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 a Catch of Fish Again

John 21:4-11

Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off. When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn.

General Observations

First off, I don’t know why there was 153 fish. Why spend the time counting when the Lord is in the vicinity, calling His disciples to Himself? It is a detail that kinda befuddles me, but it isn’t something that should become a focus for our time together. We got bigger fish to fry (bad pun!).

It is good to remember that this isn’t the first time the disciples were visited by the resurrected Christ. There must have been times of absence of the Lord (preparing them for the ascension?) that were punctuated with visits such as the one we read of here. Prior to the upper room experience, these disciples had seen the Lord at least twice (once for Thomas), but had not experienced the filling of the Spirit of God in their lives.

Questions to Consider

Who were the audience?

Seven of the disciples were present for this visit from the Lord. Peter, John, James, Thomas, Nathanael, and two other unnamed disciples, maybe Andrew and Phillip.

So why were only a portion of the disciples gathered together? Had the group started to fracture already? It seems Simon had informed the group that he was going fishing, and six of the disciples joined him. I have often thought this was an act of rebellion on Peters part, for the Lord, after His resurrection commanded His disciples to stay in Jerusalem. (I don’t recall any lake in Jerusalem large enough to go fishing in!)

Luke 24:49 And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

How this all works out, I cannot be sure, for I am not sure if this command came before or after our visit from the Lord and this miracle. Nevertheless, whether Peter’s stubborn streak got ahold of him or if he innocently left the City to fish, he did pull half the group with him. He was influential!

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?

As with all the miracles we have considered in the past few months, the Lord’s purpose may be very evident, or I may have had to resort to His general message, that is of communicating the truth of His person being on earth. Each of multitude of the miracles He performed, whether they are recorded or not in the Word, were never intended to simply amaze the crowds or draw a crowd as an end. His miracles were intended to communicate to God’s people , (and the world) that the Messiah had arrived.

Of course some of the miracles were obviously pointed to specific people for specific purposes also, as we see in this final act of remembrance for Peter. This miracle is very reminiscent of the calling of Peter in Luke 5 (See Signs and Mighty Works of Jesus #6 – Jesus Provides a Catch of Fish).

Might Jesus be using this occasion to remind Peter of this commitment, of his history with Jesus?

What was the message for the original audience?

There were a number of “minor” miracles that we should consider prior to the large catch of fish.

Bread & Fish Prepared

Notice that the Lord came prepared for His meeting with His men. Early in the morning, He had a fire going, with broiled fish, and bread available for His tired disciples. Of course He knew they were frustrated with the lack of any catch for the night, and He got their attention with a massive catch, but we shall chat about that in a moment. The fact that He prepared a meal for His men speaks volumes, for He is always the One to lead, and He leads by setting the example of service. And yet He instructs them to follow in supplying the needs around them by having them bring some of the fish they had just caught for the meal also. This cooperative work of God and man reminds me of 2 Corinthians 6:1, where the apostle speaks of the “Divine Human Cooperative”

2 Corinthians 6:1 Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.

This verse, when I understood some of the ramifications of “working together” with God, shook me a wee bit. I mean, we are to be considered servants, and that is true, and yet He allows us to enter into the work “with” Him and not simply “for” Him.

Consider this truth as you seek to serve Him.

Super Strong Net

So many fish! (We are not going to mention that number!)

When Jesus performs a mighty work, He leaves no doubt about the miraculous nature of the act. Oh, He could have had them pull in ten or twenty big fish, after a night of no fish, and gotten the attention of the disciples. But no – He created a situation that potentially would have broke the nets. And yet the nets withstood the pressure, the strain, the load!

Are you under some God ordained pressure that in your normal state of affairs could not handle. Yet you are still walking (strained and stressed) and surviving, possibly thriving because of the focus on God this stress guides you into? At times, God’s hand adds pressure to our lives, in an act of mercy towards us, so that you (and I) can experience something beyond a simple explanation, beyond our weakness and foolishness.

Super Strong Peter

I don’t know the mass of the multitude of large fish caught that day, nor the coefficient of friction the many fish had with the bottom of the sea, but the text states that Peter dragged the the net full of large fish ashore. Incredible feat of strength! An act of obedience on Peter’s part. Even though the Lord requested “some” of the fish, Peter would not be satisfied with simply bringing a few fish – He hauled all the fish onto the shore. Now whether Jesus was simply telling his men to “bring some fish” over to the cooking area , and possibly to release many of the fish is hard to discern. But Peter drug the entire net full onto the shore!

Bunch of Fish

The message of second catch of fish was meant for the disciples, or at least for the disciples who decided to leave the City and venture out into “normal” life again.

I can’t help but think that this decision of Peter to go fishing was either out of boredom, or out of frustration. We have seen that Peter was a man of action, a man that was happy doing something, anything. Patience , waiting and being quiet might not have been Peter’s strong suit. We often see him taking a leader’s role in activating some decision, moving forward, getting people to follow through on some action. In the seeming vacuum of activities that they were living in since the crucifixion and resurrection, (prior to the day of Pentecost), Peter had to sit on his hands, so to speak.

Peter had to be called back into the original call Jesus had for Him. Peter was critical for the future Body of Christ, and Jesus, in His inimitable ways, established an environment reminiscent of Peter’s first call. He established an environment to assault Peter’s memories with their past, in order to prepare Peter for the famous three questions for Peter. It is a passage that has multiple nuances for Peter to navigate and Peter was being prepared for this discussion through this miracle.

Thankfully Peter was a man that couldn’t resist the love of God and would admit his own weakness and rebellion in order to follow the Lord.

What is the message for us today?

For us today, I believe Jesus also establishes conditions or environments that we find ourselves in to direct us to the greatest possible obedience to our call. Our neighborhood, our employment, our church body, our health, our social level, our family condition – all of our lives are being guided , at least passively by the Lord.

Passively I say, since we do have the option to refuse to work with Him in the tasks of each day. The good news though is that His hand in our lives can become more evident, more specific, and more active as we actively seek His will in even the smallest of decisions.

We also need to watch for His hand in the events of our lives, understanding and interpreting them through the lens of the gospel, and His love for us. Accidents, sickness and “bad news” needs to be seen in light of the gospel, for faith demands this response. This miracle though, lends itself to our understanding that great windfalls, or blessings such as multitudinous fish in a net, as a message to be understood properly also.

His hand is active in our lives, in our environment and condition, and we would profit greatly if we learned to see with the eyes of faith, seeking to understand His will. He prepared Peter for a difficult discussion, and He is possibly preparing us also for difficult discussions. He is very skillful in preparing His people for His messages, but let me ask – Are you watching for His hand while you are toiling away in your “normal” life?

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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 Servant’s Severed Ear

Luke 22:50-51

And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him.

General Observations

The only gospel that speaks of this miracle is Luke. The remaining three gospels speak of the Peter’s sword fight with the servants ear, but do not inform of any healing. Some pertinent information may be culled from the other gospels though.

John 18:10, 11 Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?”

First off – John tells us that Peter was the swordster!

Mark 14:47 – 48 But one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. And Jesus said to them, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me?

Secondly, Mark records Jesus response to those who were arresting Him. Jesus’ question on their methods of capture speaks volumes to the chief priests understanding of who He was. When did He show any resistance (physically) to the requests of any?

Was He leading a band of sword toting hooligans, just itching for a fight? Just hours earlier, the disciples had requested about having swords, implying that this was a new option for them. They had not bore swords before, and it seems that Jesus’ response was somewhat confusing, when He said “It is enough!” Was He saying that two swords were enough, or that it was enough of this type of question.

When a sword was used (on the poor servant’s ear), Jesus reversed the damaged it caused, so it seems a bit much to consider two swords as something Jesus required, or even advocated. He may simply be responding to their request out of frustration with His disciples faith in swords.

Matthew 26:51 -54 And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?”

Finally, Jesus gives the famous quote of taking the sword and dying by the sword. Of course we do not want to go literal here, for we know of many who have never used a 9 mm pistol and yet died from that weapon. He speaks of the nature of those who resort to weapons as a way of life and that this way of life will typically result in the manner of death.

Questions to Consider

Who were the audience?

This was a busy goup

• Malchus, the healed servant.
• Eleven disciples.
• a great crowd with swords and clubs. (I assume this is different than the soldiers!)
• a band of soldiers and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees.
• Judas.

Quite a crowd, yet it was in the dark, in a wooded garden with torches surrounding the Savior. Quite a time of terror!

Two groups were controlled by fear. The guards were intimidated by Jesus, for they fell at His feet. The disciples were intimidated, for some started chopping with a sword.

Two men were not controlled by fear. Of course the Savior was in control of the situation, even to the point of determining who the guards would arrest. The other man not controlled by fear? Judas. He had all earthly authority supporting him, and even the encouragement from the Savior to “do what you came to do”. This courage would soon evaporate!

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?

As hinted at above, the Master was a man of peace, a Teacher that brought non violence to the nation of Israel, a Man that taught us to love our enemies, to pray for those who persecute us. He was (and is) a healer, so when His people miss the message and go about hacking at the enemy, His response is to reach out to those hurt and to heal, drawing them to His side, even in the midst of His darkest moment of betrayal.

What was the message for the original audience?

The original audience packed with friends and foes had a message delivered to them, if they wanted to see it. A simple touch by a peaceful man, reversing the effects of a sword hacking fearful follower. (How often I see myself in Peter, trying to defend the Master!)

He did not need the weapon, and Peter’s efforts actually frustrated Jesus plans, for He was going to the cross. He was going to show us much more than a simple healing of an ear. His death would bring healing to any one who would hear His message of peace, understand who this Man of peace actually is and follow after Him.

What is the message for us today?

Of all the miracles He has performed, I see this miracle as one that comes from His nature of peace, from One whose character is rooted in gentleness and non-retaliation, a man who sought good for others, no matter their allegiance. He led His followers by example, and even as they go off on their own, He is constantly leading, teaching, being the Savior of those who need saving.

As you go about your day today, understand that a life of peacemaking is the life of the believer.

Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Strife, jealousy and a continual arguing with those you work with or associate with are signs you may need to consider as warnings. Be at peace with God, and out of that peace, be at peace with those around you. Be the one who seeks peace, not merely maintain a lack of hostility. We are to be the instigators of peace! Put your sword down, seek the peace of your enemy, and be at peace with 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 Withers the Fig Tree

Matthew 21:18-22

18 In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. 19 And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once. 20 When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” 21 And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. 22 And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

Mark 11:12-14, 20-24

12 On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. 13 And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it. … 20 As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. 21 And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” 22 And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. 23 Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

General Observations

This miracle seems to be out of place in the grand scheme of things.

First off, it involves a curse, whereas all the other miracles are, to say the least, blessings on the recipient. This miracle seemed to be fueled due to the fig tree failing to produce sustenance for the Savior. This sure seems unexpected (and petty) since He has went many days without eating previously, as in the 40 day fast, the time with the Samaritan woman, etc. I would suggest this miracle is not communicating a need to satisfy Jesus’ temporal hunger.

If hunger was truly fueling this miracle, would it not be expected that He would command the tree to produce figs, as opposed to cursing it? Something about this miracle is not communicating what it seems to be communicating.

Also, Mark tells us that it was not the season for figs, so for Jesus to curse the tree for something it was not expected to do seems out of place. Notice that the entire tree withered, whereas the curse was simply for this tree to never produce figs again. Seems extreme. Again, I would suggest this miracle is not communicating unjust punishment on a fig tree.

Questions to Consider

Who were the audience?

The only audience the text speaks of witnessing this miracle are the disciples.

When did the Lord perform this mighty work?

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

This is one of the last miracles Jesus performs as He enters His passion week, as He enters Jerusalem, the City of Peace, where in just a very short time, He would be hailed as the Messiah and then scourged and crucified as a revolutionary.

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?

As mentioned in the opening discussion, this miracle is out of character with all the other miracles in a number of ways.

Unjust Cursing?

