The Eyes of Blind Men Open
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April 29, 2018 |
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"Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, He could do nothing" (John 9:32-33).
Dr. Jaerock Lee,
Senior Pastor of Manmin Central Church
- Chairman, The United Holiness Church of Jesus Christ
- Permanent President, The World Christianity Revival Mission Association
- Founder & Board Chairman, Global Christian Network
- Founder & Board Chairman, World Christian Doctors Network
- Founder & Board Chairman, Manmin International Seminary
- Founder & Board Chairman, The Alliance Holiness Theological Seminary
- Doctorate of Ministry, and Honorary Doctorate of Divinity
- His sermons were broadcast by the Far East Broadcasting Company and the Asia Broadcast Station
His Christian columns appear on The JoongAng Daily, The Dong-A Ilbo, The Seoul Shinmun, The Hankyoreh Shinmun, The Korea Economic Daily, The Shisa News, and The Christian Press.
He conducted crusades in New York City, Washington, Baltimore, Maryland, Los Angeles, and Hawaii of the USA; Japan; India; Pakistan; the Philippines; Argentina; Honduras; Peru; Russia; Germany; Kenya; Tanzania; Uganda; the Democratic Republic of the Congo; Jerusalem of Israel; and Estonia.
In the Old Testament there is no record of a blind man gaining his eyesight. But in the New Testament, several blind men came to see through Jesus. It shows that Jesus is the Messiah prophesied by Isaiah.
The great power and signs and wonders that Jesus performed was the evidence showing that Jesus, who was crucified by Jews, is the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament. His powerful works was a sign of the living God's presence with Him and the most certain way to plant faith in people.
1. The power of Jesus opened the eyes of a blind man.
In the Gospel of John chapter 9 there is the record of an amazing work manifested through Jesus. As He passed by with His disciples, He saw a man who had been blind from birth. When they saw him, they asked Him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?"
Jesus said that it was neither the man who had sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him. Then, He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and applied the clay to his eyes, and told him to go, wash in the pool of Siloam. He, though blind, obeyed; he went and washed his eyes and he came to see.
The Bible writes about many people who met Jesus and were healed by Him, but this man was different from the rest. It was not he who came to Jesus and implored Jesus to open his eyes. Jesus Himself found him first and healed him. What, then, is the reason this blind man received such great grace of this amazingly powerful work?
2. Why did the blind man receive healing through Jesus?
1) He was a man of obedience.
Jesus came to the man blind from birth first, spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and applied the clay to his eyes, and told him to go, wash in the pool of Siloam. In fact, it would sound like nonsense to a blind man if he heard that he could regain eyesight by applying clay of the spittle and wash it, and it would sound impossible.
What's more, because he did not know Jesus, he might mistakenly think that He teased him and might get angry at Him. However, the man blind from birth obeyed Jesus and washed his eyes in the pool of Siloam. As a result, his eyes that had been blind gained eyesight and he came to see.
If you humbly believe and obey the Word of God, even if it sounds inconsistent with your common sense and experiences, you can experience amazing works of healing and answers by the grace of God.
2) His spiritual eyes were open to discern the truth.
After the blind man was healed, he happened to talk to Jews. The conversation shows his goodness, in which he could discern between right and wrong. At that time, Jewish leaders were spiritually blind due to their own self-frameworks concerning the Law. During the conversation people questioned the man born blind about how his eyes had been opened. He boldly said, "The man who is called Jesus made clay, and anointed my eyes, and said to me, 'Go to Siloam and wash'; so I went away and washed, and I received sight."
However, the Jews did not believe him and tried to find faults in what he said. They asked the blind man, "What do you say about Him, since He opened your eyes?" And, he undauntedly replied "He is a prophet." He said this because he believed that Jesus is from God since He healed his eyes. But the Jews reprimanded him, saying, "Give glory to God; we know that this man is a sinner."
God does not hear the prayer of sinners (Psalm 66:18). God doesn't give sinners His power and doesn't want to receive glory through them. While the Jews would not see, believe or realize the truth, the man born blind told the truth without fear.
He said in John 9:31-33, "We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him. Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, He could do nothing."
In fact, people should have rejoiced and celebrated together when they heard someone born blind had gained their eyesight through the power of Jesus. However, the Jews in those times were spiritually ignorant and very evil. Even though they saw the work of God, they stood against Him.
The Bible tells us that it is the only God who can open men's blind eyes. Psalm 146:8 reads, "The LORD opens the eyes of the blind…" Isaiah 29:18 says, "On that day the deaf will hear words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see." Isaiah 35:5 states, "Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped." These verses foretell that when the Christ came He would open the eyes of the blind.
Though such words are recorded in the Bible, the Jews would not believe the work of God because of their own self-frameworks and evil. They condemned Jesus as a sinner. However, though he did not have much knowledge of the Law, the man born blind had a good conscience. He was also well aware of the truth that God does not hear sinners and it is the only God who can open the eyes of the blind.
3) He was determined to lead a new life after he received grace.
Since the opening of this church, countless people have been healed of their diseases, recovered their health, and resolved their life problems. There have also been others who forsook the great grace, left the bosom of God, and gone back to the world.
When they were sick, they said in their prayers that they would live for the Lord if He healed them. However, once they were healed, recovered health, and received blessings, they forsook the grace they received seeking their own benefits. Their physical problems such as health were resolved, but they left the way of salvation and chose the way to hell. How pitiful it is!
