that is foolishness.

In my opinion, the point is that Jesus is defining the Kingdom as the dominant kingdom, the most powerful kingdom, the kingdom that is over all other kingdoms! And the Kingdom of God is an upside down kingdom, where leaders serve and King’s suffer.

What is the message for us today?

Is there a “temple” tax in your life? Are you free of the legislative burden of providing fees to a “temple”? I say legislative, in order to highlight, in my opinion, Jesus’ point. The end result in paying this temple tax was the same, but the route to the end is definitely not per the temples efforts.

Let me try to explain.

The temple received the two drachma tax from Peter, but Jesus highlights the reason for providing! The sons of the kingdom are free from the legislative responsibility of paying this tax, since the sons of the kingdom are free of this responsibility. They are free of the religious law of paying the tax, but for the sake of love, for the sake on not causing offence, the tax was to be paid!

Offence to those within the temple was abundant in the person of Christ. All those in the temple, when interacting with Jesus, continually and consistently found offence in the person of Jesus. This was unavoidable for they had committed to a life of religion, and Jesus definitely upends the religious life!

Don’t be committed to a religious life. Be a Christian. Follow Jesus. For He is good, all the time!

As an aside, I published a series called Taxes & Churches a few years ago on this general topic that may interest those who have recently begun following this blog.

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Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion

Come join us at Considering the Bible

After my series on the parables, I found I was drawn to look into the miracles of Jesus in the Gospels. I have never studies the mighty works of Jesus as a focused effort before and am looking forward to finding nuggets of truth that we can be encouraged by.

I have provided a general introduction, with an opportunity to download two files for your reference in my initial post Signs and Mighty Works of Jesus – Introduction. I found that the format I used for the parable posts were useful to keep me on track, and will continue to use them for this series, with some minor tweaks. With that said, let’s take a look at

Jesus Heals a Boy with a Demon

Matthew 17:14-21

And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him, said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he has seizures and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him.” And Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.” And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”

Mark 9:14-29

And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. And immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, were greatly amazed and ran up to him and greeted him. And he asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” And someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.” And he answered them, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.” And they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”

Luke 9:37-43

On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. And behold, a man from the crowd cried out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out. It convulses him so that he foams at the mouth, and shatters him, and will hardly leave him. And I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.” Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.” While he was coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. And all were astonished at the majesty of God. But while they were all marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.”

General Observations

We have three very different tellings of this father’s plight and of this son’s suffering. And of the disciples failure.

This is one of those stories the disciples inserted into the Word that strictly defines the failure of the disciples, and lifts Christ up. Of course each of these miracles and interactions with the Messiah show evidence of His superiority, and of their insufficiency, but this one seems to highlight the disciples inabilities.

We should be used to this by now, if you have been tracking with me in this series. He is able. We are not. And in this story, three apostles write of the disciples failure. And the the disciples failure becomes public knowledge for the crowd (and all who read this passage ) from both the father and the Lord to a crowd.

Let me ask my reader about personal failure before we go much further.

How do you handle failure? Ignore it? Run from it? Promise yourself you will never do it again? Ok – seems natural. How about personal failure that is published, for all to know? Blush and avoid it? Get angry and fight against it? But the disciples did not simply experience published failure. No no no. They experienced public failure published by a friend, even their Rabbi? How would you handle a friend publishing to all around of your personal failure? Feel betrayed? Conjure up ways to get back at him or her?

Questions to Consider

Who were the audience?

The audience consisted of a “great crowd”, including a father and son, the disciples, a number of scribes arguing with the disciples (presumably) and the Lord Himself. He saw the arguing and initially asked of the topic, but a man who had a suffering son took precedence. Suffering took precedence over theological hair splitting in this man’s thoughts. But of course, if a loved one is suffering, the emphasis is on relief of the pain. And it appears that Jesus is of the same opinion in this instance. Interesting thought!

Or could the response of the man be an answer to the Messiahs question of the topic of the argument? By that I mean, were the disciples and scribes arguing over the failure of the disciples to heal the son ?

If so, the disciples may have been seeking to defend their failure in some way, to justify their lack of ability. Of course this is mere conjecture, but when confronted with failure that I need to own up to, especially in a crowd, my go-to place is to defend my personal honor, integrity and goodness. (A bit of sarcasm there but you get my point!). Could the disciples be arguing in order to defend their inability to heal the son, all in an effort to protect the ministry? (Again a bit of sarcasm!)

All through the three years, Jesus brought circumstances to challenge the disciples, and many, many times they failed. Yet they continued to follow Him. They stuck with Him for the long run, even when they had to experience failure, shame, disappointment, pain, embarrassment, loss of reputation. Need I go on? But that is faith.

When did the Lord perform this mighty work?

See https://www.bibletimelines.net/timelines/jesus-ministry

Where did the Lord perform this mighty work?

See Signs and Mighty Works of Jesus – Introduction for downloadable reference file.

Why did the Lord perform this mighty work?