First, let’s consider the cursing of the fig tree even though the text specifically states it was not the season of figs. It seems when Mark is speaking of the season of figs, he is referring to a time in Israel where the harvesting of figs is performed. Prior to this “season of figs”, the trees produce leaves to signify it will be producing full mature delicious figs during the fig season. Until then, the tree would be in process of producing fruit, growing figs from nibs to the full fruit.

This young fruit would often be consumed by travelers, much before the tree would produce the mature fruit, and would provide sustenance for those walking by. If this is the situation we find on the day Jesus approached the tree, the leaves on the tree were signaling to those passers by that young fruit was available.

No Fruit?

Given that the tree is leafing out, it may be assumed that nibs, or pre-figs would be available. Yet when Jesus gets closer, He states there is no fruit, not even “baby” figs. This tree was all leaf!

Given that fact, consider the location of the fig tree in relation to it’s leafyness. (Is that a word?) It is commonly understood that a fig tree with unlimited space will expend all it’s energy on leafing out and produce no fruit. Just uncontrolled, unbridled leaf growth. Since this tree was off in the distance (Mk 11:13), it may be a lone tree, and without any trees near it that would provide restrictions to the growth.

The tree was just leaf! No fruit. Deceptive, not offering even “baby” figs!

Hunger?

As I mentioned above, hunger of the Savior doesn’t make sense. Granted, the text says He was hungry, and well He may have been, but as we have ventured through the gospels, we have found that His miracles speak of greater things than what was apparent at the time. Remember the healing of the blind in our last post was identifying the blindness of those who could see, and was revealing the spiritual sight of those who were physically blind. (See Signs and Mighty Works of Jesus #34 – Jesus Restores Sight to a Blind Man). How about the water to wine miracle, where Jesus supplied the truth of His identity to the meek and lowly servants, while the proud and haughty miss out. (See Signs and Mighty Works of Jesus #1 – Jesus Turns Water into Wine)

His hunger may have been what initiated Him in approaching the fig tree, yet I suspect once seeing the “fruitless” condition of the tree, decided upon using it as a teaching time, an object lesson.

What was the message for the original audience?

Jesus cursed a fig tree and then taught on the importance of faith. Looking at this passage for the “first” time, that simply doesn’t connect for me.

Jesus seemingly is attributing faith in God with a withering of the fig tree. But He doesn’t stop there. He challenges the disciples that if they have faith, without doubting, if they…

say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen.

To what purpose? First off, the withering of the tree seems extreme, and what is the connection with a mountain in the sea? Why? And when He says “this” mountain, is He referring to a specific mountain? Remember that He is the prophet par excellent, and that prophets spoke a language that was full of symbology. This symbology may play in this miracle more that first suspected

Mountains

As the prophets declared God’s word to the people throughout the ages, certain phrases or terms came to represent different ideas within the Jewish culture. For the term mountain, the Old Testament is reference to a mountain actually describes a kingdom. Consider the following.

Psalm 2:6 “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.”

Isaiah 66:20 And they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations as an offering to the LORD, on horses and in chariots and in litters and on mules and on dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the LORD, just as the Israelites bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD.

Joel 3:17 “So you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who dwells in Zion, my holy mountain. And Jerusalem shall be holy, and strangers shall never again pass through it.

Although the previous three passages refer to the Lord’s Kingdom, earthly kingdoms are also referred to in the Old Testament. Jeremiah refers to Babylon as a destroying mountain.

Jeremiah 51:25 “Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, declares the LORD, which destroys the whole earth; I will stretch out my hand against you, and roll you down from the crags, and make you a burnt mountain.

Zechariah also questions a great mountain, referring to the Gentile nation.

Zechariah 4:7 Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’”

Since Jesus referred to “this mountain” as He was coming out of Bethany, it seems possible that the City of Jerusalem, the seat of power in the nation of Israel, may be referred to. The distance from Bethany to Jerusalem is approx. 2 miles and Jerusalem is on the mountain to the west of Bethany. Jerusalem may be the “mountain” Jesus refers to for the disciples faith to be applied

Fig Tree

In the Word, Israel is referred to as an olive tree, a fig tree and a vine. We will consider the fig tree for this study, and it is a common thought that the fig tree symbolizes Israel’s national privileges. Hosea provides a passage likening Israel as the fig tree.

Hosea 9:10

Like grapes in the wilderness, I found Israel. Like the first fruit on the fig tree in its first season, I saw your fathers. But they came to Baal-peor and consecrated themselves to the thing of shame, and became detestable like the thing they loved.

One parable spoken of by the Lord typifies this thinking

Luke 13:6-9  

And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7 And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ 8 And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. 9 Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”

As these themes are developed in our understanding, this mighty work of Jesus is saying much more that a simple picture of a hungry man cursing a guiltless tree.

Jesus is speaking to His disciples, speaking of their ministry as a ministry that includes the “mountain” of Israel being thrown into the sea.

Oh there is one more term that may help with this teaching. When Jesus speaks of “the sea” the message may be that Israel will be dispersed amongst the nations.

Woah Carl – Now you are way out there. Where did you get that? Consider another very common picture in the Old Testament is of Israel being “the land” and the nations being “the sea”. A few verses typifying the nations as the sea follow.

Isaiah 17

12 Ah, the thunder of many peoples; they thunder like the thundering of the sea! Ah, the roar of nations; they roar like the roaring of mighty waters! 13 The nations roar like the roaring of many waters, but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far away, chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind and whirling dust before the storm.

Isaiah 57
20 But the wicked are like the tossing sea; for it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up mire and dirt.

Jeremiah 6

23 They lay hold on bow and javelin; they are cruel and have no mercy; the sound of them is like the roaring sea; they ride on horses, set in array as a man for battle, against you, O daughter of Zion!”

What is the message for us today?

I suppose this is a difficult miracle to find application personally, for out of this miracle, the Lord was specifically instructing the disciples, (if I understand it correctly) to have faith in God to the extent that a nation would be destroyed, and not just any nation, but the nation of Israel. Of course, Israel was destroyed by the Roman army in the first century, and the disciples had to exercise this faith in God during their lives. In many ways, they had to walk away from any dependence on a national presence, on a national existence of a people called Israel, as a basis of support for the growing body of believers they would oversee. Jesus was not building the church by extending the national physical existence of Israel, but was and is developing an independent body of believers that is not associated with any particular national entity. This is the strength of the body of Christ, in so that as nations fall, the body of Christ continues, growing and maturing in the midst of disappointing kingdoms of men.

The message for us today? Have faith in God. Not in some political entity, or national power or governmental authority. One kingdom will continue, and is worthy of our loyalty, and that is the kingdom of God.

All the kingdoms of men will be dissolved and all men will come to serve Him. Other kingdoms shall pass away or be destroyed, but His is an everlasting kingdom.

Daniel 7:14 And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

Trust in God, 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 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

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 Blind Man at Bethsaida

Mark 8:22-26

And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?” And he looked up and said, “I see people, but they look like trees, walking.” Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. And he sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter the village.”

General Observations

Let’s take a few moments and consider the context of this miracle, some of the history that has transpired in the life of the Lord and His disciples. Consider the table I refer to below for this post, to provide the chronology. Notice the healing and activity near Bethsaida, and of course notice the dual feedings of the masses. Some Bible scholars place a month of two between the feedings, and it seems from the disciples reaction to the initial needs during the second miracle, the truth of the first feeding had not settled into their hearts.

Questions to Consider

Who were the audience?

Only one man was the audience. We do not see any reference to the disciples attending this meeting, and we must assume that Mark was told this story by the disciples after they were taught it by Jesus.

The audience was the recipient of the miracle. No one was to see this miracle occur, no one was to witness the conversation, no one was to spread the news of this happening. Only through one of the disciples (Peter) does the Word include this amazing miracle no one knew about.

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. Or for a snippet of the immediate timeline surrounding this miracle, see above.

Why did the Lord perform this mighty work?

One man was healed, in a very unconventional, somewhat surprising way. It appears the Lord may have intentionally staged this miracle, in order for some purpose other than the healing alone, but as we venture through the miracles, that is not a surprising summation. He did not simply heal! The miracles “spoke” to the people, and if there was ears to hear, the message could not be ignored. The principal message of course was that our Messiah had arrived.

When John’s disciples came asking Jesus if He was the One, the response was – “Look at the evidence”

Matthew 11:4-6 And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see:
the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.
And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

Do you want to know who the Messiah is? Look at the evidence. Jesus openly displayed evidence of His person for many audiences, in various ways and in various settings. Sometimes it was in the midst of enemies, sometimes in the midst of the masses, sometimes it was in the midst of a few special friends. But this miracle was for one man, all alone, never to be seen by the crowd he was extracted from. He was instructed to go home and not back into the village where he was introduced to Jesus.

The end result of the healing was provided to the blind man, and to consider the initial effort some type of failure on the part of the Messiah seems ridiculous, since His abilities have been proven over and over again through His ministry. No no no. He was fully able to heal in any way He chose.

For this miracle though, what may have been a purpose in healing a blind man away from everyone else in a two step process? One hint I find in the passage is tempting to consider. The very isolation of the audience may lend itself to the purpose Jesus had. Was this man pulled away to not only provide the healing, but also provide a specific motivation for someone later? I think so. So let us consider ….

What was the message for the original audience?

What was the message for the original audience? For this single man who witnessed and received the miracle, the message was – Go home, do not even enter the village. No restrictions on speaking of the miracle! Just don’t go back into the village, where the original audience presumable still waited.

Yet we know of this miracle through the apostles recounting of the story. Mark wrote this miracle based on the story being told him after the resurrection, and confirmed by Peter as he wrote it out. Sometime between this miracle and the retelling, the Lord taught His disciples of the miracle, of the two step process and how the man finally came to clearly see his circumstances.

Jesus surely recounted this miracle to his disciples, after (I assume) those curious disciples came to Him asking what had happened. I can just imagine the discussion. (Completely my imagination – I have not found any hidden manuscripts of this interaction!)

Peter (or one of the disciples) – Hey Jesus – what happened out there?

Jesus – I healed the blind man, but it took two times to get him to see his surroundings

Peter – What? You do all things well, how could it take two times to get the job done?

Jesus – You tell me. You have seen many miracles, even duplicate miracles of feeding the masses? Why is it taking so many times for you to see?

What is the message for us today?

As I mentioned above, this interaction with the disciples sometime after the healing is completely of my wandering mind, yet it speaks to me in Jesus efforts to wake His friends up. Multiple visual witnesses to the disciples had been provided, and in some of the miracles, the disciples were in the midst of the very miracle, as in the feeding of the masses.

Yet as the Master teacher, Jesus may have used their curiosity to bring a message to the disciples they needed to hear. Jesus used their desire to know to instruct them to “own their failure”.

No one wants to be informed of failure, for our pride resists any form of accepting fault. This lesson has been drilled into my own life through my last few years at my current position at work. I have had to own mistakes and failings in order to push projects forward. It is commonly considered an act of “falling on my sword” in the admission of a conflict or problem, and it hurts. Yet the very pain of the experience has given me motivation to change, to watch for my pride as it erupts and to battle against it.

Although this application has to do with my professional life, His instruction is applicable to all aspects of our life. Humility and grace in receiving an unwelcome or uncomfortable truth is instrumental in maintaining a peaceful inner life, where you may hear the Word echo in your mind, where the quiet still voice can be understood. But fighting against whatever truth you need to hear only makes you too busy to hear and understand it. Jesus wants you to hear it, and He may orchestrate a specific circumstance in order for you to even ask for the rebuke. He is quite an amazing Teacher!

The disciples needed to own their failure of not comprehending the tremendous truth that was in their Messiah. How much more do we need to “own” our failure in grasping the tremendous truth of who Jesus is. We need to “own” much of our lack of faith and understanding. Is it not of benefit for us that we own up to this truth, that our fuzzy sight may somewhat reside within our own lack of effort in seeking, in searching, in grappling with who He is?

