MIRACLES OF HEALING --- THE CALMING OF THE SEA
[John:4:46-54 [46] So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum. [47] When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judaea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death. [48] Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. [49] The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die. [50] Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way. [51] And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth. [52] Then enquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. [53] So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house. [54] This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when he was come out of Judaea into Galilee. ]; [Mark:2:1-12 [1] And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house. [2] And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them. [3] And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four. [4] And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. [5] When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. [6] But there was certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, [7] Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only? [8] And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts? [9] Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? [10] But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) [11] I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house. [12] And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion. ]; [Matthew:8:1-27 [1] When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. [2] And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. [3] And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. [4] And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. [5] And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, [6] And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. [7] And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. [8] The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. [9] For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. [10] When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. [11] And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. [12] But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. [13] And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour. [14] And when Jesus was come into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever. [15] And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them. [16] When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: [17] That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses. [18] Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave commandment to depart unto the other side. [19] And a certain scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. [20] And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. [21] And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. [22] But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead. [23] And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. [24] And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. [25] And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. [26] And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. [27] But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him! ].
“And the prayer of faith shall save the sick and the Lord shall raise him up" (James 5:15).
A Nobleman’s Faith
Jesus did good to the people wherever He went. Crowds gathered around Him as soon as they heard of His presence -- and He never turned any away. All Jesus asked was that men have faith in Him. What great things our Lord can do when we believe!
A nobleman had a very sick son, and he believed Jesus could heal him. The fact that he was a nobleman and probably very rich did not help him when sickness came into his home. Many a rich man has offered an earthly physician all his wealth if he would but make well one of his loved ones; but when our heavenly Father says it is time to die, no amount of money will give the doctor power to prolong that life ([Ecclesiastes:8:8There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it. ]; [Job:14:5Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass; ]).
The nobleman must have believed that Jesus had power to perform the miracle, but he thought Jesus would have to go with him to his home. He probably had never heard that Jesus could speak the word, and the thing would come to pass, even though He was far away.
Jesus included the other people there when He said, "Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe." They would not believe unless they could see. But that is not faith Paul said, "We are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?" (Romans:8:24Then answered Simon, and said, Pray ye to the LORD for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me. ). To believe something we cannot see is faith. Abraham had great faith for he believed in God Who "calleth those things which be not as though they were" (Romans:4:17But that it spread no further among the people, let us straitly threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name. ). As we read the eleventh chapter of Hebrews we realise what faith is, and what it can do. The men of faith listed there believed things, which it was impossible to see. Jesus wanted these Galileans to have such faith.
His Son Healed
When the nobleman heard Jesus say, "Go thy way; thy son liveth," he believed and went away alone. If we use the little faith we have, step out on His promises even though we can see nothing, God will reward us and give us greater faith.
The servants of the nobleman met him, and he found that his son had begun to mend at the very hour that Jesus had said, "Thy son liveth." The whole family believed on Jesus when they saw this miracle. Too often people these days will not believe on Jesus even when they see the results of prayer and faith.
The Man with Palsy
Also the Pharisees and the doctors of the law came to hear the teachings of Jesus, but they came to criticize as well. Jesus did not temper His words to please them. The Scripture says He preached unto them the whole Word. Jesus expects His ministers to do the same. When Jesus preached the Word, "the power of the Lord was present to heal" (Luke:5:17And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts.
). Paul told Timothy: "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine" (II Timothy:4:2). When the Word is preached in that way, there is power present to save souls and heal sick bodies. "These signs shall follow them that believe; in my name shall they cast out devils; . . . they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover" (Mark:16:17And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
, 18).
While the crowd was gathered around Jesus in a house, four men brought a friend who was so sick they had to carry him in his bed, or litter. They had faith that if they could but get him to Jesus the sick man would be healed. They could not get through the crowd, but their faith found another way. They climbed upon the roof, lifted the sick man up with them, broke up the roof, and lowered him right in front of Jesus. It made Jesus happy to see their faith, and He healed the poor man.
Jesus is looking for that faith in us. He does not want us to let anything hinder us from trusting Him. He has said that if you will only believe you shall see the glory of God. How it must grieve His heart when we doubt Him, after the wonderful promises He has given! Without faith it is impossible to please Him.
Many times we let little things hinder us from getting our prayers through to God. Perhaps we think we are too busy to pray; or we give up if we do not get an answer the first time. But faith will hold on until the victory comes, even though we have to "climb upon a roof and let ourselves down through the ceiling to see Jesus."
