Lesson 81 - Elementary
Memory Verse
"The Son of man is come to save that which was lost” (Matthew 18:11).
Notes
Sickness Came Through Sin
In the very beginning when God created man and placed him in the Garden of Eden, He did not plan that there should ever be any sickness. But when Adam and Even disobeyed God, and ate of the fruit of the tree of which God had forbidden them to eat, it brought sin, death, sickness, sorrow, and trouble into the world. Ever since that time people have had much trouble.
Healing Through the Prayer of Faith
However, God can do everything; those who trust Him and call upon Him may be healed of every kind of sickness and disease. Jesus can, and does, heal people today as he did when he was here upon earth. Many have been anointed and prayed for according to the Word of God and have been healed of many kinds of diseases. We read in [JAM:5:14];[JAM:5:15]: "Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick." Sometimes when people do not receive their healing, it is because they do not have faith that Jesus will heal them.
No one who came to Jesus for help was ever turned away. He never passed by a sick person without healing him; a blind man never asked Jesus for healing, without receiving sight. Jesus even raised the dead to life again.
A Blind Beggar
One day as Jesus left the Temple, where the angry Jews were about ready to stone Him, He saw a man who had been born blind. The disciples asked Jesus whether the beggar was blind because of his own sin or because of the sin of his parents. Jesus told them that it was not because he had sinned nor because his parents had sinned, that he was born blind, but that God wanted to teach the people that He could do even the hardest things.
Then Jesus made a little clay and placed it on the eyes of the blind man and told him to go to a pool named Siloam and wash. The man did not say to Jesus, "You know I am blind. Why did You ask such a hard thing of me?" He obeyed Jesus and went! We do not know whether someone led him to that pool, or whether he felt his way along. We have all seen how blind people often use a cane to help them find the way. We do know that he reached the pool and washed away the clay. Can we imagine how happy he was when he found that he could see!
Jesus could have touched the eyes of the blind man and healed him when He spoke to him; or He could have said to him as he said to a leper one day when He touched him, "Be thou clean" [LUK:5:13]). No doubt, if this blind man had refused to obey the command to wash in the pool, he would not have been healed. But his faith in Jesus made him do what Jesus told him to do; and he was healed.
What joy there must have been in the heart of this man who had never before known what it was to see the beautiful world " the trees, the birds, the flowers, the blue sky and white clouds! He had never even seen his very own mother and father; now, for the first time, he could see them. But, no doubt, the first One he longed to see was Jesus " the One who had brought about the great and wonderful miracle in his life. No more would he need to sit and beg for a living; everything was changed: he could see!
A Testimony
When the neighbours, the Pharisees, and the Jews, heard that the blind man could see, they could hardly believe it, because they did not believe in Jesus. Finally the Jews called the parents of the young man and asked if he was their son. They said that he was their son, and that he had been born blind. But for fear of the Jews, who hated Jesus, they said that they did not know who had opened the eyes of their son. They said. "He is of age; ask him: he shall speak for himself." And surely he did! What a wonderful testimony he gave!
Some of the people called Jesus a sinner; and the man who had been healed said that he did not know whether Jesus wee a sinner or not, but there was one thing he did know: "Whereas I was blind, now I see." They asked him again what Jesus had done to him; the man replied that he had already told them that Jesus had anointed his eyes with clay and had told him to wash in the pool of Siloam. The Jews made fun of him, but he continued to testify before them. This made the Jews still more angry and they threw him out of the synagogue " their church.
"Lord, I Believe"
Again Jesus came to his help. Jesus asked him if he believed on the Son of God. The man who had been healed wanted to know Jesus as his Saviour. He said, "Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?" Jesus said, "It is he that talketh with thee." Then the man said, "Lord, I believe," and worshiped Jesus. What a happy day this was in the life of this man " he was healed of blindness, and his "spiritual blindness" was also healed! Jesus had revealed Himself to this poor blind beggar and healed and saved him.
