A. The Bible's records of Christ's miracles are given for the purpose of causing us to believe in Jesus, who is the Son of God, our Savior, just as John wrote in John 20:30-31:
30Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.
B. The majority of the recorded miracles were feats of healing performed by Jesus. Beginning with this lesson, we will consider the Lord's miracles in which He healed persons afflicted with blindness, paralysis, leprosy, and other various physical maladies.
C. At present, let us consider Christ's healing of blindness and some lessons we can learn from these miracles.
1. As we study these, do not miss the wonder of Christ's power. No invention, technology, or medicine can restore sight, but our Lord did so many times with little or no effort.
2. If we believe that Jesus did these things, then we must believe He is the Christ, the Son of God. Consider the Lord's answer when John asked if He was the "Expected One" in Matthew 11:4-5 (with quotations from Isa. 29:18-19; 35:4-6):
4Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and report to John what you hear and see: 5the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them."
II. HEALING BLINDNESS
A. Jesus healed two blind men in Galilee (Matt. 9:27-31).
1. The two blind men showed their faith in Him by imploring, "Have mercy on us, Son of David!"
a. Jesus was indeed a "Son of David," for He was descended from David in the flesh through the lineage of Mary (Luke 3:31).
b. Whether or not these men knew of the ancestry of Jesus, their acknowledgement of Him as the Son of David was according to the prophecies of the Christ (2Sam. 7:12; 1Chron. 17:11; Ps. 132:11; Matt. 1:1; 12:23; 21:15; 22:41-45).
2. When they had confessed their faith in His power, Jesus touched their eyes and said, "It shall be done to you according to your faith." Instantly, their sight was restored.
3. Jesus warned them to tell no one, but they told everyone in the land. This scenario occurred several times following Christ's miracles (Matt. 8:4; Luke 8:56).
B. Outside of Jericho, Jesus healed two blind men (Matt. 20:30-34; Mark 10:46-52; Luke 18:35-43).
1. Although Matthew describes two blind men and Mark and Luke only describe one, there is no conflict with these accounts.
a. The fact that Mark and Luke omitted one of the blind men does not create a disagreement with Matthew. It only means that Mark and Luke focused on one individual.
b. Mark identifies one of the blind men as "Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus." Perhaps this was a person known to the early disciples who received Mark's writings.
2. These men addressed Jesus in the same faithful way the two blind men in Galilee had done: "Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!" As with the others, this was an acknowledgement of Him as the Christ.
3. When Jesus asked what they wanted, they requested to have their sight restored. Jesus was "moved with compassion" (Matt. 20:34), touched their eyes, and said, "Go your way; your faith has made you well" (Mark 10:52).
4. Their sight returned immediately, and they followed Him.
C. At Bethsaida, Jesus healed another blind man (Mark 8:22-26).
1. Unlike the previous examples, this man did not cry out to Jesus, but rather he was brought to Jesus by others, who asked the Lord to touch Him.
2. Rather than healing this man by merely speaking as with the other examples, Jesus spat on this man's eyes and laid His hands on him.
3. Rather than being healed instantly like the other examples, this man's healing came in two stages.
a. At first, he said, "I see men, for I am seeing them like trees, walking about."
b. Jesus then laid His hands on him again, and the man saw clearly.
4. Perhaps the difference between this man and the others was that his faith was weaker. Certainly, there was no difference in the Lord's power even though His method was varied.
D. In Jerusalem, Jesus healed a man born blind and confounded the Pharisees (John 9:1-41).
1. The Lord explained to His disciples the providential nature of this man's blindness, for "it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him" (v. 3).
2. In this case, Jesus spat on the ground, made clay, applied it to the man's eyes, and said, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (vv. 6-7). When the blind man had done so, he was able to see.
3. The testimony of the man's neighbors prove the veracity of the miracle, for they knew that he had been born blind, and they could not understand how he could now see (vv. 8-10).
4. The man explained the miracle first to his neighbors and then to the Pharisees (vv. 11-15).
5. This miracle set off a debate about Jesus (vv. 16-34).
a. The Pharisees were divided between those who accused Jesus of sinning by breaking the Sabbath (these events happened on a Sabbath) and those who recognized that a sinner could not perform such signs (v. 16).
b. The Pharisees asked for the formerly blind man's opinion of Jesus, and he testified that Jesus was a prophet (v. 17).
c. They then challenged the credibility of the miracle and inquired of his parents. His parents confirmed his blindness but would not confess Jesus for fear of being put out of the synagogue (vv. 18-23).
d. Again, the Pharisees examined the formerly blind man and refused to accept the plain evidence of the miracle (vv. 24-34).
e. When the Pharisees said they did not know where Jesus was from, the formerly blind man exposed their own blindness to evidence and truth in verses 30-33:
30The man answered and said to them, "Well, here is an amazing thing, that you do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes. 31We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him. 32Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. 33If this man were not from God, He could do nothing."
6. After the formerly blind man had been put out of the synagogue, Jesus found Him and asked, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" (v. 35). The man then confessed Him and worshiped Him (vv. 36-38).
7. The lesson taught by this miracle was stated by Jesus in verse 39 -- "For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind."
8. As it was, the formerly blind man has gained both physical sight and spiritual sight, but the Pharisees remained blind to their own sin and the true identity of Jesus (vv. 40-41).
9. Indeed, the mighty works of God were displayed in this man (v. 3), and they still cause us to believe in Jesus today.
III. CONCLUSION
A. In conclusion, let us draw a few lessons from these accounts of Christ healing the blind.
1. The foremost lesson of any account of Christ's miracles is always that of John 20:31, which is that "these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name."
2. Certainly, we should be impressed with the importance of faith in these accounts. All four accounts show that the blind men involved believed in the power of Jesus to heal them. For us, this applies in all things, for we must believe in the Lord's power to deliver His promises on His terms.
3. As we consider the last example (John 9:1-41), we must appreciate the necessity of accepting evidence and drawing faithful conclusions. We are faced with the evidence of God's general revelation of Himself (creation) and His special revelation of Himself (the Bible). There is only one conclusion for this evidence: God is real, and Jesus is His Son, the Christ, our Savior.
B. In the next lesson, we will consider more of Christ's healing miracles.