The man born blind, however, had a good inner-heart not to forsake the grace he received. That is why Jesus came to him first and healed him. Moreover, he received the blessing of salvation which is the most important blessing. Jesus said to him, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" He, then, said, "Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?"
Jesus said, "You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you." He answered without hesitation, "Lord, I believe". It means that he accepted Jesus as the Christ. It was his confession of faith that he would follow and live only for the Lord.
The God of love wants everybody to come before Him with this kind of heart. Our belief is not just because He can heal and bless us. God wants us to realize His deep love by which He did not spare His only begotten Son and to accept Jesus as the Savior from the bottom of the heart. He also wants us not just to love Him with words but also to cast away things that belong to darkness and walk in the Light every day with true love for God.
"For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome" (1 John 5:3).
If you have such faith and love, God will give you anything you ask for. It is as written in Matthew 7:11 reads, "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!"
You don't have to worry about your problems no matter how complicated they seem. When you say from your heart, "Lord, I believe" and show the deeds of faith, Jesus who healed the blind man can cure your diseases, make the impossible possible, and turn everything into prosperity.
3. The powerful works performed in Manmin Central Church
Since the opening of the church in 1982, many people have had their eyes opened through prayer. Some people came to see with the eyes that had been blind from birth, and innumerable people regained better eyesight and came to see well without their glasses or contact lenses.
A girl named Maria lost eyesight in her right eye when she had a high fever at the age of two. When she was twelve, in July 2002, she attended the Honduras United Crusade. She had previously not been able to recover her eyesight despite many attempts medically. She even had a corneal transplant, but it was to no avail. Surgery failed and she could not even see light with the right eye for ten years. In the meantime, her family heard about the crusade and attended it with longing for the grace of God. She received the prayer for the sick there and started to see light. Later, she fully recovered her eyesight.
How amazing it was that her optic nerves which had been dead were newly created by the power of God! The Honduran people witnessed it and exclaimed with a shout of joy, saying, "God is truly alive and working today!" The crusade was filled with a festive mood.
Deacon Yongsung Kim, age 73, photo #5, could not see even light with his right eye since it had gone blind due to diabetes. In August 2016, he participated in Manmin Summer Retreat and received the prayer for the sick. Then, his eyes felt refreshed and clear. Back home, he detected light coming through the right eye. His eyesight became better and better over time such that he could distinguish objects. And he was also healed of diabetes.
The left eye of Senior Deaconess Myungsook Park, age 62, photo #7, also went completely blind when she was 22 years old. While she was passing by her brothers playing tip-cat, the large stick hit her left eye. Its retina was torn, and it went completely blind. She was unable to see light. She was even afflicted with an eye disease in her right eye when she relied on it. The eyesight was quickly failing. In such a desperate situation, she received the prayer and both of her blind left eye and weakened right eye recovered. Afterwards, she was able to thread a needle and read small letters in the Bible!
A man named Combo in Kenya, Africa visited his family living approximately 400km away from his hometown to evangelize them. He talked about the powerful works that had happened in Manmin Central Church in Korea and prayed for his family members with the handkerchief I had prayed on (Acts 19:11-12). He also gave them the church's calendar. His grandmother who was blind said, "I also want to see the picture of Dr. Jaerock Lee." She held the calendar in her hands. Right then, something incredible happened!
When she opened the calendar, her eyesight was restored, and she came to see my picture. The family members witnessed the powerful work of opening her eyes, and they came to believe the living God. This was spread all over the town and the people asked the central church to open branch churches in their town.
Such amazing powerful works have been happening all around the world countless times. When you believe and acknowledge the power of God in goodness, you can also experience the blessings. In order to experience the power, you have to recognize and long for works of God with the heart of goodness like the heart of the blind man who was healed by Jesus. Some of you can experience the power of God while others cannot, and it depends on how you prepare for your vessels to receive the answer.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the blind man's parents acted cowardly before the threatening words and deeds of the Jews. But the man audaciously said, "If this man were not from God, He could do nothing."
Manmin members have seen many people healed of their eye problems by faith. Their blind eyes opened and bad eyesight was healed. I hope you will bear in mind this amazing work of the power and increase your faith until the Lord comes back again. I pray in the name of the Lord that by doing so you will run more earnestly towards New Jerusalem the most beautiful dwelling place in heaven.
Deaconess Namsun Park, age 72, came to see things at a distance; Brother Jungwoo Chun, age 14, was healed of dimmed vision of unknown origin; Brother Kyuchan Yeon, age 18, of congenital paralytic squinting; and Deaconess Myungsun Park, age 80, of inability to see at night. The blind right eye of Deacon Yongsung Kim, age 73, opened; and Senior Deaconess Junghee Bae, age 53, was healed of eye allergy and itchiness. Senior Deaconess Myungsuk Park, age 62, was healed of the blind left eye and the weakened right eye. Deacon Hyungmo Kim, age 56, gained better eyesight from 0.7/0.5 to 1.0/1.0. Deacon Ihee Song, age 60, was healed of extreme farsightedness; Senior Deaconess Aran Lee, age 51, of astigmatism; Deaconess Jungrye Yang, age 75, of nearsightedness. They came to see clearly now (photos # 1 to 11).
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