Posts Tagged ‘Miracles of Jesus’

Sovereign God heals in any way he chooses

Posted: April 22, 2012 by Pam Larson in April, Devotionals/Commentaries, Mark
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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 men, 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.
—Mark 8:22-25

J. C. Ryle comments on this passage:

We do not know the reason of the peculiar means employed by our Lord Jesus Christ, in working the miracle recorded in these verses. We see a blind man miraculously healed. We know that a word from our Lord’s mouth, or a touch of His hand would have been sufficient to effect a cure. But we see Jesus taking this blind man by the hand–leading him out of the town–spitting on his eyes–putting His hands on him, and then, and not until then, restoring his sight. And the meaning of all these actions, the passage before us leaves entirely unexplained.

But it is well to remember, in reading passages of this kind, that the Lord is not tied to the use of any one means. In the conversion of men’s souls there are diversities of operation, but it is the same Spirit which converts. So also in the healing of men’s bodies there were varieties of agency employed by our Lord, but it was the same divine power that effected the cure. In all His works God is a sovereign. He gives no account of any of His matters.

Miracles of Jesus Teach Us

Posted: January 9, 2012 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, January, Matthew
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Matthew 4:23-25 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. And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

J. C. Ryle comments on this passage at “Grace Gems!”

These miracles are meant to teach us our Lord’s power. He that could heal sick people with a touch, and cast out devils with a word, is “able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him.” He is almighty.

These miracles are meant to be types and emblems of our Lord’s skill as a spiritual physician. He before whom no bodily disease proved incurable, is mighty to cure every ailment of our souls. There is no broken heart that He cannot heal. There is no wound of conscience that He cannot cure. Fallen, crushed, bruised, plague-stricken as we all are by sin, Jesus by His blood and Spirit can make us whole. Only let us go to Him.

These miracles not least are intended to show us Christ’s heart. He is a most compassionate Savior. He rejected no one who came to Him. He refused no one, however loathsome and diseased. He had an ear to hear all, and a hand to help all, and a heart to feel for all. There is no kindness like His. His compassions fail not.

May we all remember that Jesus is “the same yesterday, today, and forever!” High in heaven at God’s right hand, He is not in the least altered. He is just as able to save, just as willing to receive, just as ready to help, as He was 1800 years ago. Would we have spread out our needs before Him then? Let us do the same now. He can “heal every disease and every sickness.”

The Bible makes an issue out of blindness, both physical and spiritual

Posted: November 8, 2011 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, John, November
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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 spat 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. —John 9:1-7

John MacArthur, in a sermon “Jesus Opens Blind Eyes”

jesus_healing_blindAnd as Jesus passed by, He sees this particular blind man. And then one of the greatest miracles in all of the scriptures happens. He heals him. And that’s only the beginning. Because after healing his eyesight, He heals his soul. We shall see that in weeks to come. But I want you to see something beautiful here. You know that blind man couldn’t have seen Jesus. No way, couldn’t see Him. He wouldn’t have known if Jesus had walked right by him. Wouldn’t have had any idea about it. But sovereign grace isn’t like that. Sovereign grace dominates this whole miracle. It isn’t this man running to Jesus saying, “Oh! Oh! Oh! Heal me, heal me!” No, Jesus saw him, and see that’s the way sovereign grace is, isn’t it? It’s Christ seeking us. We could not see Him except He saw us. We are blind, we’re absolutely blind. We have no capacity to see God. We have no capacity to see Jesus Christ. We are incapacitated, we are stone blind, spiritually speaking. We can’t see.

Second Corinthians, chapter 4, Paul says the God of this age has blinded the minds of them that believe not, less the glorious light of the gospel should shine unto them. And then Paul says, “But we preach Jesus, who comes and opens blind eyes.” You see the blind man can’t find anything. He couldn’t recognize Jesus if Jesus was standing in front…He has no capacity. So it is with the sinner. So it is with the man apart from God. He has no capacity to see God. He has no capacity to see Jesus Christ. He has no ability to recognize Him if He’s right in front of him.

And you know, I think this story is as good an illustration of sin as there is anywhere in the New Testament. Because it’s that character of blindness that makes total incapacity to see that so aptly describes spiritual blindness. We cannot recognize God; we cannot recognize truth; we cannot recognize Christ. We are blind to spiritual reality.

The Bible makes an issue out of blindness, both physical and spiritual. In fact, of all the kinds of miracles that Jesus did, once in the Bible He healed a deaf and dumb, once He healed a person with a fever, once He healed somebody with a, in the Gospels, once He healed somebody with the palsy. I think two times He healed groups of lepers, three times He dealt with raising the dead, but five times Jesus, by His power, healed blind people. And blindness has always been a picture of spiritual darkness. And just like this man who was at the mercy of Christ, who saw him, so the sinner is at the mercy of Jesus Christ who comes over and lovingly and graciously says, “I’ll touch your eyes and make you see.”

