Healing the Blind and the Lame
“And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and he healed them” (Matthew 21:14)
The physically blind and the physically lame came to Jesus in the temple, and He healed them.
To be blind is to lack the ability to see. To be lame is to be unable to walk. Without knowledge of God, all men are blind, unable to see the truth about themselves, the world in which they live, or the creator Who placed them in it. They cannot see the right path to follow, nor the impediments in the way in which they find themselves travelling. They don’t see the spiritual influences on their lives or environments, nor do they perceive the eternal significance of their actions or ideas. They cannot see the ‘end of the road’; in fact they cannot see the road itself at all.
On their own, the blind will follow the wrong paths, take wrong turns, and trip over stumbling-blocks and pitfalls in the way, bringing serious injury to themselves. They can neither perceive distance nor direction, nor have they any idea where they are really going. Without a guide to lead them, the blind will ultimately become lost, with no idea how to find their way to safety.
The lame may suffer from a lack of foot or limb, a damaged leg, hip, or back, or some neurological dysfunction that prevents the correct signals from the control centre of the brain to communicate to the legs the correct means by which to carry the body and propel it forward. Regardless of the cause, the lame is prevented from being able to walk, and is dependant on others to transport him where he needs to go.
Like the lame, men who do not know God are unable to walk the path of life to which God has called us. God calls men to live a life of faith in Him, in righteousness and holiness. If a man refuses God, or does not know Him, he has no power to walk as God calls him to walk. Relying on the messages he receives from the world around him only serves to cripple his steps; rather than moving forward into righteousness and glory, he will stumble and fall to the ground in hopelessness.
Jesus came to heal the blind and the lame. When He touched the blind man’s eyes, that man was able to see. When Christ reveals Himself to the lost sinner, he begins to perceive the Creator Who made him, and the love and grace God offers him. Christ opens our eyes to see and understand the Way of Life that is through faith in Him.
When Christ healed the lame man, that man immediately stood on his feet and praised the God of glory for His mercy. When a sinner is saved, Christ makes us able to walk in the path He has revealed by His grace, through the power of His Holy Spirit, Who enables us to will and to do His good pleasure.
When we come to Jesus, and receive Him as Lord and Saviour, we become that temple to which He comes, and when He comes to us, He heals us of our infirmities, making us able by His power and through His Spirit to see the Way and walk in it, to know the Truth and live by it.
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