One final thought.

For those who may currently be comfortable with their understanding of who He is, who may be happy with their standing before Him, of their faith and maturity, of their position before Him. Understand that He is still greater than you understand, larger than you can imagine, wiser than you consider Him to be and He is totally beyond our comprehension.

If you consider that you know Him, think again. If you believe you understand Him, you may be mistaken. If you think you “see” things as they truly are, you need to “open your eyes” a second time. If you feel He is under some of your imagined restrictions, He surely isn’t.

He is the Messiah, the Master and the One. We are not, and we are in our correct and proper place when we realize not only our severe limitations, but the fundamental truth that He is greater, stronger and wiser than we will ever comprehend.

Admit to your blindness regarding Him, so that your eyes may be opened to a clearer understanding of who our Great Healer is.

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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 Feeds 4,000

Matthew 15:32-39

Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.” And the disciples said to him, “Where are we to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed so great a crowd?” And Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven, and a few small fish.” And directing the crowd to sit down on the ground, he took the seven loaves and the fish, and having given thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces left over. Those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. And after sending away the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.

Mark 8:1-13

In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them, “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away.” And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?” And he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven.” And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away. And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha. The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.” And he left them, got into the boat again, and went to the other side.

General Observations

The first thing to observe is that this miracle appears to be similar to the feeding of the 5,000. Some may want to consider this miracle as the same miracle told two different times, yet a careful reading exposes too many differences to consider that to be true. Consider.

Disparities	Feeding the 5,000	Reference	Feeding the 4,000	Reference
Authors	Matthew, Mark, Luke & John		Matthew & Mark	Why would Matthew & Mark revise the miracle of the 5,000 with the following differences?
Audience	Jewish		Gentile
Location	Bethsaida	Luke 9:10	Decapolis	Mark 7:31
Sitting arrangement	“on the green grass”	Matthew 14:19	“on the ground”	Mark 8:6
Fast duration	one day	Matthew 14:15	three days	Mark 8:2
Source of food	a boy	John 6:9	disciples	Mark 8:5
Number of Loaves	Five	Matthew 14:17; Mark 6:38; Luke 9:16; John 6:9	Seven	Matthew 15:34 Mark 8:5-7
Number of Fishes	Two	see above	Few Little Fish	see above
Quantity of Leftovers	12 Baskets	Matthew 14:20 Mark 6:43 Luke 9:17 John 6:13	7 Baskets	Matthew 15:37 Mark 8:8
Crowd Size	5,000	Matthew 14:21 Mark 6:44 Luke 9:14 John 6:10	4,000	Matthew 15:38 Mark 8:9
Basket Description	kophinous	This Greek word refers to a small basket, a wicker basket	spuridas	This Greek word refers to a reed basket, as hamper. (See Acts 9:25 – Paul was able to escape Damascus in this type of basket)
Reception	Take Jesus by force to make Him King		No reaction provided

One last difference in the two miracles may be found in the words of Jesus Himself

Matthew 16:9-10 Do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered?

Jesus referred to the two miracles as separate occasions, which is the potential reason Matthew and Mark recorded this second feeding. So, as we enter our passage, let’s not forget this is a second feeding of a multitude.

Questions to Consider

Who were the audience?

As mentioned above, this audience was primarily gentile, and as Matthew describes, consisted of four thousand men, besides women and children. Mark simply mentioned 4,000 people. A full audience size, as discussed in our previous post on the feeding of the 5,000, may have consisted of as many as 16,000 people, given that each man may have brought a wife and an average of a couple of children. (See Signs and Mighty Works of Jesus #19 – Jesus Feeds 5,000)

No matter how you slice it, this crowd was massive, and defining the crowd to a specific size greater than the 4,000 may be an effort in futility. Whether it be 4,000 or 16,000 feeding such a crowd from a few fish and loaves makes a point. That point may have been directed to the audience consisting of 12 men who experienced this miracle first hand in the delivery of it!

When did the Lord perform this mighty work?

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

Where did the Lord perform this mighty work?

As mentioned above, the Lord performed this miracle in the region of the Decapolis, amongst a primarily gentile crowd. See Signs and Mighty Works of Jesus – Introduction for downloadable reference file.

Why did the Lord perform this mighty work?

I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat.

Jesus had compassion on the crowd. He knew the crowd was at a point where if they were sent away, they would faint on their way. Some in the crowd were at their physical limits, and Jesus saw their suffering. Three days of following the Master, and now the crowd had nothing to eat.

I suppose a more important question is how would the disciples respond to this similar request of the Lord, based on His stated compassion for a crowd of gentiles. Besides this, the present location seems even more desperate than in the feeding of the 5,000, since in the previous location, the disciples mentioned villages to send the crowds to. Not so in this instance.

In all of these challenges, we must remember that the feeding of some stomachs was not the end goal, for they would need to be fed again and again. Not only were the crowd in need, the disciples were being challenged with a problem that they had already seen the Lord supply for.

What was the message for the original audience?

Note how the disciples addressed the compassion of the Master. A compassion for a primarily gentile crowd. In our previous miracle, the disciples suggest to the Lord the release of the crowds in order to get themselves food. In this miracle, no suggestion is given by the disciples. Might they have learned to trust somewhat, to have some patience in the exercising of the Lord’s ways? I would like to think so. Yet, as the Lord breached the topic of the audience going home (echoing the disciples desire from the earlier feeding?), the disciples asked the big question.

How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place? Mark 8:4

Where are we to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed so great a crowd? Matthew 15:33

Could the disciples be breaching their own inability, speaking of their weakness in providing for such need, and looking to the Lord for His provision? I want to hear this response as an open question, a question that reflects their own lack, in order for the Lord to provide, to supply what they cannot.

What is the message for us today?

As with so many of these miracles, the messages to each of us may be highly personal. The following are points that are real to me.

Weakness

The disciples, as I mentioned above, were evidently not as self assured, not as “in charge” of the situation as in the previous feeding. They did not initiate a solution for the Lord to agree to, but simply asked an open question. No mention of sending the crowd away. They asked questions, allowing the Lord to initiate a solution, to allow Him to provide in His way, for they had experienced this problem once before. And given that they had experienced this very situation previously, they did not come to Him suggesting (or demanding) the same solution. This, in my opinion, is a sign of growth, and although the disciples were often upbraided for their lack of faith, it is refreshing to see change in their lives because of Him.

In our lives, a realization of our weakness is critical to allow the Lord to have His way in our lives. A constant demanding of God to perform according to our will, of having a faith that has specific definite expectations may lead more to disappointment. It is a paramount mission of the believer to be like Him, as He says

Not my will, but thine be done

Patience

Closely linked to the characteristic of weakness, is the increasing ability to exercise patience in the midst of trying circumstances. If we are in the midst of a comfortable, highly regulated and safe environment, (as many may be who are reading this post), the appearance of patience is a relatively easy character trait to display, for there may be little that forces us to be pushed to a limit, to a breaking point.

Consider the disciples and the growing problem of the crowd going without food. The situation was coming to a breaking point, where it was evident that some in the crowd were in a very bad situation. Even the disciples were coming to the end of their supplies, for 7 loaves amongst 13 men is “scraping the bottom of the barrel”!

At different times in our lives, patience will be required in order to obtain the promises. For a consideration of the importance of patience in the Christian life, I would refer you to a post within a series I wrote on Hebrews 12:9-11 (Patience – Required to Inherit the Promises)

Timing

This last application, closely related to patience, is the one that seemingly bites me in the behind the most. Exercising patience to an expected end is required for the believer, but as a weak man, I find I fail in fully realizing the timing of the Lord. Of course, some instances force my acceptance of the timing of the Lord, since I realize I have no ability to change a situation – It is up to the Lord to decide when and how.

Yet, it is somewhat comforting to see the Lord allow a situation to occur, (as in the increasing need of feeding 4,000), whether through our own poor planning or even our inability to foresee problems. A period of doing without is allowed in the will of the Master, yet it is His compassion that breaks through to provide, to allow relief in the entire scheme of things.

As the Lord brings relief, and in His timing, consider the message He may be providing, and not simply the provision to satisfy the immediate need.

As you can see, this miracle speaks to weakness, patience and timing, and they are all aspects of a Christian life that is dependent on the actions of the Lord.

We are to be dependent. He is dependable. Seems this is the will of God, and that He keeps His end of the bargain up.

Are you being stretched in the experience of weakness, patience and the timing of the Lord?

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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 Deaf and Dumb Man

Mark 7:31-37

Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

General Observations

If I’m looking at a map of Tyre and Sidon, and Jesus’ eventual destination in this passage, that is the Sea of Galilee, it appears the route is unnecessarily long. And why head north, when the Sea of Galilee is southeast of Tyre?

Is Mark implying that Jesus had a specific purpose in the area of Sidon that He doesn’t refer to. This is definitely a possibility for the Lord performed so many miracles and taught so many folks, that this may be a location that has simply not been recorded for our instruction. After all, as John tells us…

… there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

An alternative reason He went through Sidon to eventually go southeast may have been simply an opportunity for Jesus and His disciples to finally get an extended time of quietness. Much had occurred in the recent weeks and the Lord had mentioned a number of times that they as a group needed to regroup and find some solitude. (See Mark 6:31, Mark 7:24 for examples)

Questions to Consider

Who were the audience?

The only ones present, per the text, was the Master, those who brought the deaf man, and a crowd. Yes even in the Decapolis, where He had been banished from due to the swine incident, He had accumulated a gathering, a crowd of those who followed Him as He was on His way.

The deaf man brought to the Messiah had a speech impediment of some kind, implying at the least that he had been deaf his entire life and his speech reflected this condition. Could the man communicate at all? Was it that he could not make a sound, or that in making the sound, no one could easily understand? Given that the ones who brought the deaf man begged Jesus to lay His hands on the deaf man, I am leaning to understand the man couldn’t communicate clearly.

As a matter of fact, the last verse mentions that those who were astonished at this miracle proclaim that He (Jesus) makes even the deaf hear and the mute to speak! Was this specific to this miracle? Possibly, or the fame of the Master simply preceded Him!

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.

It is interesting that Mark mentions they were in the region of the Decapolis, a region that encompassed ten cities, (hence the name Deca – polis.) To be in the Decapolis was to be in a Gentile majority population, on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. The Decapolis was in the region belonging to the half tribe of Manasseh, so technically they were still in the promised land, but the Jewish influence was minimal, and the Gentile population looked down upon the Jewish way of life.

It isn’t the first time the group was in the region, for Jesus was in the area when He healed the demon possessed man and sent the swine swimming. At that time, He had been booted out of the area by the locals. Seems it didn’t stick!

Why did the Lord perform this mighty work?

Since the Lord charged the deaf man and all who witnessed the miracle to tell no one, it seems obvious that the mighty sign was not provided in order to get the news out of the Messiah having come. Jesus wanted this one to be a miracle that was without outward purpose, one that was a response only to the recipient, and his friends. This intended purpose was frustrated, as it seems the group began to speak of the miracle after being charged not to by the One who provided the miracle. Even after numerous times of being charged by Jesus to stay quiet, they continued to proclaim the miracle.

It appears the Lord’s will was frustrated by a group of “thankful” witnesses! He gave hearing and speech to the deaf man, and it is safe to assume He could take it away. Yet, He sought their obedience to refrain from speaking of the miracle, and in their disobedience of preaching, brought about an even greater group of those who followed Him.

But was this a positive outcome?

Of course every one of this increasing group may be following after Jesus for the right reason, but there is going to be a winnowing of the group soon. Those who were following simply for the “eye candy” of miracles, (or in this instance “ear” candy?) or for the food that may be provided would be given teaching that would cause a falling away. This may have been a reason the Lord charged them to remain quiet, for the group needed to be reduced, not enlarged, for it to be effective for His purposes.

High numbers of adherents do not equal great strength in this instance!

What was the message for the original audience?