Thy Sins Be Forgiven"
Jesus healed this man in a different manner from the way He had healed others. The people were surprised when they heard Him say, "Son, thy sins be forgiven thee," but how happy the palsied man must have been to be saved and healed at the same time! He probably had never thought about his sins before, and how much trouble they had caused him. But Jesus could see the desire in his heart to do anything the Lord wanted him to do, so He gave him a double blessing. He asked, "Whether is it easier to say . . . Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, take up thy bed, and walk?” Jesus wanted them to know that He could forgive sins also, so that they would believe He was the Son of God -- for they knew that only God could forgive sins.
But the scribes, whose hearts were full of criticism, could not see His divinity, and said He blasphemed. If they had only known that He was the Second Person of the Godhead! If they had only had honest hearts that wanted to believe, Jesus would have given them wonderful blessings, too. It was only the man who believed who received Christ's blessing. The sick man was sick no longer; he took up his bed and went to his own home, a new man in Christ Jesus.
In this lesson we are considering also some miracles that Matthew tells us about. After Jesus' Sermon on the Mount great multitudes followed Him, and some believed. We notice that it was always those who believed who enjoyed Christ's benefits.
The Pharisees had made a habit of finding fault with Jesus on points of the Law; but after He had cleansed the leper, He sent him to the priest with the order that they offer the sacrifices Moses had commanded in the Law. As we study the life of Jesus we see He was very careful to obey the Law; it was the traditions of men that He ignored, and which angered the hypocrites ([Mark:7:5Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands? ]). However, Jesus said that He came to fulfil the Law. When His work on earth was finished, He became our High Priest, and we have no more need of the Law. (Read [Hebrews:9:1-28 [1] Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. [2] For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary. [3] And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all; [4] Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; [5] And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly. [6] Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. [7] But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: [8] The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: [9] Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; [10] Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation. [11] But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; [12] Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. [13] For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: [14] How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? [15] And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. [16] For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. [17] For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. [18] Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood. [19] For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, [20] Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. [21] Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. [22] And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. [23] It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. [24] For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: [25] Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; [26] For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. [27] And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: [28] So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. ]).
The Light to All
When the centurion came to Jesus, he displayed wonderful faith. He was a Roman officer, and one would not have expected him to believe in Jesus at all. But the light of the Gospel has appeared unto all men, and we do not receive blessings from God only because we have been born into a Christian family, but because we believe for ourselves.
Jesus said, "I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel." He meant that the Jews, His own people, did not believe in Him as this Roman soldier did. We have read that God chose Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to be His children, and promised that through their seed all the nations of the earth would be blessed; but now He says that strangers will come from the east and the west and enter into Heaven ahead of His chosen people who do not believe that Jesus is the Messiah. We, the Gentiles, are the "strangers" who can enter in and receive the blessings of God by faith, if we believe.
Many sick people and those possessed with devils came to Jesus, and He healed them all. Isaiah had prophesied, "Himself took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses." Jesus wants to heal us when we are sick, and has said through the Word: "Cursed be the man that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD" (Jeremiah:17:5And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the corn, and reapeth the ears with his arm; and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim. ). If we turn to doctors to try to get healing we are departing from the Lord, and He has no pleasure in us. In Psalm:50:15, we read: "Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me."
Waves Rebuked
After all the kind deeds Jesus had done, He was very tired, and when He and the disciples went into a ship to go across the sea, He fell asleep. A great storm arose, and the disciples were afraid they were going to sink. They must have had some faith in Jesus, for they cried, "Lord, save us." But because they were afraid, He said, "O ye of little faith." God wants His children to trust Him and not be afraid. “Perfect love casteth out fear" (I John:4:18The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
).
When Jesus rebuked the waves and the storm ceased, the people were surprised that even the winds and the sea obeyed Him. They did not understand that He had created them in the beginning, and the works of His hands had to obey Him.
The Psalmists were men of God. The Spirit inspired them to write beautiful truths of God's power. The Jews had probably often read such Psalms as:89:9: "Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them"; and Psalm:107:29: "He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still"; but they could not realise that the Son of God was right there with them. Job, who had perhaps never seen the ocean, spoke by inspiration, "Who shut up the sea with doors, . . . and said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?" (Job:38:8, 11).
Our Lord was a miracle-working Saviour in all that He did on earth in the lives of men and in nature; and we know He is the same today, because it is written: "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day and for ever" (Hebrews:13:8).
1. What was the second miracle that Jesus performed?
2. How was Jesus criticized after He healed the man of palsy?
3. Did Jesus know their thoughts?
4. If these sick people had not had faith, would they have been healed?
5. How did Jesus make it possible for us to be healed?
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