HEALTH, HEALING, AND MIRACLES – PART TWENTY-FIVE
Sunday – August 26, 2018, Elul 15, 5778
Greetings and welcome back to our wonderful faith building study of health and the recorded healings and miracles in Jesus’ ministry. Last Sunday I spoke about the maintenance of health as being the best of God’s goodness to us. But when we need healing that is available by faith to any and all. It is the will of God for all peoples to be healthy, and if they become ill to be healed and beyond that made whole. Following after Jesus is a fundamental key. Not following after Jesus will result in stealing, killing, and destroying in our lives and following after Jesus brings abundance of all kinds. I am not talking about nonbelievers but believers who for the most part are going their own way not following after Jesus. Today I am going to pickup once again with “Blind Bartimaeus” who was blind no more and was in fact made whole by his faith when he came in contact with Jesus and the Anointing. Let’s go ahead and look at the account by Dr. Luke.
Luke 18:35-43 (KJV)
35 And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way side begging:
36 And hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant.
37 And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by.
38 And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.
39 And they which went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried so much the more, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.
40 And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him: and when he was come near, he asked him,
41 Saying, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight.
42 And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee.
43 And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God.
I think there are a couple of interesting things for us to notice in the Luke account of this wondrous event. Again, in this account Jesus asks Bartimaeus what he wants. We all know, they all knew that day, Jesus knew, the Father knew, and the Anointing knew but the man had to declare the healing in faith. Bartimaeus had the faith but knew that he needed to connect with the Anointing, and Jesus was well known as having the Anointing and known to be the long-awaited Messiah. Next, I want us to notice that Jesus does not ask the Father to do this thing. Jesus commands the blind man to receive his sight and makes the statement “thy faith hath saved thee”. The text in King James Version seems to make the healing past tense but it is actually in the active tense. The other interesting thing is that the word “faith” is feminine in gender indicating that it will produce given proper seed. What is proper seed for faith? The Word of God is proper seed, in fact the only way that faith in God is produced. You may recall that the Mark account of this episode says Bartimaeus was made whole and we discussed that and here we see it more plainly that his faith saved him, restored his sight, brought wholeness. Everything we will ever need forever is given at the moment of salvation. Salvation is obtained by faith and all of the benefits are obtained and the obligations discharged by faith. So, why do we have so little? Before we finish for today let’s look at the Bible account of a deaf mute.
Mark 7:31-37 (KJV)
31 And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, he came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis.
32 And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him.
33 And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue;
34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened.
35 And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain.
36 And he charged them that they should tell no man: but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it;
37 And were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.
In this account we find a man who is deaf and had difficulty speaking due apparently due to a structural (likely birth defect) abnormality. The folks that brought this man, with his permission in full faith believing, asked Jesus to lay hands upon him and heal him. I think I have pointed out before that the word “hand” is feminine in gender meaning that given the right seed it will produce, the right seed is always the Word of God, the will of God. Another thing I want to bring into our consciousness as we look at this wonderful event is that Jesus only said what the Father said and He only did what He saw the Father doing. So, Jesus got this whole episode of behavior and Words from His Father. From a little research I found that in these ancient times spitting was considered a sign of disrespect. This would explain the reason the man was taken to one side away from the crowd. Jesus put His fingers in the mans ears and commanded them to open, spit and put some of the spittle on the mans tongue and immediately he could not only hear but speak clearly. Once again, I want us to notice that asking was essential and Jesus commanded the end result. Jesus’ tongue was loose and the spittle from His mouth healed the mute man’s tongue, this was a prophetic act which brought healing.
Isaiah 45:11 (KJV)
11 Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me.
Until our next publication, I speak this Scriptural prayer for your life right now, receive it in the name of Jesus, confess it, and walk it out with thanksgiving.
Exodus 15:26 (KJV)
26 And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
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