The Word states that He took the deaf man aside from the crowd, seemingly continuing with the theme of keeping this particular miracle an isolated, non spreading work of God. Being pulled aside from the crowd, Jesus touched both this mans ears and his tongue, those members of his body that were dead or crippled, and He provided life to them through a simple command.

The message of the miracle was two fold.

Open Up

First, to the one receiving the miracle, the message was of healing. For his ears and tongue to be opened. Open up. Be opened thoroughly.

Shut Up

Given that the original audience had been reduced to a few for the sake of witnessing the miracle, the second message is also clearly evident.

Shut up! Do not tell anyone. Do not mention it, do not proclaim it, do not say anything about it, do not declare it! Just walk away, take the miracle and just SHUT UP!

Just think of the first thing this deaf man heard. Tell no one. He had just received the gift of communication, and was immediately restricted from using the gift. Yet does not the One who provides for us all good gifts, have the right to tell us to self restrict the gifts He provides?

What is the message for us today?

In our daily lives, it seems clear that to provide the message of God’s self sacrificing love is a message that is to have no restrictions. Preach it far and wide!

And yet in the providence of God’s timing, my wife and I were just in the Gospel of Matthew, where the Lord speaks thus.

Matthew 7:6 “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.

As we chatted about this verse it seemed that Jesus was giving His church a restriction in order to provide a safeguard for themselves. The issue my wife and I still are unsure of, is the nature or identification of who the pigs and dogs are in our lives.

What characteristics would specifically identify these two groups for us, in order to give us guidance in not throwing our pearls before them? I find it coincidental at the very least that Peter uses the same two animals (dogs and swine) in a verse describing a particular group of people he also warns the church of.

2 Peter 2:22

What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”

Jesus was not the only One who spoke hard or difficult sayings. Peter, like his Master, brought up a very uncomfortable topic by referring to both dogs and pigs. So does Peter give us some guidance on who dogs and pigs are when they are referred to in the Word. The verse immediately proceeding 2:22 gives us plenty to consider!

2 Peter 2:21

For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.

Peter begins this lengthy passage in chapter 2 with the topic of false prophets/teachers, and describes them as irrational animals in verse 12 (as the proverb Peter refers to also describes them). These teachers knew the truth but had abandoned it!

He provides examples of false teachers bringing in destructive heresies (vs 1), forsaking the right way (vs 15), being entangled and overcome by defilement (vs 20) and finally as those turning back from the way of righteousness (vs 21). Peter summarizes his warning of false teachers in the last few verses of the chapter, in the specific verse we are considering.

So where is the false teacher in your circle of experience? Peter said they would enter in and be among us.

Please don’t consider this an encouragement to start heresy hunting! The issue in my mind is that hunting for false teachers is an exercise in futility somewhat. If we know the Word, (or better yet, if we are increasing in the knowledge of the Savior), the teaching these heretics provide will stick out like a sore thumb.

Also, my estimation of a false teacher may be different than yours, not because we do not have an absolute standard to judge by, but due to our growing but limited ability to understand the standard to be judged by. The standard I refer to is the Spirit provided Word of God of course.

When I first became a believer, I considered every teacher not adhering to my narrow understanding of the denominational teaching I was a part of to be somewhat heretical. This is to my shame, since I elevated a denomination over the Word itself. The denomination is not perfect in their understanding, as I surely am not.

So where does this lead me? A sense of humility and a guarded stance to those I understand, at this time, to be false teachers. How shall I respond to this miracle, and the command to SHUT UP in my situation? Provide nothing holy to false teachers. No effort of correcting them, no time spent watching them, and definitely not supporting them with prayers or financial gifts. They are the enemy in the camp!

Instead seek the Lord in the Word and through prayer. Continue to compare teachers in your circle with the message of the Word. Charlatans, seeking a following by tickling your ears are actually exploiting you, treating you like a commodity, and eventually will abandon you in your hour of need, as the Lord described the hired hand in John 10:12.

Follow after the Messiah, and if He tells you to shut up, SHUT UP!

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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 Gentile Woman’s Demon-Possessed Daughter

Matthew 15:21-28

And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

Mark 7:24 -30

And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. And he said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.

General Observations

Tyre specifically has had a very interesting past. Ezekiel prophesied of Tyre’s destruction in the 26th chapter of his book, with that destruction coming in waves, like the sea. A very interesting passage for another time!

Babylon, under Nebuchadnezzar besieged the island city about 600 yrs before Jesus visited. Tyre then came under attack by Alexander the Great, who eventually built the earthen causeway to the island in order to defeat the city/state.

By the time the Lord arrived, the city had been rebuilt, and the Roman dominance of the area made Tyre an influential center. Thirteen centuries after the Masters visit, the original city finally fell.

Questions to Consider

Who were the audience?

Jesus entered into a house. No mention of the house’s inhabitants are included in the telling of this miracle, but we can safely assume it had a limited audience, including the house owner’s family, the disciples and this woman, this Gentile, Syrophoenician woman. Mathew calls her “a Canaanite woman”. Jesus refers to her as a dog.

Wow Can this woman catch a break? Well, it seems she caught a break before the story closed!

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.

An interesting thing to notice of Tyre (and Sidon) is that although they were considered Roman cities during the time of Jesus, these two cities were within the promised land designated to the allotment of Asher. Therefore, as Jesus entered the region of Tyre and Sidon, He was not in Roman territory, but remained in the promised allotment of Asher, one of Jacobs 12 sons. Although this region was in the promised land, the population of the area was predominantly Roman, with a small Jewish population.

To the Jewish population, Jesus was sent. To a minority within a larger population.

Why did the Lord perform this mighty work?

This Syrophoenician woman had great faith. The dogged, non-stop faith of this desperate mother earned her the honor of this positive answer. Jesus went beyond His own stated mission (of being sent to the lost sheep of Israel) in order for this miracle to be performed.

He went beyond His stated purpose, His stated mission, His word.

What was the message for the original audience?

The interaction between the Lord and this woman deserves a few moments to consider, for this woman faced a number of barriers or restrictions in getting what she desperately needed.

Restriction 1 – Seeming Indifference

Initially she had to ignore the Lord’s seeming indifference to her plea. He simply did not answer a word.

Restriction 2 – Obvious Rejection

On top of this disappointment, the disciples sought the Lord to rid themselves of her annoying crying. They actually begged Jesus to get rid of her. (At least they referred to Jesus for the decision to reject her, instead of simply getting rid of her on their own!)

Restriction 3 – Purpose of the Messiahs Mission

In response to the disciples, He reminded them of His mission to the lost sheep of Israel. He had a mission, and was focused on this mission, at least for the disciples sake.

This message must have been heard by the woman, for she did not give up. Her child was possessed and in dire need. She was desperate, and in need of the miracle workers touch. His mission was of no importance to her, and she kept pleading, begging for her daughters life, begging with a simple plea –

Matthew 15:25 ….Lord, help me

In the context of Jesus mission to the lost sheep of Israel, He responds with a somewhat shocking statement.

Matthew 15:26 ….It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs

He, in the context of the passage refers to the lost sheep of Israel as children, and that His ministry is likened to bread for their sustenance.

Throwing bread to the dogs is not right! A couple additional clarifications helps me in understanding this response.

Restriction 4 – Focus of His Mission

First off, the term “throw” refers to “casting”, “scattering” or to “let go of a thing without concern of where it lands”. Jesus has spoken of His focused ministry, and to “throw” miracles around without any care of where they land is the next wall she has to climb over to get her daughters health.

I don’t know about you, but veiled references of rejection hurt, since the comment gives an element of interpretation that forces the hearer/receiver to juggle the message around in the skull. A veiled rejection bugs me more than a straight out clear statement! But don’t worry, we may be coming up to a full on derogatory reference that is a clear rejection!

Restriction 5 – Derogatory References?

It is amazing how often I have to be corrected. Yesterday, when my wife and I were having our morning tea/coffee, we read through this short passage and I mentioned that the term “dogs” referred to the wild dogs that roamed the countryside, and that the Lord used this terminology to set up one final wall for this woman to climb over to get what she wanted. I think I am a fool. For you see, the term Jesus used was kynarion, and it is used in the New Testament four times, each of these times in this discourse with this Canaanite woman.

If Jesus had intended to refer to this woman as a wild dog (as I incorrectly thought), He may have used the term kyōn. This term, meaning “wild cur” is always reproachful, and is used five times in the New Testament. Three of these uses follow 

Matthew 7:6 “Do not give dogs what is holy….
Philippians 3:2 ESV – Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers….
Revelation 22:15 ESV – Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral …

No, the Lord softened the message, and did not continue in building a wall for this woman to mentally crawl over. This message may have been in response to her plea for help in Matthew 15:25 – Help me Lord. Let me try to explain.

I think He was sending a message to her that, although she was not of the “lost sheep of Israel” she was in the house, for this term was often used to describe “little dogs”, dogs that lived in the house, that were within the household. He was setting her up, giving her a picture of children at a table with “little dogs” nearby.

Yes, it seemed He wasn’t going to intentionally divert His focus from the lost sheet of Israel by “throwing” a piece of bread to a pet. That message seemed to be caught by this woman, for her faith spoke of her request as simply a crumb falling from the table! Her humility is astounding, for she not only reduced the image of the request (from bread to merely a crumb), but also the method of delivery, (from the Lord “throwing” to simply falling from the table.)

A crumb accidentally falling from the Master’s table. She was no longer asking for a piece of bread – no – simply a crumb, a little morsel, that which wouldn’t be missed, available due to His ministry to the lost sheep of Israel, a surplus from provisions given to the children at the table.

This woman fought to get her miracle. She did not give up, she saw the opportunity the Lord provided in His response and continued with her request, modifying the understanding of the plea, but never giving up on the request. The size of the bread and the method of receiving were of no importance to the woman. It was who provided the crumb which was the core issue. This is the nature of faith that Jesus commended her for.

What is the message for us today?

I am sure there are many messages for our learning today, but the following two speak to me, and hopefully to you.

Fighting Faith

We are to have a “fighting faith”, but by speaking of a “fighting faith” I do not mean the type of faith that argues every point of doctrine that is possible. No – not at all. That is simply a sign of insecurity and immaturity.

A fighting faith refers to a determined hanging on to the faith that was delivered to us, and for us to live under. A faith that is continuous, consistent, and that it does not simply take the first answer it gets. A faith that is worked out by love.

Galatians 5:6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

Certainly, a desperation of circumstances plays a role in the working out of our faith, for this woman was in front of the Messiah due to her desperate circumstance, a daughter severely appressed by a demon. We must remember that as we venture through this life, emergencies, trials, difficulties, problems, adversities and hardships will be about us, sometimes seemingly everywhere, and may appear there is no overcoming of. Some of these trials may remain, some are to be climbed over. Either way, disappointments are inherent in exercising faith, for without disappointments, faith would not be required. A fighting faith will continue to look to Him for answers, even in the midst of seeming restrictions.

Catch the Message

Yet this Gentile woman teaches us to “catch a message”. She caught the implication of the Lord’s use of “little dogs”, and continued the pursuit, finding opportunity in the message she heard. Truly an amazing discussion between the Lord and a “little dog”.

Do you approach the Word looking for opportunity or restrictions? I know, as a natural pessimist, I tend to see restrictions. This woman, this “little dog”, this non-Israeli, looked for opportunity, and in the search found the request she sought.

Not only did she receive her daughter back, she provided an example to us of one who looked for an opportunity before God, and kept asking util she found it! Truly a tenacious woman in front of our Good God. Somewhat reminiscent of a non-Israelite named Abraham, fighting for his nephew Lot in the City of Gomorrah.

Those non-Israelites sure provide stellar examples of seeking and finding 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 Many Sick in Gennesaret

Matthew 14:34-36

And when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret. And when the men of that place recognized him, they sent around to all that region and brought to him all who were sick and implored him that they might only touch the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.

Mark 6:53-56

When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored to the shore. And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognized him and ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.

