And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. Matthew 21:14
Fifty years ago, you would never see all of the wheelchair ramps that are part of many of the public buildings of today. Our society has taken great strides in making these buildings accessible to people who used to be excluded because of their physical disabilities. Wheelchair ramps and other changes enable these people to not only visit those buildings, but also to work there. We are all winners, because these people are usually excellent workers and managers who provide good service to customers and clients. But this was not always the case even within our own lifetimes. And in Bible days, those who were lame or blind or had other physical limitations were shut out from most of society. In fact, Leviticus 21 tells us that those who were lame could not serve in the temple in any capacity. It takes the Lord Jesus to remove those disabilities.
There were lame and blind people in the temple when the Lord Jesus arrived. They were restricted in where they could go and what they could access. Then the Lord Jesus came, and, as our text explains, He healed them. Instantly, all restrictions were lifted. This is a wonderful lesson to us as we consider the limitations that were on us before God came into our lives and reached us with His great salvation. Shackled in the darkness of sin, we had no right to draw near to God and had no ability to serve Him in any capacity. In fact, we were unable to have even the desire to draw near to God and to serve Him. But like the folks in our text, all of that changed when the Lord Jesus drew near. We remember the great change in our lives when we first trusted Christ as Saviour. We remember the wonders of the Word of God being revealed as our blindness of sin was lifted. We remember the appreciation for the Lord’s people what occurred. We remember the delight of obedience to the Lord in baptism and service. These great changes came about because we received spiritual healing that released us from the restrictions under which we were born.
Of the blind and lame folks healed when the Lord Jesus entered the temple, how many do you suppose became devoted followers of Him? We may never know, although there was probably a great differences in the responses of those who were healed. It is the same today. We all know Christians who become and remain bright lights of testimony and are vibrant in their service for their Lord. We also know some who seem to have made little headway in their spiritual growth since they first believed. And then there is the large majority of Christians somewhere in between. We all received the same salvation, so why the difference?
The Lord Jesus has healed us. What difference does that healing make today? -Jim MacIntosh