I was listening to the book of Acts on my Bible cd in the car today on my way to a meeting and I have been wrestling with the following verse from Acts 14:9:
"He saw that he had faith to be healed."
The verse speaks of Paul when he is in Lystra and comes upon a lame man. Scripture clearly points out that this man had never walked, that he was lame from birth.
I find it interesting not only what Paul says, but what he does. 1.) Paul "looked directly" at the man 2.) he "saw that he had faith to be healed" 3.) and he called out "stand up on your feet!"
This is fascinating to me because Paul and Barnabas were just sent out from Jerusalem after the apostles settled the matter of a sect of Jewish followers of Jesus who were forcing Gentiles to be circumcised in order to be saved. Paul then almost gets stoned and then goes on to Lystra with Barnabas.
He then comes upon this man. The word "saw" stands out to me. In the context of the sentence, "he saw that he had faith to be healed," this is a much different concept of seeing than the physical human sense. Paul "saw" something that is not clearly visible to the average person. My only explanation is that Paul, empowered by the Holy Spirit, senses the faith of this lame man. How does he see this? He sees with the eyes of the Spirit, the eyes of Jesus, the eyes of God.
First, why don't we see this way? It requires being completely in tune with the Spirit. Second, how is Paul able to heal the man? Does Paul really heal the man? In fact, all Paul does is make a pretty bizarre statement. He is surrounded by people anxious to learn from his teaching about Jesus and he pulls a Jesus and heals someone. But, in the same way Jesus did, he empowered the man to participate in the act of his healing. He calls the man to stand up. Now, we have already been told that Paul saw that this man had faith to be healed, and we are then shown that by the man's willingness to stand up after not ever knowing what it felt like to stand. Two notable times that Jesus performed a miracle this way is first the wedding feast at Cana. He commands the servants to fill up the jugs with water. They obey and the water becomes wine. Second, he heals a blind man by spitting in the mud and wiping it on his eyes and telling him to go and wash. I find it pretty amazing that Jesus invites us to participate in our own healing. Even Jesus' sacrificial death on the cross invites us to act. We have to choose whether we will accept his sacrifice or not.
And what is the crowd's reaction after this amazing miracle? They try to worship Paul and Barnabas as gods. Talk about missing the point. God must be so frustrated with these jokers. No wonder Paul and Barnabas tear their clothes and run into the crowd to confront them...
"He saw that he had faith to be healed."
The verse speaks of Paul when he is in Lystra and comes upon a lame man. Scripture clearly points out that this man had never walked, that he was lame from birth.
I find it interesting not only what Paul says, but what he does. 1.) Paul "looked directly" at the man 2.) he "saw that he had faith to be healed" 3.) and he called out "stand up on your feet!"
This is fascinating to me because Paul and Barnabas were just sent out from Jerusalem after the apostles settled the matter of a sect of Jewish followers of Jesus who were forcing Gentiles to be circumcised in order to be saved. Paul then almost gets stoned and then goes on to Lystra with Barnabas.
He then comes upon this man. The word "saw" stands out to me. In the context of the sentence, "he saw that he had faith to be healed," this is a much different concept of seeing than the physical human sense. Paul "saw" something that is not clearly visible to the average person. My only explanation is that Paul, empowered by the Holy Spirit, senses the faith of this lame man. How does he see this? He sees with the eyes of the Spirit, the eyes of Jesus, the eyes of God.
First, why don't we see this way? It requires being completely in tune with the Spirit. Second, how is Paul able to heal the man? Does Paul really heal the man? In fact, all Paul does is make a pretty bizarre statement. He is surrounded by people anxious to learn from his teaching about Jesus and he pulls a Jesus and heals someone. But, in the same way Jesus did, he empowered the man to participate in the act of his healing. He calls the man to stand up. Now, we have already been told that Paul saw that this man had faith to be healed, and we are then shown that by the man's willingness to stand up after not ever knowing what it felt like to stand. Two notable times that Jesus performed a miracle this way is first the wedding feast at Cana. He commands the servants to fill up the jugs with water. They obey and the water becomes wine. Second, he heals a blind man by spitting in the mud and wiping it on his eyes and telling him to go and wash. I find it pretty amazing that Jesus invites us to participate in our own healing. Even Jesus' sacrificial death on the cross invites us to act. We have to choose whether we will accept his sacrifice or not.
And what is the crowd's reaction after this amazing miracle? They try to worship Paul and Barnabas as gods. Talk about missing the point. God must be so frustrated with these jokers. No wonder Paul and Barnabas tear their clothes and run into the crowd to confront them...
2 comments:
When I first read this passage, I was struck by two things: First, the crippled man immediately did what he was told without question (why would he be able to walk in this instance when he never could his entire life...) Second, Paul looked him in the eye. I took a moment to read this same passage from the Message. In this translation, Paul "saw that he was ripe for God's work, ready to believe". Only then did Paul say get up... Are we only ready to be saved and follow Jesus after some type of preliminary spiritual intervention? Makes you think... Also, the fact that Paul looks him in the eye makes me recall discussion about "kingdom eyes". We must first be actively looking before we can ever help in God's work.
I have to correct this blog. I said that just prior to Paul's encounter with the lame man in Lystra, he and Barnabas go to Jerusalem to speak to the apostles about a group that was forcing Gentiles to be circumcised in order to be saved. This in fact happened after the encounter with the man in Lystra. I apologize for that.
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