General Observations

Gennesaret is a land that was incredibly fertile, to the point the Rabbi’s called it the Garden of God”. The very name Gennesaret comes from two Hebrew words. “Gan” in the Hebrew means garden, with the second portion from the Hebrew “sarim”. meaning prince. Gennesaret may mean “princely gardens” and in the days of Christ, this small area of the northwest coast of the Sea of Galilee (also known as the Sea of Gennesaret) was home to an area full of fruits and vegetables. The land could produce not only a multiple variety of food stuffs, but each crop would produce an abundant harvest!

Gennesaret, being just west of Capernaum was a central base of operations for the Lord during His early ministry, when the miraculous acts of the Lord increased in intensity. This very passage speaks of the healing of many. And the apostles provide very little information when compared with the many miracles that are spoken of. It’s almost as if the apostles are starting to see a pattern in the physical healing and the effect of it.

Yet as we continue in our series on the mighty works of Jesus, we will begin to see the Lord leaving this northern region where He performed so many of His miracles, and where His ministry went through a period a tremendous popularity. As we see Him moving into His next phase of ministry, it is good to remember that His time in the north was planned from centuries before.

The prophet Isaiah spoke of the Messiahs ministry in the land of Zebulon and the land of Naphtali in his 9^th chapter and Matthew connected Jesus’ ministry with this prophecy.

Matthew 4:14-16 so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
“The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles–
the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.”

The people had seen a great light, and on them a light had dawned. This period of time when the Lord was in the region provided multiplied proofs of His identity, and at no time since has a people had such a bright light shine (in relation to miracles produced).

Everyone recognized Him and they all understood He was a great miracle worker, but for some reason this region fell under condemnation by the Lord later in His ministry.

Matthew 11:21-24 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”

Questions to Consider

Who were the audience?

Per the passage, everyone in the region of Gennesaret were either witnesses or recipients of the Lord’s presence. When I say everyone, (and being an engineer by trade), I automatically think of the population that would be in the area. This was difficult to determine with a desktop search, but the area itself is generally considered to be about 3 miles long from south to north and about 1¼ miles broad, form shore to rocky foothills. Given that this area was predominantly a farmers paradise, I intended to calculate a potential population, assume a percentage of sick amongst the population and provide a number of healings performed. I nixed that foolishness, since even within the passage the author describes the extent of coverage as being “all that region”. I will not attempt to define the limits of “all that region” for that may cover cities like Capernaum, maybe even Bethsaida. Dang it all if even as I read the passage again, the verse speaks of going into villages and cities also.

This explosive burst of miracles performed by the Lord might well have encompassed many more than I first thought. Nevertheless, the audience was massive, most likely (in my humble opinion) greater than the 5,000 He recently fed.

He sure was popular!

When did the Lord perform this mighty work?

One additional assumption of mine that was wrong when I first considered this miracle, or should I say period of miracles, is the duration described within this short passage. The passage speaks of the Messiah going from village to city, and throughout the countryside. This surely was not an hour stint (as I assumed) where He stopped for a quick visit. We are not even told if He had plans upon arriving here that was interrupted by the crowds!

Again, the duration of this prolonged period of miracles can only be guessed at, yet it seems to beg a day or two, maybe more. He travelled through the area, and the population retrieved the sick to meet with Him. This was not a efficiently planned ministry stop over that catered to the Messiah’s crowded day planner!

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

Where did the Lord perform this mighty work?

See above for a description of the area, its fruitfulness and general size. Also, see Signs and Mighty Works of Jesus – Introduction for downloadable reference file.

Why did the Lord perform this mighty work?

The passage does not provide a motivation of the Lord in the healing of multitudes, and it seems He was somewhat passive in the act of healing. Yes, the passage speaks of the crowd imploring Him, requesting healings, yet the action of healing also is described as the woman with a blood disorder. See Jesus #14 – Jesus Heals a Woman in the Crowd.

Remember that the woman simply took the healing. She didn’t approach the Master for permission, but simply took power from Him by touching the fringe of His garment. (Desperate for a healing or great faith?)

The fringe of his garment seemed to be a key for the crowds in getting what they wanted, for in both passages in describing this mighty work, the fringe of His garment is referred to. Even as the crowd clambered about Him, grabbing and clutching, He provided the light necessary, in the form of miracles to see the truth of His person.

But I have to ask myself if the physical healing became a stumbling lock to receiving spiritual healing? Nothing in this specific passage addresses this concern of mine, yet I wonder…

What was the message for the original audience?

The message to the original audience was that He was a patient and beneficent miracle healer. At no time in either of these passages in Matthew or Mark is there any description of those being healed as confessing Him for who He was. Now I realize silence is not a good basis to build a teaching on, yet the intent of the miracles, if I understand them correctly, is not simply the physical healing, but identification of the Great Healer being present, the One of whom the nation of Israel (and the world) needed to recognize as the Messiah, the Deliverer sent by God.

Yet, and it seems anticlimactic to say this, but all we have is many multiple physical healings, and that is all. And since this region came under condemnation by the Master a bit later in His ministry, I assume this display, or notification of His arrival was not received as intended.

What is the message for us today?

The message that screams out to me is the tremendous patience and goodness of God in the person of Jesus Christ. Let’s recall that this period of time originally began with the Master seeking a time of rest and regrouping with His men.

Mark 6:31 And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.

This intended plan was dashed, for instead of rest, He fed five thousand, spent a night in prayer, rescued the disciples on the sea (walked on the water out to their boat in the early morning), and now was besieged by even greater crowds than the day before. Yet He continued in the midst of tiredness, frustration of intended effects, and a broken expectation of rest with His disciples.

One item that seems to echo in my thoughts is that the display of miracles by the Master did not produce a vibrant Christian experience, or revolutionize the area, produce a spiritual revival or initiate a great missionary effort. It was simply physical healing for multitudes that seemingly produced no real spiritual fruit.

Sad, since this area is known as a fruitful garden!

Might that be something for us to understand in our efforts to those who are outside the Body? Is the existence of miracles, (or at least the claim of miracles), automatically a sign of healthy spiritual life and fervor? Do miracles produce spiritual life!

Matthew 7:22 – 23 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

As I mentioned above, it seemed Jesus was mighty popular during this period of His ministry, yet the popularity didn’t translate into the intended effect of changed lives. No repentance or true faith is spoken of, yet He sure was popular!

Jesus is somewhat popular in our society nowadays, and yet when I ask who He is, I receive many various descriptions from declared believers. Popularity of Jesus is dependent on the understanding we each have of Him, and if we see Him only as a miracle healer, One who is there to serve us, this may be replicating the people of Gennesaret.

Did I mention that this region was never spoken of in a positive manner after this explosion of light?

Food for thought.

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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 Walks on Water

Matthew 14:22-33

Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night, he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.”  So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

Mark 6:45-52

Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray. And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.

John 6:16-21

When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.

General Observations

Mark says the disciples were to go to Bethsaida? In the feeding of the five thousand, the gospels tell us they were already at Bethsaida. What is going on?

Mark 6:45 states that they were to pass over to Bethsaida, to the other side. This was a point of confusion for myself until I considered a passage in John. You see, John describes their trip as being “across the sea to Capernaum”. So, is Bethsaida located also near Capernaum?

Well, to this day, there is research being performed by archeologists on the exact location of the town of Bethsaida. Even if Bethsaida is successfully located, it was also common in ancient days to have two towns named the same.

A solution to this conundrum may exist in the naming of cities in the ancient world. John describes another Bethsaida in John 12:21, calling it “Bethsaida of Galilee” Could Bethsaida of Galilee be a settlement near Capernaum? If so, this may be the solution.

As an aside, I understand the gospel of Mark to be the gospel Peter oversaw in the writing, and that he gave direction to Mark in the recording of the the life of Jesus. If this is true, consider that Mark did not concern himself with Peter’s walking on the water, or that the Lord rescued him from his sinking.

Questions to Consider

Who were the audience?

This miracle had a limited audience, in that the only ones who witnessed this incredible happening were the disciples themselves. Mark is specific in stating in Mark 6:49 & 50 that “they saw Him walking on the sea”…”and they all saw Him and were terrified”

This miracle was provided for the disciples and spoke to their relationship with the One walking on water. It is also interesting that all other miracles performed were for the sake of the sick, infirmed or dead. This miracle was “self inflicted”, in that the Lord Himself was the object of the miracle. He did the miraculous, that is, He walked on the water!

When did the Lord perform this mighty work?

Immediately after He fed the five thousand. This is important to remember as we go through this miracle.

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?

Mark 6:48 states that the Lord saw His disciples were making headway across the water “painfully”. The Greek word used here to describe the disciples situation is basanizō and has the meaning of a testing, or to question by applying torture, to torment, to vex with grievous pains, or to be harassed or distressed. The disciples were in the middle of a fight for their lives, in the very arena that many thought of themselves as experts – four of them were fishermen, after all.

Matthew 14:24 describes the progress of the disciples as being a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, with the wind against them. He also uses the same word when describing the treatment of the waves on the disciples. They were being tormented by the waves!

Even John, in his abbreviated recounting of this miracle, speaks of the sea becoming rough, with a strong wind blowing.

In all of this torment that the disciples were experiencing, Jesus acts like a Savior, saving His people from a perilous situation. He had work for them and He loved them, and this was a perfect opportunity for a teachable moment. And this moment of teaching occurred by His walking on the water.

You know, I wouldn’t have expected this. As I imagined myself in the boat struggling with surviving a storm I may have never experienced, I would never have thought my deliverance would be through One who simply walked on the very water that was trying to kill me. And on top of that, He walked on water as if He was going to pass them by!

He is truly not like us!

What was the message for the original audience?

In Matthews portrayal, Peter had stepped out on the water but took his eyes off of the Lord, concentrating on his surroundings. He “noticed” the impossibility of his actions, the potential danger surrounding him, and I think that sinking feeling he felt, as his knees, waist (and shoulders?) were going under! The sea had not calmed down yet, and Peter was walking on water in the midst of a terrible storm.

In his sinking, Peter cried out the Jesus in the proper way. “Lord, save me.” Reaching out to Peter, Jesus not only delivered him, but also addressed Peter’s fear by speaking to him of his “little faith”.

In Marks recounting of the miracle, he simply states the disciples were “utterly astounded”. They were beside themselves, completely amazed. Mark doesn’t recount any command from the Lord in stilling the sea. As a matter fact, none of the gospels recount the Lord speaking to the wind or sea as He did in a previous crossing. (See Signs and Mighty Works of Jesus #12 – Jesus Calms a Storm). No command for nature to calm down, to settle down, to quit raging!

But that doesn’t mean He didn’t address a storm. For you see, the topic of overcoming fear is a recurring theme of this miracle. Fear of the storm, fear of a ghost the disciples thought they saw, Peter’s fear of sinking. In the midst of an incredibly fierce storm, Jesus provided relief for His disciples, not by calming the storm on the sea, but by instruction to the disciples to understand who He was.

He told His disciple to not be afraid due to His presence.

Matthew 14:27 …“Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”

Mark 6:50 …“Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”

John 6:20 ….“It is I; do not be afraid.”

This approach to the miracle helps me to understand the last phrase Mark adds to this miracle.

Mark 6:52 for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.

Their fear was based on not catching the message of the feeding of the five thousand. If Jesus could provide for the five thousand, could He not protect His disciples? Did the disciples still not catch who they were hanging out with? Even after the storm calmed down, the disciples were amazed, utterly astounded, because they didn’t catch the intended message of the feeding of the five thousand.

Matthew closes the description of this miracle with the disciples worshipping Him, claiming He is the Son of God!

What is the message for us today?

If you are a new believer, you will see the Lord come to your aid in many wonderful, exciting and various ways. Many times as a young believer, the Lord performed acts of mercy toward yours truly that were intended to give me understanding of who my Savior is. Too few times, I got the message. I hope I am catching the message better as I mature.

