The reason why we have the record of so many of the miracles of Jesus, is thus given: "Many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; But these are written, that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you might have life through His name." (John 20:30-31)
In the teaching of Jesus and the apostles we are told the way of life; but in the miracles which God wrought by them we have visible manifestations of the reality of the life, and of its power. There is not a spiritual truth set forth in the Epistles, that does not find an illustration in some of the miracles performed in the bodies of men.
God gave to Jesus "power over all flesh, that ... He should give eternal life" (John 17:2) to all who come to Him. By the power which He had to deliver the bodies of men from disease, He showed power to release their souls from sin. "For whether is easier, to say, Your sins be forgiven you; or to say, Arise, and walk? But that you may know that the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins, (then He said to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up your bed, and go unto your house. And he arose, and departed to his house. But when the multitude saw it, they marveled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men." (Matthew 9:5-8)
Some of the most striking of the miracles of Jesus were done on the Sabbath day, and to a few of these we wish to call special attention.
The Man With a Withered Hand
First we read the story of the healing of the man with a withered hand: "And it came to pass also on another Sabbath, that He entered into the synagogue and taught; and there was a man whose right hand was withered. And the scribes and Pharisees watched Him, whether He wouldheal on the Sabbath day; that they might find an accusation against Him. But He knew their thoughts, and said to the man which had the withered hand, Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth. Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the Sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it? And looking round about upon them all, He said unto the man,Stretch forth your hand. And he did so; and his hand was restored whole as the other." (Luke 6:6-10)
The right hand is one of the most necessary parts of the body, especially to the laboring man. Very difficult indeed would be to work with the right hand hanging useless at the side, and many kinds of work would be impossible. What Jesus did was to give that man power to work. The man stretched forth his hand in faith, and was made strong to work, thus illustrating the words of Jesus, "This is the work of God, that you believe on Him whom He has sent." (John 6:29)
The Man Blind From Birth
"And as Jesus passed by, He saw a man which was blind from his birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither has this man sinned, nor his parents; but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. I must work the works of Him that sent me, while it is day; the night comes, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. When He had thus spoken, He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, and said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing. ... And it was the Sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes." (John 9:1-7,14)
By this miracle Christ gave a visible proof of the fact that He is the light of the world. The blind beggar listened to the words of Christ, and so received his sight. From this we may know the truthfulness of Christ assertion: "I am the light of the world; he that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." (John 8:12)
When the blind man's eyes were opened he was able to see the light of the sun, but nevertheless Christ was his light, showing that the light which the sun in the firmament sheds upon the earth is only the light which it has received from the Sun of Righteousness. (Malachi 4:2)
We cannot see Christ, and it is impossible for our minds to comprehend how His life can be given to us, so that we may have eternal life and righteousness; but we do know the fact that the sun gives light to the earth, and that in its light there is life; and since in the miracles of giving sight to the blind we have the evidence that this light and life come from Christ, we may in like manner know the fact that He can impart to us His life of righteousness.
It is just as easy to believe in Christ as the Saviour from sin and death, as it is to believe in the sun as the cause of life and fruitfulness to the earth.
Sin is darkness. The hearts of men became darkened when they did not glorify God as God. (Romans 1:21) "[They had] the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God." (Ephesians 4:18)
Christ gives the light of life, so that just as He gave sight to the blind, He takes away the darkness of sin from all who accept Him in truth.