We did not seek Him. He sought us. We had no capacity to even behold His glory. He had to reveal it to us by His own touch. That’s how grace works. Lost man, blind, sees no God, sees no Christ, sees no truth, sees no love, sees no anything and Jesus comes along and looks at that blind man with compassion in His heart, with love in His heart, comes over, offers grace and spiritual life and light to that man and that’s sovereign grace. He must give sight for we could not see Him in our sinfulness. Sin is a blinding thing…a blinding thing.

So we see the problem, a blind man. You know, it’s kind of beautiful thought, too, that Jesus had time for this blind man, isn’t it? Do you get the circumstance? He’s running for His life, Jesus is. Running to get away from being stoned. But He’s never too busy to stop, to gather up a blind sinner, and bring him along.

A strange miracle

Posted: May 6, 2011 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, May, May Bible Readings
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Mark 11:12-14 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.

Pastor Coty Pinckney explains, in a sermon “How to Bear Fruit”:  

barren-treeLet’s begin by looking more at the story of the cursing of the fig tree. 

Jesus is hungry; he sees in the distance a tree full of leaves. Many trees produce leaves and flowers simultaneously, but the fruit always follows the leaves. The nourishment provided by the sun via the leaves is necessary for the production of fruit.

Figs appear to be an exception, though in reality they are not. Fig trees produce flowers simultaneously with their leaves. But the flowers are encased in a fleshy, protective coverings which have the same shape as ripe figs, giving the false appearance of fruit. The fruit doesn’t develop, however, until later. When pollination occurs inside these coverings (which requires the assistance of a special type of wasp), fruit develops. But the fruit, too, remains inside the fleshy covering. So the skin of a fig is actually the exterior, protective covering of the flower.

The tree that Jesus saw was unusual in two ways. First, it leafed out early. It looked to be especially well-watered by an underground spring or stream, and thus likely to produce abundant fruit. But when Jesus approached the tree, he found that it had neither ripe figs nor the precursors of figs, the fig-shaped flower modules. The tree appeared to be flourishing, but in reality it was producing nothing of value — and never would.

So Jesus curses the tree. He curses the appearance of fruitfulness without the reality.

He’ll elaborate on this later this same week, as recorded in John 15:

 

 

 

5 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing. 6 “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. (NASB)

 

 

 

 

 

So God wants much more than the appearance of fruitfulness: He wants us to become like Christ; for that’s what it means to be fruitful. To display the fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, — to be like Him as we depend upon him. That’s what this passage is about…….

……Jesus curses the fig tree as a severe rebuke to the religious people of His day. Is there a parallel for the religious people of our day? Are we in danger of emulating the fig tree: having the appearance of fruitfulness without real fruit?

Undoubtedly the answer is “Yes.” If we are to avoid becoming cursed fig trees, we must avoid at least four pitfalls:

  • Relying on ritual: So often we think that because we perform a certain ceremony once in our life, or regularly every week, we are right before God. These Jewish religious leaders were perfect in their observance of rituals that God had specifically ordained. But they had no fruit; they did not take on the character of God. God rejected them, despite their outward obedience to religious rituals.

  • Relying on numbers: Sometimes we’re tempted to think, “We’re fine! Our church is growing by leaps and bounds! God is blessing us!” But remember, in terms of growth, few churches can match the cults. Churches can grow simply by appealing to people’s natural desires – by telling people what they want to hear, by avoiding the hard parts of Scripture. No. Numbers do not provide evidence of fruitfulness.

  • Relying on doctrinal purity: Others are tempted to think, “We’re fine because we hold to the ancient truths. That’s what it means to be fruitful.” Well, no. That’s not what it means to be fruitful. James tells us even demons are doctrinally pure in many ways. God chose His people to be His own precious possession, a people who will value Him above all else, a people who will be in living relationship to Him, as a vine is to its branches. Doctrinal purity is an absolute must for fruitfulness, but alone it is not sufficient.

  • Relying on great emotion: Another group might say, “We’re so fruitful – just looked how everyone is moved in our services.” But great emotion is no sure sign of fruitfulness. We can arouse strong emotions in many ways unrelated to God; go to any rock concert for evidence.

Now, doctrinal purity, emotion, and God-ordained rituals are all vital parts of the Christian life; if these are absent, there will be no fruitfulness. And in many cases growth in numbers accompanies fruitfulness. But the passage today gives us these keys to true fruitfulness:

  • Love the Word: both Christ himself and His spoken word, the Bible. This is the foundation for the true fruitfulness that comes from knowing Him.

  • Have faith in God, that He will fulfill His promises, and therefore pray with power and free yourself to forgive.

  • Focus on God in your worship, thereby worshiping in Spirit and in truth.