Did the Lord perform the work of healing this boy to show He had greater abilities than that of the disciples? Let us not consider that foolishness, for He does not have a chip on His shoulder, always needing to prove His person.

Did the Lord heal this boy simply out of compassion? The text does not refer to His compassion being exercised, even though the father appealed to the Lord’s compassion.

The passage speaks of the disciples lack of faith. The passage also speaks of the father’s lack of faith. Faith becomes a central topic in the midst of failure. Interesting!

What was the message for the original audience?

The message out of this miracle is two fold.

The Father

But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.

Two things occur to me in this phrase that I ask you to consider.

Faith that demands a certain result cannot be the problem here. That is, the father wasn’t rebuked by the Lord for not believing that He could specifically heal the son. It was doubting that the Messiah could perform any miracle.

Two different outcomes that I sometimes get mixed up. Some consider faith to be an act that determines their own goals, that will see their will be done, and it is a matter of convincing the Master to do our bidding. This is not the faith I read of in the Bible.

Of course, the Master does consider our pleas, our prayers, and in His mercy. He provides His working in our lives, even providing some of our desires, in line with His will. But that is a huge topic, that I do not want to enter into here, since my understanding of that topic is woefully deficient!

The faith the Master focused on for the father was His identity, His personhood, His authority, and not on a specific “run of the mill” exorcism. I say “run of the mill” since He had proven over and over again that this situation was NOT a problem for Him. He had provided evidence, and the evidence spoke volumes!

The faith spoken of to the father has to answer the question – “Who is Jesus?”

The Disciples

Why could we not cast it out?

The father may have never seen the Master before, and only heard of His fame. We do not know of his interaction with Jesus prior to this encounter.

Not so for the disciples. They had been with Him for an extended period of time, had seen miracles and heard the teaching, listened to His parables and had been sent out with authority prior to this failure. They had preached the kingdom, healed the sick, fed thousands, seen the dead rise, walked on water, saw blind men receive sight.

And they asked the question that was the core of the argument. Why couldn’t they cast it out?

Jesus answer was short and pointed.

This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer

Notice that Jesus did not pray to heal this boy. The text does not speak of any prayer being given at the time. Let’s read the passage the way we interpret it for our own application.

And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he spent 2 hours in prayer and then he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.

It’s as if He healed the boy quickly, even unexpectantly, due to the crowd coming together. And yet His message is that this kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer. So what gives?

This passage speaks to the Master being always in a state of prayer. He was constantly in contact with the Father in heaven. He knew the Father’s will regarding this father and son, exercised the authority the Father gave Him to heal in this instance and used the healing to further the kingdom, not only with those who witnessed the miracle in the crowd, and the father and son, but more pointedly, the disciples who had to face their failure.

What is the message for us today?

In our application portion of this post, I would like to discuss how failure actually becomes the backdoor to succes in the Lord’s plans.

Failure implies we are going beyond the comfort zone we are used to, that we are not in familiar territory and that our efforts may not be in line with truth. (Of course failure may imply simply an attitude of laziness, of not trying even in those things we are have practiced and understand. This is not the failure I speak of here!)

Failure implies that a change is required. It is the fool who continues to bang his head against the wall in order to heal a headache.

Failure tells us that we are not living according to truth in the area we are failing in.

Failure does not always define a need to go beyond our current state of existence. We need to understand that we have limitations, and though we are to continue to grow, which includes changing, their will come times of failure that simply indicate a limitation in our experience. The proverbial hitting of the wall! Wisdom from the Lord is definitely required here to live in peace within our souls.

So let me ask you. How do you see failure in your life? An enemy? A nuisance? A megaphone in your head, informing of a need, providing information or wisdom, and giving direction for life?

Failure can be the back door to success, but let us be very clear. Success in the Christian life is not mimicking the worlds teaching of claiming power from a deity to perform a certain act that satisfies your current desires (or even needs).

Success in the Christian life is conforming to the character of the Messiah, who submitted to the Father’s will. He described Himself as

Matt. 11:29 … gentle and lowly in heart

This is a great challenge for the believer in this day and age, for we often seek to get things done for God, we seek to provide guidance and direction to Him for the sake of the church, or our personal lives. I struggle of course with this challenge, since I do not want to give up some of my power over the direction of my life.

And yet He claims to be Lord. And with that, as we accept His process, His methods, and find our own methods to be lacking, we will experience failure. For we have much transformation to experience, and our methods of change needs to be according to his plans, not our methods.

But in all this upheaval and pain, we can rest in the fact that He is good, all the time.

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Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion

Come join us at Considering the Bible

After my series on the parables, I found I was drawn to look into the miracles of Jesus in the Gospels. I have never studies the mighty works of Jesus as a focused effort before and am looking forward to finding nuggets of truth that we can be encouraged by.