If you are a maturing believer, recount the times when the Lord fed your five thousand, when He proved Himself in your past. Translate that message into whatever situation you find yourself in presently.

There is no guarantee the situation will change, just like the storm didn’t cease immediately for the disciples, yet if we understand who He is, another storm may just quit raging!

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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 Feeds 5,000

Matthew 14:13-21

Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” And he said, “Bring them here to me.” Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Mark 6:30-44

The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?” And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.

Luke 9:10-17

On their return the apostles told him all that they had done. And he took them and withdrew apart to a town called Bethsaida. When the crowds learned it, they followed him, and he welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom of God and cured those who had need of healing. Now the day began to wear away, and the twelve came and said to him, “Send the crowd away to go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and get provisions, for we are here in a desolate place.” But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish–unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.” For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” And they did so, and had them all sit down. And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing over them. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.

John 6:1-15

After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

General Observations

This miracle is recounted in all of the gospels, and as such we have much to consider as we venture through the texts. The passage speaks of supply in the face of want, of the patience of the Master as He seeks some down time, of the disciples riding high on a recent victory. This passage has it all, and hopefully we can find a small nugget of truth that will give us guidance for the day.

Questions to Consider

Who were the audience?

Those who witnessed this miracle were those who actively participated in the work, that is the disciples, along with those who passively participated, by consuming food until they were satisfied.

Regarding the number in the crowd, the gospels tell us of five thousand men, along with women and children. Of the number of women and children, some have suggested an equal number of women (as wives) and an even greater number of children, since the assumption is that family units were present. This may be so, and if so, the volume of the audience fed that day could be as high as twenty thousand.

Since this was the time of the festivals, as John 6:4 describes, it may be that the crowd consisted primarily of men, since festival attendance was required of the males only (Deuteronomy 16:16).

No matter the number, whether five thousand or twenty thousand, the audience was huge and this miracle stands out as a well known work of God, that had somewhat surprising results.

When did the Lord perform this mighty work?

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

It is good to remember some of the happenings just prior to this miracle, and the reason Jesus sought solitude. John the Baptist had just been martyred, and this not only reinforced the obvious course of the Messiah’s ministry and life, but indicated a step closer to the inevitable confrontation with the powers that be.

The disciples had also just returned from their first missionary journey with tales of victory, and Jesus may have sought a time of reflection and review with the disciples.

Beyond both of these pivotal occurrences, Mark 6:31 simply states that the Lord sought some relief from the constant “coming and going” of the masses. He simply wanted a break.

Fat chance that was gonna happen!

Where did the Lord perform this mighty work?

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

Mark 6:32 speaks of the Master and His disciples heading to a desolate place for rest, while Luke 9:10 speaks of the town called Bethsaida.

Bethsaida is an interesting little town, in that Jesus included it with the town of Chorazin when He condemned the people of the region for their rejection of His ministry.

Matthew 11:21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

It is reported that the town/village of Bethsaida was abandoned in 65 AD due to the advance of the Roman armies. It is no longer a populated area.

Bethsaida is also referenced in John 1:44 as the hometown of Peter Andrew and Philip.

John 1:44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.

Grassy plain of Bethsaida

There is some debate amongst scholars and archeologist as to whether Bethsaida was on the shore of Galilee or approx. 6 miles inland (as the map above indicates). For our purposes in this post, let us understand the miracle occurred outside of the town, on a grassy solitary place.

Why did the Lord perform this mighty work?

As with the last miracle, Jesus saw the great crowd and had compassion on them. They were like sheep without a shepherd. Out of this compassion, the Lord began to teach them many things. (The miracle of the feeding was, humanly speaking, an afterthought.)

Consider the compassion of the Lord, as He recognized them as shepherdless sheep, and that He began to teach, even though He sought solitude. Even as the disciples realized the lateness of the day, and was advising the Lord to “send them away”, He wouldn’t abandon the crowd. Remember – He originally came to this desolate place to find some quiet, and to reconnect with the disciples.

Something else may be going on here that is not explicitly said within the text. The disciples had just returned from a victorious missionary journey. Tasks assigned during this journey included preaching the kingdom of God, healing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing lepers, and driving out demons. (see Matthew 10:8). They had just returned from exercising authority over sickness, demons and death!

Could they not feed a few hungry souls?

But alas, the Lord’s patience is present with His people, though we are such slow learners. He took what the disciples provided to Him and multiplied the scraps to feed multitudes. I suppose He was not only teaching the multitudes, but also His disciples by the actions He continually performed in front of them!

He is the Great Teacher!

What was the message for the original audience?

For the crowds, they received a meal from a miracle working preacher, after He taught the crowd of the kingdom of God. I am curious what the Lord taught, but would not be surprised if He didn’t provide instruction on the temporariness of a meal. But that is my imagination running away with the story!

The crowds may have seen the miracle, or they may not have. Over five thousand men would have created a distance that may have restricted many from seeing how this food was provided. Complete conjecture on my part, but one thing is certain, in that when Jesus raised His eyes to heaven and said a blessing, He did so to honor and thank His heavenly Father.

For the disciples, the message was somewhat different. I like what the Lord said in Matthew 14:16

“They need not go away; you give them something to eat.”

I can just imagine the thoughts running through the disciples minds. Just as they recounted their successful missionary journey, they were being challenged to provide food for multitudes. This wasn’t part of the program – Jesus spoke of glamorous healings, and sensational raising’s of the dead. Producing food for irritating crowds had not been in the original instruction from the Lord! What’s worse – after they abdicated their ability to produce the food, (which I fully understand!), they were each assigned the task of a waiter and table cleanup for the masses. This was definitely a drop in status.

Also, it would be so good to hear the inflection of the disciples voice when they brought the loaves and fish to Jesus. Do you suppose the disciples came to the Lord with someone’s lunch, with a hopeless, “what can we do” attitude? I know that is my first response to a seemingly impossible request from the Lord.

Could the message for the disciples be somewhat different than what I first imagined when I approched this miracle? Could it include a realignment for the disciples thinking, an effort to bring them back down to earth, in that they still had so much to learn?

What is the message for us today?

Be prepared to be stretched.

Personally, I have been in a bit of a holding pattern recently, and as you may see, the emphasis of the passage is speaking of being stretched, used and entering new areas of service that may not be comfortable. New ventures that may be at first areas of failure, yet the Lord is ever patient with His people, and His mercy teaches us that He will be there for us as we seek Him. He is the Great Teacher!

Be prepared to learn

And we claim to be the students, the disciples as we Christians call ourselves. To be a disciple is to be a learner, but do you feel you have learned it all, that you are fully instructed in the ways of the Lord, that you are a guide to the blind and teacher of the ignorant?

Hold up a bit my friend, for this type of pride has caused me more harm than good. As a matter of fact, I can’t recall any good that it has provided to anyone!

Be prepared to be corrected, to be reproved, to come down a notch, to wait on tables even though you have recently moved a mountain. Be a good student, and as you seek Him, some humble pie may need to be consumed!

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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 an Invalid at Bethesda

John 5:1-17

After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids–blind, lame, and paralyzed. waiting for the moving of the water; for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool, and stirred the water: whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was healed of whatever disease he had  One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.”  And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath.  So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.”  But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’”  They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?”  Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place.  Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.” The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him.  And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.  But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”

General Observations

Five roofed colonnades over the pool? Is it not curious that John speaks of five covered areas? In my research, I found an explanation at www.biblicalarchaeology.org

…the Bethesda Pool is described as having five porticoes—a puzzling feature suggesting an unusual five-sided pool, which most scholars dismissed as an unhistorical literary creation. Yet when this site was excavated, it revealed a rectangular pool with two basins separated by a wall—thus a five-sided pool—and each side had a portico.

This detail is one that has been used to attack the accuracy of the Scriptures over the ages. You see, no archeologist had identified this pool of Bethesda until the early 19th century. Critics assumed that someone other than John wrote the gospel centuries after the destruction of Jerusalem, supposedly describing the surroundings without ever seeing them. Once again, the critic is proven wrong! Truly, the Scriptures are constantly being verified by archeology, and provides us with a constant reminder of the fact of Jesus and His disciples walked amongst the citizens of Israel, even amongst the poorest and weakest.

This pool was called Bethesda, which means a house of mercy, or a house of kindness. With the pool designated as a “house of mercy” so close to the temple, it may speak of the spiritual temperature of the city of Jerusalem. So much suffering so close to God’s house. Many of the most religious adherents attending the temple, along with those ministering in the temple, must surely have known of this pool, and of those in need.

Questions to Consider

Who were the audience?

Every sick person in the pool witnessed this miracle. The audience was the many who had come to the pool for relief, for healing, who needed a miracle. Yet only the invalid in our passage received assistance, and not because of any great faith or virtue, but simply out of mercy. Simply out of compassion.

Verse 10 tells us that “the Jews” were present. Were they there to minister to the sick, elderly and infirmed? Did they bring hot meals to them during lunchtime? Nothing is stated regarding these acts of mercy, but they were keen to inform this newly walking un-invalid that he was breaking the Sabbath.

How utterly amazing to see a religious person ignore the work of God in order to enforce the word of man. Carrying a bed as an affront to God? How could anyone justify this as wrong? Yet the guardians of God and His temple found a way to exercise power over their flock by providing rules rules rules.

But I am getting ahead of myself!

When did the Lord perform this mighty work?

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

Recently, I published a post on this miracle from the standpoint of the timing of the miracle. Jesus on the Sabbath – Part 15 – Equal with God. It may be of interest for those who want to consider this miracle as it relates to the Sabbath.

Where did the Lord perform this mighty work?

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

The pool was located north of the temple, and it’s association with the sheep gate provides a hint as to it’s purpose for the temple. Could it have been a source of water to purify sacrificial sheep, prior to being offered in the temple? Some archeologists and Bible scholars believe this pool was a Jewish bath for worshippers to achieve ritual purity, but with the rumor of healings being available at the pool, all those who were in need of a miracle flocked to the pool.

Why did the Lord perform this mighty work?

Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time. Jesus determined this man would be healed, simply based out of compassion for this man who had been crippled for almost four decades. Four decades!

Jesus asked what seemed to be a foolish question. Do you want to be healed? Considering that the man was waiting for the stirring of the water and that legend spoke of the healing of the waters, it seemed to be obvious that the man wanted to be healed, but was simply unable to get to the pool.

As we read the passage, we find that this simple question was not answered directly. The man did not answer the question, request any assistance from Jesus, but simply provided the Master a reason he had not experienced any healing. He was at the pool, but had no ability to take advantage of any possible healing.

John 5:8 Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.”

Am I right in thinking that Jesus’ response indicates a bit of impatience, a bit of frustration with this invalid? Is that fair? Jesus had been performing miracles throughout Israel, and often we hear of those witnessing the Lord’s works as spreading the news of this miracle worker far and wide. This miracle alone was not the first in Jerusalem, and His fame was spreading like wildfire. I will leave it to the reader to consider the situation, and of Jesus’ tone of voice as He responds to the invalid.

In defense of the invalid, we have to remember that he had been an invalid for close to forty years, and we don’t know how long he had visited the pool. Sure there was a miracle worker in Israel, yet why would anyone care for an old invalid man who had been forgotten by so many?

What was the message for the original audience?

For the invalid, the message was simple. Get up. Pick up your bed. Walk. All three commands were obeyed and the invalid received his miracle.

For those at the pool who were still in need, they had seen the Messiah perform a healing which indicated the Hope of Israel had arrived. The physical healing was a signpost for others to understand Who had arrived. Healing everyone would not have accomplished anything greater than what occurred that day. As a matter of fact, it may have simply redirected the focus from Him. This was a constant concern of the Messiah, that those who came to Him simply wanted their immediate needs addressed.

For those Jews who had been watching Jesus, this miracle sparked active persecution towards Jesus.

John 5:16 And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.