  • Speak the truth in love, without political calculations; proclaim God’s truths whether they are popular or not, whether your listeners think this is what they need to hear nor not.

To read the entire sermon, please click here:

J. C. Ryle: To create is the peculiar prerogative of God.

Posted: February 10, 2011 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries
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J. C. Ryle comments on Jesus feeding the five thousand in Matthew 14:13-21

this miracle is an unanswerable proof of our Lord’s divine POWER. To satisfy the hunger of more than five thousand people with so small a portion of food as five loaves and two fish, would be manifestly impossible without a supernatural multiplication of the food. It was a thing that no magician, impostor, or false prophet would ever have attempted. Such a person might possibly pretend to cure a single sick person, or raise a single dead body–and by jugglery and trickery might persuade weak people that he succeeded. But such a person would never attempt such a mighty work as that which is here recorded. He would know well that he could not persuade ten thousand men, women, and children that they were full when they were hungry. He would be exposed as a cheat and impostor on the spot.

Yet this is the mighty work which our Lord actually performed, and by performing it gave a conclusive proof that He was God. He called that into being which did not before exist. He provided visible, tangible, material food for ten thousand people, out of a supply which in itself would not have satisfied fifty. Surely we must be blind if we do not see in this the hand of Him “who provides food for all flesh,” and made the world and all that therein is. To create is the peculiar prerogative of God.

We ought to lay firm hold on such passages as this. We should treasure up in our minds every evidence of our Lord’s divine power. The cold, orthodox, unconverted man may see little in the story. The true believer should store it in his memory. Let him think of the world, the devil, and his own heart, and learn to thank God that his Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, is almighty.

 

Ryle: Blind men with eyes of understanding

Posted: January 24, 2011 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, January, Matthew
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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.

J. C. Ryle has this comment on Matthew 9:27-31

Strong faith in Christ may sometimes be found where it might least have been expected. Who would have thought that two blind men would have called our Lord the “Son of David?” They could not, of course, have seen the miracles that He did. They could only know Him by common report. But the eyes of their understanding were enlightened, if their bodily eyes were dark. They saw the truth which Scribes and Pharisees could not see. They saw that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah. They believed that He was able to heal them.

An example like this shows us, that we must never despair of any one’s salvation, merely because he lives in a position unfavorable to his soul. Grace is stronger than circumstances. The life of religion does not depend merely upon outward advantages. The Holy Spirit can give faith, and keep faith in active exercise without book-learning, without money, and with scanty means of grace. Without the Holy Spirit a man may know all mysteries, and live in the full blaze of the Gospel, and yet be lost. We shall see many strange sights at the last day. Poor cottagers will be found to have believed in the Son of David, while rich men, full of university learning, will prove to have lived and died like the Pharisees, in hardened unbelief. Many that are last will be first, and the first last. (Matt. 20:16.)

 

J.C. Ryle: These miracles are meant to teach us….

Posted: January 9, 2011 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, January, Matthew
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Matthew 4:23-25 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. And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

J. C. Ryle comments on this passage at “Grace Gems!”

These miracles are meant to teach us our Lord’s power. He that could heal sick people with a touch, and cast out devils with a word, is “able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him.” He is almighty.

These miracles are meant to be types and emblems of our Lord’s skill as a spiritual physician. He before whom no bodily disease proved incurable, is mighty to cure every ailment of our souls. There is no broken heart that He cannot heal. There is no wound of conscience that He cannot cure. Fallen, crushed, bruised, plague-stricken as we all are by sin, Jesus by His blood and Spirit can make us whole. Only let us go to Him.

These miracles not least are intended to show us Christ’s heart. He is a most compassionate Savior. He rejected no one who came to Him. He refused no one, however loathsome and diseased. He had an ear to hear all, and a hand to help all, and a heart to feel for all. There is no kindness like His. His compassions fail not.

May we all remember that Jesus is “the same yesterday, today, and forever!” High in heaven at God’s right hand, He is not in the least altered. He is just as able to save, just as willing to receive, just as ready to help, as He was 1800 years ago. Would we have spread out our needs before Him then? Let us do the same now. He can “heal every disease and every sickness.”

 

His almighty power was not meant to destroy man’s responsibility

Posted: November 16, 2010 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, John, November
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John 11:38-41 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.

J.C.Ryle comments:

We should mark, first, our Lord’s words about the STONE which lay upon the grave of Lazarus. We read that He said to those around Him, when he came to the place of burial, “Take you away the stone.”

lazarus Now why did our Lord say this? It was doubtless as easy for Him to command the stone to roll away untouched as to call a dead body from the tomb. But such was not His mode of proceeding. Here, as in other cases, He chose to give man something to do. Here, as elsewhere, He taught the great lesson that His almighty power was not meant to destroy man’s responsibility. Even when He was ready and willing to raise the dead, He would not have man stand by altogether idle.

