Restoring Wholeness
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Key Verse: “When he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.” Selected Scriptures: |
WHEN PEOPLE WERE healed by Jesus, they were made whole again. The infirmity that they had possessed which made them incomplete was removed. Two incidents of this nature form our lesson. Both occurred on the Sabbath. The first was in the synagogue at Capernaum. Jesus had traveled through the grain fields on that Sabbath Day with his disciples; and as they walked along plucking kernels of grain to eat they met a man with a withered hand. They were chided by the Pharisees who saw them eating the grain, and who accused them of violating God’s Law. Jesus replied, “The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath.” (Mark 2:27) In the synagogue all were watching Jesus, anticipating that he might try to heal this man. Their anticipation was correct.
Jesus asked the man to “stand forth.” Then he asked those who were watching him, “Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill?” (Mark 3:3,4) There was no response. Then, in the words of our key verse, ‘He … looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts.’ He then proceeded to heal the man, which caused the Pharisees to join with the Herodians to plot Jesus’ death. Did Jesus violate God’s law by his actions? If you would like to get more information on this topic, see the note at the end of this article. This incident is typical of all the healing works to be performed in God’s Millennial Kingdom.
The second incident is recorded in John 9:1-12. On another Sabbath Day, Jesus passed by a man who was blind from his birth. His disciples asked Jesus, “Who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?” This was a strange question, because how could someone sin before being born? Jesus did not seek to correct their thinking, but said, “Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.” (John 9:3) Jesus then proceeded to make a clay pack for application on the man’s eyes, and told him to wash in the pool of Siloam. The man followed our Lord’s instructions, and the man received sight!
This miracle was difficult to believe! This man’s neighbors interrogated him, and reported the matter to the Pharisees. They, in turn, interrogated the parents, and also their son. They tried to have him refute the fact that Jesus had healed his blindness, but he would not. He gave a marvelous testimony concerning Jesus, and as a result he was cast out of the synagogue. He was then visited by our Lord who revealed himself to this man as his benefactor. He said, “For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.”—vs. 39
The Gospel Age is the time for finding a people for God’s name. Only those being selected—chosen—by God in advance of his kingdom have their spiritual sight made whole, while many learned men may not be able to see God’s wonderful plan.
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