For the Jewish leadership, directing the invalid to carry his bed on the Sabbath became the straw that broke the camels back. This was too much for them. Could Jesus have simply told the invalid to get up and walk away? Sure. But He didn’t. Would this have created an equal reaction from the Jewish leadership? We may never know, but I think you can know what I think!

The miracle should have been understood differently. Jesus directed an invalid, whom He healed, to carry his bed on the Sabbath. The miracle of healing should have indicated to the Jews that Jesus was from God, but they had already determined that His source of authority came from the enemy. (See the previous post – Signs and Mighty Works of Jesus #17 – Jesus Heals a Man Unable to Speak)

Now, in their minds, He was openly disobeying the rules set up by men in order to properly obey God. A rebel, an enemy of the establishment, a preacher that would not conform to their demands. But why should He conform to their demand, for He is Lord of the Sabbath, the One who established the nation of Israel and provided the ordinances, laws and ceremonies they lived by.

He is the Authority that is greater than any law they sought to obey.

What is the message for us today?

Jesus healed this invalid, though the invalid did not express any faith in Him, request any assistance or even acknowledge who He was. The invalid couldn’t even identify the One who healed him to the Jewish authorities. Jesus actually withdrew into the crowd (vs 13) after the healing. If there is ever a miracle that would satisfy our modern need for instantaneous satisfaction, this is the one.

In this miracle, this quick, instantaneous and sudden miracle working on this unknown invalid, Jesus exhibited Himself as Lord. We must allow Him to be who He is. He may, at His discretion, have compassion on any sinner or saint, whether famous or unknown, rich or poor, wise or foolish, young or old, full of faith or without belief, at any time, for any reason, without warning, and without hesitation.

His miracles, if understood properly, point to His person, to His relation to the Father and His authority over all of creation. Some miracles may occur during your walk with the Lord, and may I suggest that a proper understanding of them is critical to appreciate the wonder of the One providing the miracle.

Acts of mercy are, by their very nature undeserved, and if you are blessed in receiving a miracle in this life, consider Who it is that touched your life. Focus on the miracle provider and not on the miracle provided. Filter the fact of the miracle through the character of our Messiah.

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 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 Unable to Speak

Matthew 9:32-34

As they were going away, behold, a demon-oppressed man who was mute was brought to him.  And when the demon had been cast out, the mute man spoke. And the crowds marveled, saying, “Never was anything like this seen in Israel.” But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the prince of demons.”

General Observations

We have been in Mathew for a series of miracles and it may be profitable to recount the work of Jesus up to this point, at least from Matthews standpoint. Previous to this miracle, Jesus has

• Healed a woman of a blood disease
• Raised a 12 year old girl from the dead
• Given two blind men sight

Given our last mighty work of Jesus as providing sight to blind men, it is interesting to compare the two miracles and their recipients. 

What actually was this fellows physical disability? Of course, the source of the mute man’s condition was the demon oppression, which Jesus addressed in this miracle. Yet to get a feel of this man’s existence, it is worth considering the world he lived in. The term describing this man brought to Jesus is the Greek word kōphos κόπτω (G2875), and includes the idea of deafness. Although this passage describes the man as unable to speak, the term may also include the inability to hear. If so, consider this poor man’s condition.

If deaf and mute, he was in a world where communication was limited to hand gestures, or facial expressions. Understanding the simplest message was fraught with confusion. Remember, the skill of reading and writing was not as widespread as it is today, and we may safely assume this skill was not available to this poor soul. Given this, he lived in a world of silence, restricted of any method of communication to those around him. His thoughts were his and his alone, and the privilege of sharing with another person the joys or sorrows of this life were unavailable to him. He experienced a loneliness many have never entered into.

If only mute, this condition is not much better, since he may hear a message, yet not be able to communicate his thoughts or feelings fully. This, in my opinion, would be incredibly frustrating, since I am a fairly opinionated fella!

Questions to Consider

Who were the audience?

Those who brought the mute man. (I am assuming more than one person brought him.) These folk who brought him had heard of Jesus, and may have seen the miracles. But nothing is said of those who brought him to Jesus. They are not the focus of this miracle.

As a matter of fact, nothing is said of the mute man, other than his demon oppression and of his cure. He is a “silent” witness in all of this – no pun intended!

Two main groups are spoken of in the recounting of this miracle.

The Crowd

The crowd marveled, saying “Never was anything like this seen in Israel.” To be marveled was to be amazed, to be cast into wonder. This crowd may very well be made of many in Capernaum that had seen many of Jesus’ miracles so far, yet this one amazed them. At no time does Matthew inform us of the mute man or his friend(s) requesting a healing. (Granted – they may have and Matthew simply doesn’t record it!) Yet the absence of the request allows me to think Jesus may have addressed this man’s disability without request.

Just healing a mute man for the sake of those in attendance? For the Pharisees possibly? Remember that at this time, the Pharisees are tagging behind the Lord to determine if He truly is a charlatan or the real McCoy!

A miracle for the Pharisees? Interesting possibility!

The Pharisees

Consider the progression Matthew gives us in this chapter, regarding the Pharisees attitude toward the Messiah. Initially, the Pharisees accused Him in their hearts of blasphemy in Matthew 9:3.

Matthew 9:3 And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.”

Then the Pharisees breach the subject of besmirching the Lord’s character with the disciples in Matthew 9:11.

Matthew 9:11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

Finally, with the healing of this mute man, the Pharisees come out with their current judgement against the Master and His ministry.

Matthew 9:34 ESV – But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the prince of demons.”

This is the first time this judgement on the Lord’s ministry is delivered to the masses, but Matthew will inform us later that the Pharisees maintained this strategy to defame the Lord.

Matthew 12:24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.”

(I have considered this passage previously in a post called Book Look – Heaven’s Doors – Unpardonable Sin.)

At this point in the Lord’s ministry, and due to this mute man being healed, the Pharisees reveal their opinion of the Messiah to the masses and set themselves on a collision course with God and His Messiah.

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?

As mentioned above, the Pharisees had seen enough, and publicly gave a judgement against the Lord, informing the crowd of their determination of His source of power. It is quite humorous (if it wasn’t so tragic) that given the proofs of His person, those most qualified to determine His identity would be so far off in their judgement! Yet we must admit that good religion has to rejects Jesus. This miracle provides a perfect example of how religious pride breeds a rejection of the only true God.

Jealousy and pride may be found in every religion, and sad to say, even within Christianity – or should I say Christendom? Denominational claims of superiority over other groups of believers is a blight that hurts the church constantly.

What was the message for the original audience?

The message to the original audience?

It was, for the crowd, a message of amazement, a message that this itinerant preacher was constantly astounding those who came to Him. He performed mighty works that had not been seen before, and the multitude of various and diverse disabilities brought to Him did not limit His abilities to heal.

For the Pharisees, the message was received with mockery, disdain and disbelief, producing a verdict associating the Judge of all the earth as being in cahoots with the His arch enemy. Consider this reaction by the Pharisees. It is illogical, due to their pride twisting a normal thought process upside down, eliminating a thoughtful conclusion. Pride forces, against all proofs, a ridiculous conclusion that brings pain and sorrow on the ones living in that pride. Pride truly goes before destruction!

What is the message for us today?

Two reactions to the Lord’s ministry is provided for us in this mighty work.

Amazement

As those in the crowd, we may experience amazement over His grace to all in need, even to those who have no faith, as this mute man brought by his friends seems to exhibit. Each of the miracles, and each of His messages, should produce a level of amazement in our hearts. He is beyond our understanding, and this is good to remember. When He becomes like you and I in our thoughts, and we see Him as we see ourselves, we lose.

Pride

As for the reaction of the Pharisees, as believers, we are to remember that pride is the death knell of the Christian life. Pride of religious association brought the Pharisees to an erroneous conclusion concerning the identity of their Messiah. You see, the Pharisees “knew” they were right and looked down on those who were the unwashed. They were the righteous ones, the ones “in the know”, the only ones with truth, and as the pure and wise arbiters of truth for the theocracy of Israel, felt they had to protect their sheep and make a public judgement against Jesus.

Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

As we have seen in this miracle, one of the fallouts of religious pride is a rebellion against God and His Messiah. This religious rebellion produces many toxins within the Body of Christ, one of which is division within the Body.

Paul saw the damage of pride in the body when he wrote to the Corinthians. Consider his appeal to the Corinthians when he writes of their allegiance and pride of association to multiple parties in the church. He is shocked by the tribalism of the Corinthian church, and seeks an agreement of mind and judgement.

It may be wise to consider any attitude we may harbor toward other Christian groups, denominations, churches, associations and such, for if we judge our group to be superior to others, we may have fallen into the Pharisee trap.

It didn’t turn out well for them, for the very nation they thought they were protecting became the very nation that had one generation left before destruction. The Pharisees, fueled by religious pride, brought destruction to the nation that they were tasked to protect.

As a tonic to this toxin, consider Micah’s admonition for our final application out of todays miracle, for I fear our modern church, consisting of the modern Christian, finds the Pharisee trap very appealing for their religious life.

Micah 6:8

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your 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 Two Blind Men

Matthew 9:27-31

And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.” When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.” Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith be it done to you.” And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, “See that no one knows about it.” But they went away and spread his fame through all that district.

General Observations

This miracle comes on the heels of our previous miracle of the raising of the 12 year old girl. Let’s recount the day Jesus was experiencing

• A storm on the sea
• A calming of the storm
• Pigs in the lake
• Rejection by the people of the decapolis
• Travel across the sea again
• Jairus begging for help
• A woman claiming a healing
• A raising of the 12 year old girl
• Now – healing of the two blind men.

Quite the day!

Again, Jesus instructs the recipients of a miracle to not publish the effects of His power on their lives. In our modern culture of media attempts to grab our attention, Jesus restricts that option. Do not speak of this miracle. See that no one know about it!

This is so counterintuitive, and even as we spoke in our last blog post, the miracle is not the focus, it is still astounding that this was the only command Jesus gave these two blind men. And this command was sternly given. Jesus was not suggesting the blind men consider His suggestion. No – the command was sternly required of the blind men.

Questions to Consider

Who were the audience?

Whatever house Jesus entered (most likely Peter’s) restricted those who witnessed this miracle. Jesus and the two blind men were the only ones called out specifically in the text. Might the disciples have been included, along with the owner of the house?

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?

This is another time when Jesus was requested to do the impossible, and He provided.

Might the fact that the blind men referred to Jesus as the Son of David play a part in the reception of this healing. Might this provide some insight as to what is going on between the Lord and the blind men?

Let’s take a look at an Old Testament promise to get some background

2 Samuel 7:12-13

When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.
He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

This “son” of David, since His throne was to be forever, was widely considered by the Jewish nation to refer to the Messiah. David’s Son would reign forever. To call Jesus the “Son of David” was to ascribe to Him the office of Messiah.

Obviously every human son of David had failed at establishing an eternal throne, and this included some truly great kings, such as Asa, Jehoshaphat, Uzziah, and Hezekiah. To be called the Son of David, was to claim a very specific faith in this man called Jesus.

To be called the “Son of David” also had political overtones, and by this time in the Lord’s ministry, the powers that be were already dogging the Lord. Minimizing additional fodder for the press may have been the reason for waiting to address the blind men until in the house, as opposed amongst the crowds.

What was the message for the original audience?

Let’s remember that the blind men began this request calling aloud, for all to hear, requesting the Son of David to have mercy on them. Everyone would hear this cry for help. Eventually Jesus isolated these men in a home and He challenged them to understand their confession of Him as the Son of David.

Do you believe that I am able to do this?

When you call me Son of David, there are implications associated with this claim. Do you believe this Son of David is able? Jesus didn’t ask them if He would perform the miracle, but if he could perform the miracle! I believe this is a distinction we may miss as we walk with Him, but we will get to that in the next section. For now, the focus is on the blind men, and their ability to see that their public identification of Jesus as the Son of David carried with it great baggage.