Let us treasure up this in our memories. It involves a point of great importance. In doing spiritual good to others–in training up our children for heaven–in following after holiness in our own daily walk–in all these things it is undoubtedly true that we are weak and helpless. “Without Christ we can do nothing.” But still we must remember that Christ expects us to do what we can. “Take you away the stone” is the daily command which He gives us. Let us beware that we do not stand still in idleness, under the pretense of humility. Let us daily try to do what we can, and in the trying Christ will meet us and grant His blessing.

Jesus’ Bread is more than sufficient

Posted: October 18, 2010 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, John, October
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J.C. Ryle on Jesus’ feeding the five thousand in John 6:1-15

We have, lastly, in this miracle, a lesson about the sufficiency of the Gospel for the needs of all mankind. We see the Lord Jesus supplying the hunger of a huge multitude of five thousand men. The provision seemed, at first sight, utterly inadequate for the occasion. To satisfy so many craving mouths with such scanty fare, in such a wilderness, seemed impossible. But the event showed that there was enough and to spare. There was not one who could complain that he was not filled.

There can be no doubt that this was meant to teach the adequacy of Christ’s Gospel to supply the necessities of the whole world. Weak, and feeble, and foolish as it may seem to man, the simple story of the Cross is enough for all the children of Adam in every part of the globe. The tidings of Christ’s death for sinners, and the atonement made by that death, is able to meet the hearts and satisfy the consciences of all nations, and peoples, and kindreds, and tongues. Carried by faithful messengers, it feeds and supplies all ranks and classes. “The preaching of the cross is to those who perish foolishness, but to us who are saved it is the power of God.” (1 Cor. 1:18.) Five barley loaves and two small fishes seemed scanty provision for a hungry crowd. But blessed by Christ, and distributed by His disciples, they were more than sufficient.

Let us never doubt for a moment, that the preaching of Christ crucified–the old story of His blood, and righteousness, and substitution–is enough for all the spiritual necessities of all mankind. It is not worn out. It is not obsolete. It has not lost its power. We need nothing new–nothing more broad and kind–nothing more intellectual–nothing more effectual. We need nothing but the true bread of life, distributed faithfully among starving souls. Let men sneer or ridicule as they will. Nothing else can do good in this sinful world. No other teaching can fill hungry consciences, and give them peace. We are all in a wilderness. We must feed on Christ crucified, and the atonement made by His death, or we shall die in our sins.

What the Miracle Tells Us About Jesus

Posted: October 14, 2010 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, John, October
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John 4:46-50 So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill.  When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.  So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.”  The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way.

John Piper, in the conclusion of a sermon, “Go, Your Son Will Live”

And in conclusion, notice that this is exactly what John wants us to see in his healing of the official’s son. He wants to help us overcome these blinding impulses and see the grace and the power—the mercy and the might—of Jesus as he heals the dying boy.

1) Jesus Is Gracious

First, notice the grace of it. He heals this child in a very unbelieving atmosphere. The first thing he says to the official when he pleads for his son is, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe” (verse 48). Jesus does not commend the man or the people around him. He is provoked at the sign-seeking false faith that abounds in Galilee. And in that context, he gives the free gift of healing.

And he gives the gift to a man he’s never met, who has attachments in some way probably with the court of wicked Herod Antipas, and who says nothing about the person or the power of Jesus. He just wants him to come.

In other words, when Jesus decided to heal this boy, it was grace. He was not looking at anyone’s merit or desert. It was a free, gracious gift. “We have seen his glory full of grace and truth, and from his fullness we have received grace upon grace.” If you have the pride of attachment or a sense of entitlement, you won’t be able to see this.

2) Jesus Is Powerful

Finally, John wants us to see not only the grace of the healing, but the power of it. The boy was dying of a fever. The power of Jesus to heal is seen in the fact that he did it with a mere word. He simply said, “Go, your son will live” (verse 50). And at that one word, the physical chemistry of a boy’s body changed.

The power is seen in that distance was not hindrance. The boy was 15 miles away in Capernaum. He could have been 15,000 miles away. It would not have mattered. When Jesus speaks with authority, there are no spatial limitations to his power.

And the power of his healing is seen in the fact that it was immediate. John draws special attention to that. They say in verse 52 that he recovered in the seventh hour—1 p.m. the day before. Then John says in verse 53, “The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, ‘Your son will live.’” At the very moment Jesus spoke, it was done.

See His Glory

A dying boy healed with a word, over distance, at once. Such is the power of Jesus. Grace and power. Mercy and might.

We beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father. And from his fullness we have all received grace upon grace. May the Lord remove all pride, all entitlement, all blinding familiarity, and reveal to us the glory of the grace and power of Christ.

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