The Works of God

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.  Matthew 20:30-34

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. Luke 18:36-43

Let us ask God for what we need!  And then let us trust that he knows what is best.

Sometimes, God will give us something even better than what we ask for, like his grace and power in the midst of our suffering rather than lifting the suffering itself:

So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.  2 Corinthians 12:7-10

 And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, for she said to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.” Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well. Matthew 9:20-22

 And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognized him 55 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. Mark 6:55-56

We don’t get to touch Jesus.  But Jesus himself said it was good for him to leave for a time:

Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.  John 16:7

And we are indeed helped in this present age full of grief:

More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Romans 5:3-5

Someday, we will get to be with him!

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.” Revelation 21:3

Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” 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.” Matthew 11:2-6

And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’” In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight.  And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”  Luke 7:20-23

Some people are embarrassed to talk about the healing miracles of Jesus, preferring to emphasize the sermon on the mount or other aspects of his earthly ministry.

I’m happy to talk about those things, but I’m also happy to talk about the healing miracles!  And it appears Jesus wanted us to know that telling the story of his acts of mercy would be helpful to others getting a full understanding of who he is: the very Son of God.

And even talking about healing could get Jesus into enough trouble that people wanted to kill him!

(Jesus said,) “And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff.  But passing through their midst, he went away.  Luke 4:27-30

The full account of Naaman’s cleansing can be found in 2 Kings 5.  It is one of my favorite stories in the Bible, and I come back to it often.

I love 2 Kings 5 because I was Naaman (and you probably were as well) – proud, violent, quick to take offense, idol worshipper, not a natural member of the people of Israel.  Yet God, in his kindness, freely gave this unrighteous man a gift.  And that resulted in this glorious statement from Naaman’s lips:

Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel (2 Kings 5:15).

And that is what made them so angry at Jesus, this acknowledgment that even people like us could be freely cleansed by God.

To God be the glory!

Jesus chose to heal some people through touch:

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.  Matthew 9:28-30

Now Simon’s mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her.  And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them. Mark 1:30-31

And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. Mark 1:40-42

That last one is particularly incredible – Jesus touched a leper!  He didn’t need to, but he did.  Jesus was always demonstrating that there is a way to do things that shows God is merciful and glorious.

There are accounts where Jesus healed everyone brought to him:

And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them.  Matthew 4:23-24

And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. Matthew 9:35

But he didn’t always do so:

In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.  John 5:4-5

Jesus’ ministry on earth defies easy description.  But we know he freely did all that the Father asked him to do.  Including dying.

Psalm 71:19-21

Your righteousness, O God, reaches the high heavens.

You who have done great things, O God, who is like you?

You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again.

You will increase my greatness and comfort me again.

Psalm 113:5-8

Who is like the Lord our God, who is seated on high, who looks far down on the heavens and the earth?

He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people.

Isaiah 45:5-7

I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other.

I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the Lord, who does all these things.

I was feeling down on Paul’s birthday, not unexpectedly.

And Dianne gently and kindly suggested with think on this blessing, adapted from Ephesians 3:14-19:

It was on a bookmark given to the 1st Grade Sunday School workers at Bethlehem.

And it was tremendously helpful to think on!

I continue to be deeply blessed by my wife, the faithful mother of our children:

She opens her mouth with wisdom,
and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.  Proverbs 31:26

P.S.  Paul provided his own present on Monday – a little song and a smile.  This was how he used to be most of the time; today we enjoy these flashes of his old self with much greater appreciation and gratitude to God!

In case you were wondering, the bandage is mostly to protect his hand since he bites himself during his ‘spells.’