Can Jesus Heal?
Did Jesus really work miracles or they just embellished stories as some claim? This is a very important question that affects our lives today. If Jesus could work miracles then He still can. He can perform any miracle we need in our lives. He is not like a genie waiting to fulfill our every wish. He is our Father who wants to give us what is best for us. Sometimes we face problems that look like they will destroy us, but our Father knows what is happening in our lives and He will do whatever is necessary to protect and provide for us.
John 9 records a story of a man who was born blind. In Jesus’s day there was not a welfare system to take care of this man. All he was able to do is beg and hope he could get enough to buy a meal. Jesus found this man at the Pool of Siloam. It is important to understand the context or this story. The Pool of Siloam was the world’s largest Mikveh (ritual bath). It was required to wash in this pool before going to the Temple to worship. There was a set of steps on one side leading down to the pool and another set of steps on the other side leading straight to the Temple. The only reason a person would go to the Pool of Siloam is to get cleansed so he could go to the Temple to worship God.
Jesus met the man who was blind sitting beside the pool. We know the approximate area where this had to be. Jewish law (not God’s law) would not allow a person to enter the pool if he were blind, lame or had a crooked nose. (I have no idea where the crooked nose thing came from!) In 2004 archaeologist Eli Shukrun discovered this pool. He uncovered the base of the pool, the clean steps leading to the Temple (the Ascent or Ophel), and the unclean steps (the descent). Jewish law would not allow this man to enter anywhere except the unclean area.
This blind man went to the Pool of Siloam so he could be clean, ascend to the Temple, and worship God. His passion was to worship God. Jewish law said he was not good enough to worship God because he was blind. Jesus disciples asked Him who sinned that this man was born blind; him or his parents? I know it seems like a silly question but they believed a person could sin in his mother’s womb and a person whose body was flawed was the result of sin. Jesus corrected His disciples. He informed them that it was neither. God created this man this way so God would be glorified.
We tend to be very judgmental as Christians. We like to criticize people who are not made like us. The person with an IQ of 80 is just as important and valuable as the person with and IQ of 180. They are different but both people were made by God exactly the way God wanted them to be. This blind man was just as important to God as the High Priest in the Temple, or Mary the mother of Jesus, or you or me. God has made us to glorify Him! He has made all of us to be a vital part of His Kingdom work.
Jesus made clay from the dirt on the ground and His spit. He put it on the blind man’s eyes then told him to wash in the pool. Jewish law would not allow this man in the pool. No one had the authority to let him in the pool; except God. The blind man entered the pool at the risk of being put to death. His act of obedience was an expression of his belief that Jesus is God. He trusted God and acted on it. That is called faith. Jesus did work a true miracle that day. The original Greek of
this text indicates that this blind man did not even have the parts necessary to see. He had no eyes! Jesus gave him eyes that day.
Jesus made us, can heal us, and fix us when we are broken! Put your faith in Jesus who can heal your hurts and fix your brokenness.
© Dr. Steven L Smith 2016
John 9 records a story of a man who was born blind. In Jesus’s day there was not a welfare system to take care of this man. All he was able to do is beg and hope he could get enough to buy a meal. Jesus found this man at the Pool of Siloam. It is important to understand the context or this story. The Pool of Siloam was the world’s largest Mikveh (ritual bath). It was required to wash in this pool before going to the Temple to worship. There was a set of steps on one side leading down to the pool and another set of steps on the other side leading straight to the Temple. The only reason a person would go to the Pool of Siloam is to get cleansed so he could go to the Temple to worship God.
Jesus met the man who was blind sitting beside the pool. We know the approximate area where this had to be. Jewish law (not God’s law) would not allow a person to enter the pool if he were blind, lame or had a crooked nose. (I have no idea where the crooked nose thing came from!) In 2004 archaeologist Eli Shukrun discovered this pool. He uncovered the base of the pool, the clean steps leading to the Temple (the Ascent or Ophel), and the unclean steps (the descent). Jewish law would not allow this man to enter anywhere except the unclean area.
This blind man went to the Pool of Siloam so he could be clean, ascend to the Temple, and worship God. His passion was to worship God. Jewish law said he was not good enough to worship God because he was blind. Jesus disciples asked Him who sinned that this man was born blind; him or his parents? I know it seems like a silly question but they believed a person could sin in his mother’s womb and a person whose body was flawed was the result of sin. Jesus corrected His disciples. He informed them that it was neither. God created this man this way so God would be glorified.
We tend to be very judgmental as Christians. We like to criticize people who are not made like us. The person with an IQ of 80 is just as important and valuable as the person with and IQ of 180. They are different but both people were made by God exactly the way God wanted them to be. This blind man was just as important to God as the High Priest in the Temple, or Mary the mother of Jesus, or you or me. God has made us to glorify Him! He has made all of us to be a vital part of His Kingdom work.
Jesus made clay from the dirt on the ground and His spit. He put it on the blind man’s eyes then told him to wash in the pool. Jewish law would not allow this man in the pool. No one had the authority to let him in the pool; except God. The blind man entered the pool at the risk of being put to death. His act of obedience was an expression of his belief that Jesus is God. He trusted God and acted on it. That is called faith. Jesus did work a true miracle that day. The original Greek of
this text indicates that this blind man did not even have the parts necessary to see. He had no eyes! Jesus gave him eyes that day.
Jesus made us, can heal us, and fix us when we are broken! Put your faith in Jesus who can heal your hurts and fix your brokenness.
© Dr. Steven L Smith 2016