On the Jericho Road
Beggars sitting by the roadside were often seen in the days of long ago; and even today, in some countries, begging is still practised by many. Sometimes in our cities we find blind men selling pencils on the streets, in order to earn a living without begging. We have schools where blind people are taught to read, write, and use a typewriter; they are also taught to make brooms and other things with which they may earn a living.
We read in [MAK:10:46] of another blind man. As Jesus walked along the Jericho road with His disciples, He met another blind man " Bartimaeus " who sat there begging. When he heard that Jesus was passing by, he cried out, "Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me" [MAK:10:47]). He must have heard about Jesus before this; he perhaps had always hoped and longed to meet Jesus. He hoped that Jesus could make him see.
The people tried to quiet the blind man, but he kept on calling to Jesus for mercy. Did Jesus pass by him? No; He stopped and commanded that blind Bartimus be brought to Him. When he came, Jesus asked him, "What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?" The man said he wanted to see. Jesus did not disappoint him. Because the blind man believed Jesus could heal him, Jesus did heal him. he said, "Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole." The man then followed Jesus. Can you not hear him as he walks along with Jesus and tells everyone he meets that he has been healed of blindness? What joy must have filled his heart at being able to see; yes, but it was a still greater joy to walk and talk with Jesus!
A Blind Saint of God
Fanny Crosby, a writer of about 8,000 Gospel hymns, many of which we sing in our services today, spent her life in blindness. Through sickness, she lost her sight at the age of six weeks. When her dear mother learned that she was to be shut out from all the beauties of the world, she told her in her girlhood days that sometimes persons are born blind or deaf or lame in order that Jesus can use them better that way. They will look to Him for help, and become a blessing to other people. Jesus may even permit them to go through life that way, because He knows what is best for them.
She said: "Soon I learned what other children possessed, but I made up my mind to store away a little jewel in my heart, which I called Content. [That meant being satisfied with what she had.] This has been the comfort of my whole life. When I was eight years of age I wrote:
"'O what a happy soul am I!
Although I cannot see,
I am resolved that in this world
Contented I will be.
"How many blessings I enjoy,
That other people don't.
To weep and sigh because I'm blind,
I cannot, and I won't'"
Her grandmother, she says, brought the Bible to her, and her to the Bible: "The stories of the Holy Book came from her lips and entered my heart and took deep root there. When the evening shadows fell, Grandma would take me alone, and rocking me in her old chair, tell me of a kind heavenly Father, who sent His Son Jesus Christ down into this world to be a Saviour and a Friend to all mankind. Then she taught me to kneel in prayer, and often I bowed my weary little head and sightless eyes in Grandma's lap, and fell asleep."
When just a girl, she could repeat from memory the first five books of the Bible, most of the new Testament, many of the Psalms, the Proverbs, the Book of Ruth, and the Songs of Solomon. In her later life she said, "Today I love the dear Old Book, that I have tested and tried more than ever....
I shall rest on it to the end." And she did.
She was called Home to be with Jesus in the year of 1915 after ninety-four years. Today we sing and love the beautiful songs she wrote. She could not see the people, the trees and flowers; but perhaps she could see Jesus, and He was very dear to her.
How thankful we should be that we can see! When we consider the contentment enjoyed by this sightless song-writer, and the sunshine and cheer which she gave to others, we feel like praying, "Lord, help us never to complain about anything, and help us to make use of our sight to work for Jesus."
Questions
1. What did Jesus tell the blind man to do? [JHN:9:7].
2. Did he receive his sight? [JHN:9:7].
3. Did he tell those who asked him what had happened? [JHN:9:11], [JHN:9:15], [JHN:9:25], [JHN:9:27].
4. When he learned who Jesus was, did he believe on Him? [JHN:9:38].
5. Did Jesus ever refuse to heal those who came to Him? [LUK:9:11]; [LUK:4:40]; [MAT:14:14].