Healing the Infirm Woman
"And He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself. And when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him, and said unto her, Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity. And He laid His hands on her; and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work; in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day. The Lord then answered him, and said, You hypocrite, does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day? And when He had said these things, all His adversaries were ashamed; and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him." (Luke 13:10-17)
This woman had been bound by Satan. The loosing of her, therefore, was a striking illustration of Christ's power to free from sin, for: "Whosoever commits sin is the bond-servant of sin," (John 8:34) "[and] is of the devil;" (1 John 3:8) "[And] of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage." (2 Peter 2:19)
The woman could not lift herself up. So every sinner may truly say, "My iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up." (Psalm 40:12)
But the same sinner, seeing the power of Christ on the infirm woman, may also say, "You, Lord, are a shield for me, my glory, and the lifter up of my head." (Psalm 3:3)
The woman "had a spirit of infirmity." (Luke 13:11)
Christ had compassion on her and healed her. So we may know that: "We have not a High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities." (Hebrews 4:15)
And we may also know that His sympathy is of a practical kind. In this miracle and the one preceding, we have a blessed illustration of the power that is in Christ: "To open [the] eyes [of men] and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan and to God." (Acts 26:18)
The Impotent Man Healed
"After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered. ... And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a longtime in that case, He said unto him, Will you be made whole? The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool; but while I am coming, another steps down before me. Jesus said unto him, Rise, take up your bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked; and on the same day was the Sabbath. ... And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath day. But Jesus answered them, My Father works hitherto, and I work." (John 5:1-3,5-9,16-17)
The man had no strength. Moreover, it was sin that had reduced him to that condition, as we learn from Christ's words to him, "Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto you." (John 5:14)
This is a practical lesson for us, "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly." (Romans 5:6)
We have no power, but He is able to strengthen us with might by His Spirit.
Why Done on the Sabbath?
It will be observed that the fact that these miracles were done on the Sabbath is specially noted. Take notice also that in none of them was the need so urgent that the healing might not have been deferred another day.
The blind man could have waited another day without special inconvenience. The man who lay by the pool was not in such imminent danger that he must necessarily be healed immediately. So also in the other cases, their infirmities were not immediately endangering their lives.
Besides, none of them were expecting to be healed, so that they would not have suffered any disappointment if Jesus had said nothing to them until the Sabbath was past.
But Jesus did not delay an hour. Moreover He healed them on the Sabbath day, knowing full well that it would offend the Pharisees, and increase their hatred for Him. These things show that He had a special object in doing these miracles on the Sabbath day, and that the Holy Spirit had a purpose in calling our attention specially to the day in which they were performed. What was that object?
The answer is easy. We may dismiss at once the supposition that Jesus acted in a spirit of bravado, to show His contempt for the Pharisees, or that He would unnecessarily stir up their hatred towards Him. The miracles were done for the same purpose that they were recorded, "That you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you might have life through His name." (John 20:31)
Neither did Jesus do these miracles out of disrespect to the Sabbath day, for He kept all the commandments. Some have the mistaken idea that Jesus did them to show that the Sabbath may be broken in case of necessity. But Jesus did not break the Sabbath, although the Jews falsely accused Him of so doing. It is never necessary to break the Sabbath, but Jesus himself said, "It is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days." (Matthew 12:12)
We learn therefore that Jesus, instead of breaking the Sabbath, as the blind Pharisees suppose, was showing its true meaning. True, He worked upon it, but how? It was by His Word. Ever since the creation of the world, when the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their host, and "God did rest the seventh day from all His works." (Hebrews 4:4) He has still continued to work by the Word of His power, which upholds all things. God gave the Sabbath that we might know that He is the God that sanctifies us: "Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them." (Ezekiel 20:12)
So in performing those miracles on the Sabbath day, Jesus was showing that the Sabbath is to free men from bondage, and not to be a bondage to them. It commemorates creative power, by which all who believe are made new creatures in Christ. "For we which have believed do enter into rest," (Hebrews 4:3) even God's rest. God rested when He had finished His work. He rested upon His Word of power. So we find rest through work,--not our work but God's work. "This is the work of God, that you believe on Him whom He has sent." (John 6:29)
But believing, as we have seen, gives us rest. The work of God gives us rest from sin, for we triumph in the work of His hands. "For You, Lord, have made me glad through your work: I will triumph in the works of your hands." (Psalm 92:4)
So by these miracles Christ teaches us that the Sabbath, even the day which the Jews held as the Sabbath, but which they did not keep according to God's commandment, is the crowning glory of the Gospel. Kept as God has given it to us, it enables us to see Christ as both Redeemer and Creator,--as Redeemer because He is Creator. The Sabbath of the Lord--the memorial of creation--reminds us of "the power of God unto salvation to every one that believes." (Romans 1:16)
It reveals to us, as nothing else can, Christ as the anointed by the Holy Spirit, "to preach the Gospel to the poor; ... to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord." (Luke 4:18-19)--Present Truth, September 19, 1895.