When Jesus was here, there were many, many people who had illnesses and diseases, just like people today. His power and His willingness to heal were available to anyone who would come to Him. The only sick people who were not healed by Jesus were the ones who did not choose to come to Him. All the people were eager to be healed, but many did not want Jesus, the Son of God. The crowd who cried, “Crucify Him!” was so great that it may have included some of those healed people too. And we know that they all died later on, even the healed ones.
Is Jesus so angry with us that He has gone away forever? Oh, no! He is in heaven now, and His loving promises are far more wonderful than good health in bodies that will finally die anyway. The Lord Jesus promises eternal life, and it doesn’t end here in a world of trouble and sorrow. Eternal life goes on and on in His wonderful home of happiness and love, and it never ends! And best of all, eternal life will be spent with HIM! Is that what you want? If so, then God who cannot lie makes this promise to you today: “Whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:1515That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:15)).
When Jesus was here on earth, there was a man who was completely deaf. He not only couldn’t hear any sound at all, but he also had a tongue problem and could not speak clearly. But he had some friends who really wanted to help him, and they brought him to Jesus and begged Jesus to heal the man.
Jesus knows that no two of us are alike and that our needs are not all the same. Jesus took the deaf man by the hand and led him away from the crowd, and looking up to heaven, He groaned. Why would Jesus groan? After all, He had all power to heal - He was the Son of God. We need to remember that our Jesus is a real Savior. He knows all about you, and He feels and cares about all those problems in your life that you can’t tell to anybody. He loves you so much that He doesn’t save you as if He pressed a button for your salvation. And He loved the deaf man so much that He groaned because of the man’s awful condition. Then Je-sus said, “Be opened,” and immediately the deaf man’s ears were healed and he could hear, and his tongue was healed and he could speak clearly!
Jesus told the healed man and his friends, Don’t talk about this to anyone. Perhaps Jesus wanted the man’s good hearing and clear speaking to show itself to the people. They couldn’t miss seeing how real his healing was.
I wonder if your Christian life is such that people can’t miss seeing that you are a real believer in Jesus. You have ears to listen to Him and a tongue to speak of Him. Do your friends know that Jesus is your Savior and has cleansed you from all your sins?
But the more Jesus urged the healed man and his friends not to make a public fuss about the man’s healing, the more they told everyone far and wide. Jesus has done all things well, they said. He makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak. What they said sounded very good and was true, but they were not obeying Jesus. If you are saved, will you listen to God’s Word and let Him choose for you? If you trusted Him for your salvation, now trust Him for every day as it comes.
Think About God’s Word!
1. How long did it take to heal the deaf man?
Project: How many times in the Gospels does it say that a person was healed immediately? You can start your list with the person in Mark 10:46-5246And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimeus, the son of Timeus, sat by the highway side begging. 47And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. 48And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. 49And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee. 50And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus. 51And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. 52And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way. (Mark 10:46‑52).