I have provided a general introduction, with an opportunity to download two files for your reference in my initial post Signs and Mighty Works of Jesus – Introduction. I found that the format I used for the parable posts were useful to keep me on track, and will continue to use them for this series, with some minor tweaks. With that said, let’s take a look at

Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind

John 9:1-12

As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight.” They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

General Observations

Jesus healed this man born blind through the application of spittle and earth, sending him away to a pool, and then melted into the crowd. Of course the mud did not perform the healing, for it was simply a vehicle the Lord chose to perform His mighty work.

The man born blind did not see his Healer when he received his sight. He was on his own, doing as he was told, finding the pool of Siloam and washing his face. In this act of obedience, we must consider this to be the blind man’s exhibition of faith in his healer’s commands. This is extraordinary, though the Messiah’s fame had certainly passed through the city, for the man born blind to believe, would push the envelope of Jesus power to an unheard of result.

No man born blind had ever been healed in the Old Testament! There had been resurrections, as in the days of Elisha, but for a man born blind to receive his sight – that was unheard of!

Questions to Consider

Who were the audience?

During the actual healing, the ones witnessing this healing were the crowds at the pool of Siloam. They most likely had no context of the Lord’s interaction with the blind man, and this produced the questioning and random comments that became the fodder for future discussions, eventually landing on a ridiculous controversy over working on the Sabbath. Although we will not enter into that controversy in this post, those who are curious may visit Jesus on the Sabbath – Part 11 – An Interrogation

When did the Lord perform this mighty work?

See https://www.bibletimelines.net/timelines/jesus-ministry

Where did the Lord perform this mighty work?

The pool of Siloam is an interesting site, and due to construction work on a large water pipe south of the temple mount, was discovered only 20 years ago. The size of this pool was over 200 ft. long and many think it may have served as a ceremonial mikveh, that is a pool for ritual cleansing. It’s history is found in King Hezekiah’s construction of it in preparation for future sieges, and that it was fed by the Gihon Spring.

See Signs and Mighty Works of Jesus – Introduction for downloadable reference file.

Why did the Lord perform this mighty work?

Jesus is the Light of the World. He performed this miracle to exhibit His personhood for all to see. Of course the blind man received his sight as an aside, a man who had been born blind, but this benefit for the blind man would be temporary, for he also would succumb to the ravages of death. But the miracle of giving sight to a man born blind has lived on, and shall always witness to the person of Christ.

What was the message for the original audience?

Jesus is God. He has been informing the masses, and the Jewish leadership through His teaching and His miracles, and the very miracle He performs with the healing of a man born blind speaks volumes.

Throughout the Old Testament, never had a man that had been born blind received his sight. Some that had been blinded recovered their sight, as in the days of Elisha. This is true, but a man who had never experienced vision given sight? That was beyond the pale!

The message? Jesus is the Light of the world. If you cannot see light, you are blind. No shame in this, for it is a simple statement of fact. But if a person states he sees, and does not understand that Jesus is the Messiah, that He is the One to whom we need to look to, that person remains blind, and lives in denial.

The message? Jesus is the Light of the world. He did not say He is a light of the world, implying one of many lights available. He is the Light of the world, with all other “sources of light” becoming less than visible. The many other “sources of light” are actually sources of darkness, sources of distraction and/or sources of destruction.

One Light is provided, and one Light is all that is needed. One Light that was extinguished so that we could be given the privilege to see.

What is the message for us today?

For believers today, the message is simple. Jesus is the Light of the World. It is the same old message, that thankfully does not change, though some who claim to be “lights” state otherwise. Yes there are many nowadays, so called “experts” making high faluting claims of their ability to give guidance, to provide direction for our lives, to even enforce moral codes or ethics upon the masses for the greater good.

My brother and sister – If your eyes are open to the Light, follow Him. Test all other “lights” by the True and Faithful light, for some “lights” may reflect Him, although weakly and faltingly. He is the True Light, and the source of Light that gives us wisdom, strength and power to live lives according to truth. He is the True Light, providing us marvelous light, a light that is brilliant, beyond our comprehension, and ever shining.

1Pet. 2:9 ¶ But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

To those who may still struggle with Jesus’ claims of Messiah, of being God in the flesh, of being the only way to the Father, of being the true Light of the world. To those who may still have their eyes closed, I have one plea.

Do not continue to actively reject the Light. Ignoring the Light is not an option. A decision has to be made, and ignoring a light, does not extinguish that light.

Deal with His claim! He has claimed the sole position of being the Light, the true illuminance of the Living God. He is the Light, and as such nothing will be hid from Him. Sin will be exposed. Rebellion, lies, theft, sexual unfaithfulness will be uncovered for all to see.

Admit your sin, your blindness, your stubbornness to the One who can cleanse you and give sight. Admit it now, while you have the freedom to agree of your own free will. There will come a time when the truth will be forced upon you, and at that time, the multiple benefits of seeing the Light will be extinguished.

Trust Him, by agreeing with Him, admitting your sin, and begin to learn of Him, for He is worthy, He is good, and He is alive.

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Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion

Come join us at Considering the Bible