John 9:6-9 (NIV)
Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.
His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?” Some claimed that he was.
Others said, “No, he only looks like him.”
But he himself insisted, “I am the man.”
Rather than just a touch or a word, Jesus used a more elaborate method to heal this man. Some wonder why, but it is enough for us to know that Jesus always followed the lead of the Father (John 5:19), and never did things that were unnecessary. But that being said, taking such concrete steps as making mud, smearing the mud on the man’s eyes, and commanding him to go and wash ensured that there would be no question that the healing would be directly attributed to Him, and not to generalized prayers, or to chance.
The healing was complete. The man went home able to see for the first time in his life. But the healing was so instant, so thorough, and so lacking in normal methods that people could understand, that many, even those who had known the man for years, refused to accept that he was the same man, despite his protestations.
Even today people will accept divine healing most readily if it happens gradually, or with the help of medical science. Instantaneous and complete healings mostly make people uncomfortable, because they can’t understand or control the mechanism. For that reason, people rarely pray powerful prayers for healing, settling instead for brief petitions, and satisfied with gradual improvement. But God can do so much more, and does so in response to powerful prayers, and through the obedience of His people whom he sends to pronounce instantaneous healing and wholeness to those who are sick or wounded.
It is important to realize that, contrary to those who say that miracles must, by definition, be rare, they were not rare in Jesus’ day, or in the early days of the Church. Instead, they were common, showing forth God’s power and presence in the life of Jesus, and then in the life of the Church who embodied His presence.
Father, You are right in saying that great miracles make us feel more uncomfortable than blessed, which actually affects the way that we pray, and the faith (or lack of it) that we exercise. But You are the same yesterday, today, and forever. Your arm is not shortened, nor have You grown weak over the millennia. Forgive us, Lord, for our willingness to be satisfied with a lack of power and a dearth of mighty miracles. Instill in us again a thirst for You to “enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness”, and for You to “Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” (Acts 4:29-30 NIV) Amen.