The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the Gospel preached to them. Matthew 11:5
Consider all of the miracles that were performed by the Lord Jesus, including those mentioned in our text. Which were the greatest? Was it the healing of the physical infirmities of so many of those who came to him, or was it the raising of the dead back to life and health? Was it the turning of water into wine at the marriage in Cana? Was it the walking on the waters of Galilee and the stilling of the storm? Was possibly the feeding of the five thousand men plus women and children? These great miracles were all proofs of the power and deity of the Lord Jesus, and of His great compassion and care for helpless and sinful humanity. You and I have not seen any of these miracles performed in our day, and we might have a difference of opinion as to which is the greatest. But in the list of miracles in our text is one item that does not at first appear miraculous – the preaching of the Gospel to the poor. But it is the greatest miracle of all.
Although it would be difficult to calculate the number of people affected by Jesus’ miracles during His ministry, we can probably presume the number would be somewhere in the thousands, possibly tens of thousands. Compare that to the number affected by the preaching of the Gospel at that time and in subsequent centuries. That number would definitely be up in the many millions. Only a few lepers were cleansed, blind given sight, lame made to walk, and hungry fed with bread and fish. But the preaching of the Gospel resulted in three thousand souls being saved on the day of Pentecost. And as many have been saved on many days since then. Around our world, as a result of Gospel meetings, personal witness, and the outreach of the printed page, radio broadcasts, and Internet messages, the poor are hearing the Gospel and are responding. We might not see big numbers in our locality, but God is working and saving in numbers that we cannot realize. What a miracle!
Suppose a preacher at one of our conferences were to look over his large audience and ask for a show of hands of all those who deserved to hear the Gospel. How many hands would he see raised? None, of course. Among the general public, we might very well get a similar result. Even most of the unsaved realize that only the grace of God results in their hearing the Gospel. Many of the religious people, and the doers of good deeds might take exception, but we must acknowledge that rebels and sinners have no right to hear the Gospel, let alone be privileged to respond to it. Only a great miracle grants us that privilege.
The next time you hear the Gospel being preached, allow the greatness of the miracle of that sound to thrill your soul. -Jim MacIntosh