Thursday, January 28, 2010

A New Testimony

Below is the daily Bible reading I am doing for West Side Church of Christ. Feel free to follow along.

Jesus has performed a lot of miracles by this point in his ministry. Now it is winding down and the cross is only a week away. We have not spent much time talking about the miracles Jesus performed. Today’s reading (Matthew 20) shows just another in his list of many.

Two blind men are sitting beside the road and cry out to Jesus. The crowds rebuke these two men, but they have gotten Jesus’ attention. Jesus had compassion on them and restored their sight.

When Jesus performs a miracle, every affliction that people were stricken with is immediately healed. There was no time of healing that took place. There was no rigorous rehabilitation program. When Jesus healed people their affliction was gone. When the leper stuck out his hand, the leprosy went away and the strength was returned. When the cripple lay on his mat, and Jesus commands him to walk, immediately he gets up and walks. There was no stumbling. We know that in Acts when the cripple is sitting next to the gate called beautiful, and Peter and John heal him, he gets up and leaps and jumps for joy. When Jesus heals, it is immediate.

Now today we do not see these kinds of miracles taking place. Why is that? What was the purpose of these miracles? Jesus, and his Disciples, performed these miracles as a testimony to the message he was sharing. Today we have a different testimony to the message of the cross. We have the written Word of God. This is a Word that has stood the test of time. For nearly 2,000 years it has been handed down by each generation. We also have the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit works to convict the hearts of the unsaved, and works to give testimony to the Gospel of Christ.

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