A Prayer to Understand How Jesus Heals Us
By Chris Eyte
"As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?'
'Neither this man nor his parents sinned,' said Jesus, 'but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.'
After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. 'Go,' he told him, 'wash in the Pool of Siloam' (this word means 'Sent'). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing." - John 9:1-7
God’s ways and thoughts are not the same as ours. My wife dragged me away from work recently, and we went walking by a river and up onto a sea cliff, looking out across the Atlantic. I thought we should ‘do’ something spiritual, like sing a song or something. “Shall we do some sort-of worship?” I asked weakly. My wife turned around and smiled. “I am listening to the bird song,” she said. And then it came to me - God was singing to us, not the other way around. I had missed the point.
We can try and ‘work’ life out all the time and run the danger of missing what’s really important. Healing is a case example. Prayer for the miraculous can be boxed in, and we may have an agenda for it. Line up this way, worship with these tunes, come forward for prayer IF you have faith, hold your hands out, etc. It almost sounds like a pharmacy prescription! And if nothing supernatural happens, some believers think God has not lifted a person’s ordeal. They may refuse medicines in their own lives, too, seeing tablets, pills, and injections as worldly.
Yet this passage in John 9 seriously challenges this view. Let’s take time to contemplate what happened. Jesus rubbed clay into a man’s eyes to heal him! Why? What an unusual thing to do. Other blind men in the Bible were healed by the Lord instantly, without mud on the eyeballs. Jesus said this particular healing would bring glory to God by the works of the Holy Spirit in this man. That was destiny.
But why did he use mud? What was Jesus saying by doing this? He always did things for a reason. Is there an underlying message here? I believe there is. The same Lord God who formed the first man “from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life” (Genesis 2:7) used dust to bring life to this blind man’s eyes.
Jesus is reminding us that he is the Creator. The image of the invisible God with the authority to create and recreate. He is the sculptor who uses ordinary things like mud to regenerate. And, of course, if Christ used clay to heal - how can that be interpreted by the world of modern-day medicine? If ethically developed, it means that medical treatment is approved by God for our welfare here and now. Antibiotics, cancer drugs, insulin - all these things are like clay used by God to bring healing to our temporary earthly bodies. Medicine is essentially dust from the earth reshaped for healing purposes.
That is why we can praise the Lord for non-supernatural, ordinary medicine, as well as miraculous healings from prayer. So, if your doctor is suggesting a certain medicine today - respect his or her wisdom! Praise the Lord for using clay to bring you healing! And if you are healed through prayer - praise Him for that too!
Lastly, whatever your health struggles, never forget the bird song. Jesus once said (Matthew 10:29) that “not one [sparrow] will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.” Trust Him.
Let’s pray:
Father God - dearest Creator,
Healing can seem like a subject too big for my understanding. Thank you for the truth that you look after us here and now through prayers and miraculous healings and via ordinary medicine. I marvel at the fact this body I wear cannot be compared to my future state when you return. 2 Corinthians 5:1 compares it to moving from a tent to a house! What a thought. Your grace is sufficient for me with any thorns in my flesh, here and now. I trust you for your goodness to me. Thank you for your lovingkindness. In Jesus’ precious name. Amen.
Photo credit: ©GettyImages/kieferpix
Christopher Eyte lives with his wife Céline and three children in Swansea, Wales, UK. He has worked as a journalist for many years and writes his own blog (hislovefrees.life) encouraging others in their walk with Jesus. He became a Christian in February 2002, after a friend explained God's amazing grace!
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