To establish a throne for ever, as Nathan the prophet spoke to David, implied a kingdom of righteousness, of no degradation of sin, of no slippage away from the God of Israel, of complete and exact compliance with the nature and character of God. In other words, this Son of David would have to be God Himself to be able to establish an eternal throne.

The blind men confessed they understood what they understood.

“According to your faith be it done to you.”

This faith, that is that Jesus was the Messiah, is what was being clarified by the Lord. He wanted to get a clear understanding of what the blind men understood when they called out “Son of David”. Based on this understanding, this miracle was provided, along with some possible associated fallout. This possible fallout may include additional persecution of the Jewish leadership in investigating this miracle.

Let’s remember that to restore the sight of a blind man was a clarion call to the Jewish leadership for some examination. No prophet in the Old Testament had healed a blind man, although we have recounts of prophets raising the dead. Compared to raising the dead, blindness was the greater (or should I say rarer) accomplishment! One of many passages claiming who can open the eyes of the blind include Psalm 146:8.

the LORD opens the eyes of the blind. The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down; the LORD loves the righteous.

The leadership would have to examine the miracle, and admit that a true miracle had occurred. This must have been galling to the leadership, since by now, their opinion of Jesus was becoming hardened into a fixed judgement against Him.

And yet Jesus sternly commanded the blind men to

See that no one knows about it.

Was Jesus exhibiting a reluctance to get the Jewish leadership involved? That was too late. The Jewish leadership had been examining the Master’s movements and miracles since the cleansing of the man with leprosy. (See Signs and Mighty Works of Jesus #7 – Jesus Cleanses a Man With Leprosy)

This “stern command’ sounds familiar though. When dealing with the leper, he had also “sternly charged” him with silence.

Mark 1:43 And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once,

He had spoken likewise to the leper, and instructed him to only provide evidence of the healing to the priests. No command to show the priest was included in the command to the blind men, for the priests were already on Jesus trail, watching His every move.

But let us not think this command was a suggestion, allowing the blind men to consider it and make a decision to lightly ignore it. This was not the intent of the command. To sternly charge was a serious matter, and carried with it a sense of anger.

Yet, the blind men did what they wanted to do. Somewhat like our modern belief system. (As an aside, a great song depicting this attitude may be found here) They simply spread His fame throughout all the district. But this was not what the Lord wanted! This was not to be done!

What is the message for us today?

Can He?

Jesus asked the blind men if He was able to have mercy on them. He did not ask them of his desires, or of His opinion, or of what the weather was like? The question was “Do you believe the Son of David is able to heal the blind?

The question was regarding strength, skill, power. The ability to perform something no one else had ever performed. Jesus didn’t ask them of His feelings toward them, or of His schedule, or of anything else.

The question centered on the blind men’s belief of Jesus ability!

Ability is the general word for a capacity to do something. It may imply that the work will be done, or can be done, but not necessarily. The Lord asked the blind men of His ability to perform a miracle. A safe assumption by this time, was that Jesus would perform a miracle. It had become evident that He was filled with compassion and the previous few minutes with the woman and Jairus’ daughter had proven His willingness to heal.

But blindness? That was a big one. If He could, He would. But could He?

What big hurdle are you facing today? What question is Jesus asking you today, to stretch your faith, to refocus on Him, to put into practice the claim we have made, that He is the Son of David and that He is ruling an eternal kingdom, granting citizenship to all those who follow.

What hurdle are you facing my friend?

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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 Jairus’ Daughter to Life

Matthew 9:18, 23-26

While he was saying these things to them, behold, a ruler came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.”….And when Jesus came to the ruler’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, he said, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. And the report of this went through all that district.

Mark 5:21-24, 35-43

And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet and implored him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” And he went with him. And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him…….While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler’s house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.

Luke 8:40-42, 49-56

Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. And there came a man named Jairus, who was a ruler of the synagogue. And falling at Jesus’ feet, he implored him to come to his house, for he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying. As Jesus went, the people pressed around him.  …… While he was still speaking, someone from the ruler’s house came and said, “Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the Teacher any more.” But Jesus on hearing this answered him, “Do not fear; only believe, and she will be well.” And when he came to the house, he allowed no one to enter with him, except Peter and John and James, and the father and mother of the child. And all were weeping and mourning for her, but he said, “Do not weep, for she is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. But taking her by the hand he called, saying, “Child, arise.” And her spirit returned, and she got up at once. And he directed that something should be given her to eat. And her parents were amazed, but he charged them to tell no one what had happened.

Questions to Consider

Notice the last line in the telling of this miracle.

he charged them to tell no one what had happened

How could the Lord expect this miracle to be unnoticed? The mourners were whining and crying, making a ruckus, informing the whole neighborhood of a death at the house. The parents, along with the three disciples had seen the miracle before their very eyes. Everyone would be shocked when the little girl walked out of the room! And the Lord charged them to tell no one what had happened?

But an even bigger question is – Why not publish this miracle far and wide? Why minimize the impact of the eye witness account? Let’s address this question after we look at the miracle in these three passages.

Who were the audience?

Those in attendance for this miracle are clearly defined in our text.

And when he came to the house, he allowed no one to enter with him, except Peter and John and James, and the father and mother of the child.

In our earlier post on the woman with the issue of blood, I suggested that she may be the mother of this girl within this recounting. If my suggestion is true, (which is only a suggestion, mind you) the woman who had been healed may have raced home to see her daughter. Mark 5:37 states Jesus

…allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James.

Yet obviously Jairus was allowed to follow since he had been addressed by the Master just the verse before.

One alternative for the presence of the woman was that she simply followed the Master to the home, as Jairus did, without the apostles referring to them.

The suggestion adds a layer of intensity to the miracle, as if the raising of a child from death is not enough! Yet it appeals to my curiosity, and the possibility of this “coincidence” only suggests that the Lord looks not only to heal individuals, but also to heal families.

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?

Jairus asked Him to heal the synagogue leader’s daughter. Jesus did more than He was asked for. Reminds me of a passage somewhere in the New Testament, describing God….

 who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us

What was the message for the original audience?

Jesus made a number of statements in this miracle, that would serve us well to consider.

Do Not Fear – Mk 5:36

But every witness and all appearances provided the fact that the daughter was dead. There was nothing left to fear. Sorrow, anger, depression – yes all this was crashing down on the father and mother. But the fear they had over the death of the little girl had been realized. How confusing for the father and mother to hear this message!

Only Believe – Mk 5:36

Believe what? The father had come to the Teacher, in hopes of a healing, of Him providing health to a sick but still breathing little girl. Once the breathing stopped, once the heart had quit, there was no earthly reason to continue to believe. It was over. There was no use in continuing to look to the Teacher for His help.

This is not the message Jesus presented to the mother and father. He is not limited by death, and in the face of an impossibility, Jesus exhorted Jairus to only continue in his previous faith, that is in the faith that drew him to the Teacher. Jesus wanted them to trust the Teacher, and not look at the situation. Faith in Him is to be continuous, in the midst of seeming impossibilities. (Easy to say my friends!)

Only believe – what an incredible thing to say to this family that had lost their little girl. As with the next three statements, Jesus shocked all who witnessed this miracle. Not only was the miracle itself shocking, everything He did was unexpected

• His direction to empty the room but for a few.
• His denial of the obvious death of the little girl.
• His confidence in His abilities to perform the impossible.
• His seemingly ignoring of the voice of the multitude.

Why are you making a commotion and weeping? Mk 5:39

The girl was dead. The common practice of the Jewish culture was loud moaning and weeping upon the death of a loved one. If the family had a bit of money, they would hire mourners to raise the volume of the grief. Loud cries of grief alerted the neighborhood of a recent death. Everyone knew it, and the mourning was simply a result of a fact everyone knew. Except for Jesus.

The child is not dead but sleeping. Mk 5:39

She is dead, and everyone in the room knows it, but not according to Jesus. She is merely sleeping. Yet, is Jesus simply renaming the state of death as sleep? Is He saying something other than the obvious?

Multiple instances in the New Testament, the reference to death is couched in the terminology of sleep. When we think of death it is without hope of returning, but when we think of sleep, the morning always comes.

This little 12 year old woke up, simply by having Jesus tell her to.

Little girl, I say to you, arise. Mk 5:41

It is interesting that in this and Lazarus’ raising, Jesus was careful to identify the subject who would rise from the dead. Even with the nameless widow of Nain, Jesus focused his word to the “young man”. See Signs and Mighty Works of Jesus #11 – Jesus Raises a Widow’s Son in Nain

I once heard that if Jesus hadn’t directed His command to rise to a specific person, all the dead would rise. But it wasn’t time for that to happen yet. But give Him time. He will yet call the dead from their graves.

As an aside, it is amazing in my mind to consider what the Lord did after this command. He instructed the witnesses to do two things, that is to feed the little girl, and to not tell anyone what had happened.

This may be a partial reason Jesus told the crowd that she was asleep. Those who wanted to believe, or should I say were believers already, would continue, but those who were there only for the eye candy, for the thrill of the moment, could have reason to dismiss this miracle. Jesus was allowing for some commitment to be realized in the believers minds, to believe the Messiah and not the opinion of others.

What is the message for us today?

The message for us today? This miracle is pregnant with application, from the Lord’s concern for the family unit, (if my assumption is true!) to the Lord’s command over time. What?

Time

Yes, His command over time is a very real truth that pops out of this miracle. He took time to heal a woman with the issue of blood, and yet this decision did not restrict the Teacher from accomplishing His original task. He simply did what we consider impossible.

A friend once asked me to find everywhere in the New Testament where Jesus ran. You know, where Jesus was in a hurry, or was running late. Dang it all for the time I spent looking, but I couldn’t find a place where Jesus was “late” for anything.

This miracle speaks to His schedule being per the Spirit, and that He simply looked to the Spirit as opposed to His watch. (I know I know – No watches, but it would simply be corny to refer to his wrist sundial!) He is not controlled by time, nor does the effects of time hinder Him from His goals.

Try to understand. The effects of a time delay of His late arrival, that is her death, did not hinder Him from His original goal of healing her. This microcosm of truth, if expanded to each of our lives holds great promise, for we all have things in our past that are regretful, painful, and unchangeable. The facts do not change, as the little girl actually died, but the Messiah took a painful, terminal situation and brought something truly incredible out of it.

Tell no one

Earlier I had raised the question regarding those who witnessed the miracle as not to tell anyone what had happened. I hinted that this was a separating of those who believed from those who mocked the Lord, ridiculing Him as He spoke of her being asleep. In my world, if I had performed a miracle like this after being laughed at, I would have done the old “I told you so” to those who laughed at me. I know – that is infantile, but that little child still lives in me!

Not so for the Lord. Yes, those who laughed at Him would get precious little information from the witnesses, and that may have a sense of justice about it, but we must remember, all of these miracles are not about the recipient, or the method of the miracle, or any such thing like that. The purpose of the miracle is to identify Who this teacher was.

Who was this itinerant preacher walking with some fishermen and tax collectors?

He is the reason the miracle was provided, and to draw attention to the miracle would remove the focus on Him. In my feeble mind, I see miracles as an act of mercy from the Lord, as a provision from God to get our focus on the Messiah. In our twisted thinking sometimes, we too often focus on the miracle. This ought not to be.

He is the reason miracles are possible, miracles are not an end to themselves. Miracles are provided for four reasons as I understand. See our first post Signs and Mighty Works of Jesus – Introduction for this list. Each of these reasons are to direct our attention to Him, not the miracle.

Resurrection

The daughter was resuscitated. She would eventually pass away, and face death again. Yet this is not the condition of the saint. Resurrection, not resuscitation awaits the saint. In my busy day, I so often forget that this life is but a breath, and resurrection is awaiting this ol’ fool. But again, this is our future miracle, and great as this miracle is, let it not distract us from the One whom we shall approach.

He is the focus and be all of our meager lives. Seek Him this day, and find One who is over time, over death, and over circumstances.

He is the Lord of Glory. He is good, and He loves us. Even in the details of providing food for the little girl! He is good!

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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