In this segment we will consider instances in which people were healed of some malady and were told to go to people who would have known of their malady so that they may see that they had been miraculously healed.
Legion: the Gadarene DemoniacIn Mark chapter 5 (and Luke 8:27-39 and Matthew 8:28-34) Jesus had traveled to the country of the Gadarenes which is opposite Galilee. Jesus is confronted by two demon possessed men one of whom is known as Legion (“for we are many”). This is quite a tragic story:
Legion made “his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains, because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones (v. 3-5).
This was an extreme case of demonic possession. Jesus exorcized him and when He went to leave Legion (the now ex-Legion) “begged Him that he might be with Him. However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, ‘Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you’” (v. 18-19).
Blind From Birth
In John chapter 9 Jesus encounters “a man who was blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’” (v. 1-2).
As we saw in the last segment, this is odd and fallacious theology as Jesus explains, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him (v. 3). And how could the man have sinned in order to have been born blind? He either sinned in the womb or he was a Hindu or Buddhist. Apparently, there was a non-biblical concept of a baby being able to sin in the womb.
Jesus heals him and sends him to “wash in the pool of Siloam,” Jesus had placed mud mixed with saliva on his eyes.
“So he went and washed, and came back seeing.Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, ‘Is not this he who sat and begged?’Some said, ‘This is he.’ Others said, ‘He is like him.’He said, ‘I am he.’Therefore they said to him, ‘How were your eyes opened?’He answered and said, ‘A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and I received sight.”Then they said to him, ‘Where is He?’He said, ‘I do not know’” (v. 7-12).
Note that he was seen by those who knew that he was blind and that some, in quite a natural response, questioned whether it was really him, “He is like him.”
Next:
“They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees. Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight. He said to them, ‘He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.’Therefore some of the Pharisees said, ‘This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.’Others said, ‘How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?’ And there was a division among them” (v. 13-16).
This goes to who the dead, dry as dust, heart of “religion”-they are more concerned about administrating laws than praising God for healing a blind man.
Thus:
17 They said to the blind man again, ‘What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?’ He said, ‘He is a prophet.’But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight. And they asked them, saying, ‘Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?’His parents answered them and said, ‘We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know. He is of age; ask him. He will speak for himself.’ His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, ‘He is of age; ask him.’So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, ‘Give God the glory! We know that this Man is a sinner.’He answered and said, ‘Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see’” (v. 17-25).
This is fascinating and quite logical: those who did not know him did not believe that he had been healed. Quite logically, they called for his parents to ask them whether he had been born blind and how he now sees. Their answer is likewise quite logical: they knew he was blind and that he now sees but nothing about what happened in between so why not ask him.His answer is the same he knew that he was blind and that he now sees but nothing about how the change occurred. It is almost as if the man and his parents are to deny the fact of the change from blindness to sight because they cannot provide a scientific account. Yet, they could care less-they are just happy that the man can see. This reminds me of complaining about the poor design of a Panda’s “thumb” while the Panda is saying, “Let’s see you try to strip thousands of bamboo leaves from branches. I’m doing just fine, Mr. Opposable.”
A disputation ensues between the Pharisees and the ex-blind man, and he is basically excommunicated. Finally, we get a glimpse into the point of this parabolic action as Jesus moves from physical blind/sightedness to spiritual blind/sightedness:
“Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, ‘Do you believe in the Son of God?’
He answered and said, ‘Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?’And Jesus said to him, ‘You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.’Then he said, ‘Lord, I believe!’ And he worshiped Him.And Jesus said, ‘For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.’Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, ‘Are we blind also?’Jesus said to them, ‘If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains’” (v. 35-41).
The LeperIn Matthew 8:1-4 (also Luke 5:12-14) we find a leper engaging Jesus.
The “leper came and worshiped Him, saying, ‘Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.’Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, ‘I am willing; be cleansed.’ Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to him, ‘See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.’”
The priests would have been acquainted with the leper since it was they who would have diagnosed him. They would have followed a systematic process of diagnosis and quarantine which had been in place for millennia (see Leviticus chapter 13).
These are some of the examples of people who knew the demon possessed men, their own son and a diagnosed leper and witnessed the change in them.