THAT OUR EYES MAY BE OPENED
Matthew 20:30 And, behold, two blind men sitting by the way side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David. :31 And the multitude rebuked them, because they should hold their peace: but they cried the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David. :32 And Jesus stood still, and called them, and said, What will ye that I shall do unto you? :33 They say unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened. :34 So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him. [New disciples won. They just needed some merciful, loving help.]
MB: Whilst reading the above passages something interesting happened. It was like the scriptures revealed another message . It may have been just as it seems to propose, that these men were physically blind, yet they could well have been spiritually blind and were given understanding into what Jesus was actually doing. He wasn’t simply going around healing a bunch of physically sick people, like a doctor would, but He was essentially a spiritual doctor. Hasn’t it been said in the Words of David that the greatest miracle of all is the healing of the heart in salvation? I don’t mean to downplay Jesus’ physical ministry, but the spiritual is underemphasized in our minds when reading verses like those above. We are too much in the world. This thought is confirmed in the whole “temple worship” concept. The world is still very much in the flesh about temples and worship. They are like heathens in their outlook. Just because someone receives physical healing, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are going to understand spiritual concepts. I believe if we employ a spiritual outlook to the scripture we read, then we would undoubtedly “see” the Bible’s intention with much more clarity. “The flesh profits nothing; it is the spirit that makes alive. The Words that I speak unto you are spirit and life.”
3John 1:2 Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.
MB: This is as good example as any. At first reading, it seems the emphasis is on good health (in the flesh) Yet in reality the verse is simply speaking of spiritual prosperity. We know that if the soul prospers, then the flesh will prosper. What comes first, flesh or spirit? It follows that if you feed the spirit first, then everything that is needful to the body will fall in place as a matter of course. “Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?” In other words, why do you spend so much time thinking and concerning yourself with the things of the flesh? Put God first, as in taking in the Word, and He will take care of those things that are needful to the body. We so much want to see a physical miracle before believing. But that is not what scripture is saying. It is always going deeper. Our physical life is but a vapor, here today and gone tomorrow. Yet even whilst reading the scripture we put emphasis on the physical application. Why is the world in such a mess physically? Because it is first of all in a spiritual mess. Those in the world have turned their hearts away from God and the Word, and are completely focused on the things of this world. They, the world, will never ever ever “get it together.” They are fools. Even if they had a thousand, thousand years, the flesh would not profit. Physically speaking, the earth’s resources would dry up. Flesh was not the way God designed it. Flesh is a result of disobedience, spiritual sin.
1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 3:2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.