Matthew 15:29-31 (NIV) Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them. The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.
The people, great crowds of them, brought their sick and infirm to Jesus. But these were not people of great faith, only people of hope. They had heard that Jesus could heal any disease and disability, even things like demon possession and leprosy. So they brought their friends and family members to Him to see what He could do.
Jesus could have looked at these people, saw their lack of strong faith in Him, and written them off as mere seekers after miracles. This event could have had the same ending as His trip back to Nazareth: “And He did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.” (Matthew 13:58) But Jesus saw past their lack of faith to their hope. That was an adequate place to start. Some of them would have faith spring to life in their hearts when their loved ones were healed.
And so He spoke, He touched, He commanded, and the healings happened. The blind could suddenly see, and faith replace mere hope in a heart. A lame man stood and walked, and another spot of faith flamed to life. A mute began to speak clearly, and faith lit a fire in once dull eyes. All were amazed at what Jesus could do, but many were filled with a restored faith, not just in Jesus, but in the God of Israel for what He was accomplishing through Him.
The excitement of the crowd was palpable and contagious. No one wanted to miss what Jesus would do next. And when he taught them about the kingdom of God (which He ALWAYS did), they hung on His every word. Hours turned into days, and three days later, many were still there, excited to see what Jesus would do next, and to hear what He would teach.
Father, theology and Bible teaching are not boring, but exciting when the one teaching them embodies the power depicted in them. People really do hang on the words of someone that Your power is working through. Help me to be one of those people, today and every day. Amen.