I have been legally blind since birth and am fascinated with how Jesus healed blind people in the Bible. I want to take a closer look at each method He used.

In my last post, I covered Part 1 of Jesus healing blind people in the Bible. In this post, I will conclude my survey of how Jesus healed blind people.

Jesus healed all kinds of sickness, disease, disability, and every other affliction in His ministry. You member my excitement as I talked about Jesus healing paralyzed people. I am just as excited about Jesus healing the blind because I have been legally blind since birth. I believe He will heal my eyes along with my body.

It’s fascinating to look at how Jesus healed blind people. Sometimes the Bible does not give us specifics but when it does, I find the ways Jesus healed blind people incredible. As we examine what Jesus did and how He did it, I hope you will be as intrigued as me.

Jesus Heals a Man Blind from Birth

Before we move to Acts, I want to focus on two unique healings of blind people in the Gospels. First, Jesus heals a man born blind (John 9:1-7). This is the only time this happens in the Bible. Jesus notices this man because He wants to do something incredible in his life.

Anyone could have seen the man was blind but the disciples asked Jesus why this man was born blind. The only way they would have known this is if they knew this person or if someone told them he was born blind. Perhaps Jesus knew by divine knowledge about this man.

In Part 1, I talked about causes for blindness, and this man could have had an infection in the birth canal. We don’t know how he was born blind. The disciples want to make this a philosophical discussion about sin and sickness.

It’s almost as if they do not realize the man is affected by their questions. We must be careful about being insensitive to people suffering afflictions. We all have questions like the disciples but we don’t have to be insensitive to others and their plight.

Jesus wants to heal this man born blind from these two reasons. First, humans to do God’s work of light in the world. Second, I think he wants to show this man that God still loves him. The disciples are focused on who sinned connecting sickness with sin, which the Bible does. Because he was born blind, they want to know if he sinned or his parents sinned.

How could he have sinned if he was not even born? Rabbis had laid down the dogma that sin causes sickness. Their question was how could this man have caused sin without being born. Jesus does not answer the philosophical question the way they want. They are for him to options but Jesus makes a third.

Jesus says he was born blind so that the works of God might be displayed in him. God’s works were not displayed in his blindness all his life. God will display His works in the man’s healing. Jesus knew He would only be on the earth a short time and He wanted to do God’s works in His ministry.

Jesus does an incredible thing when he heals this man born blind. I have a theory, and I will share it in one moment. He gets some dirt and spits on it, making mud, and wipes it on the man’s eyes (John 9:6-7). My theory is that I cannot be sure if this man had deformed eyes or maybe no ice at all.

Jesus does something similar to what God does when He created the universe. He takes the dirt of the earth and adds the divine element of His smears it on the man’s eyes, the text literally says He “anoints” the man’s eyes. This is a divine moment. Jesus is doing the impossible behind the man’s eyelids.

If the man could not see from birth because of deformed or nonexistent eyes, Jesus creates what they were lacking in this moment. It is a re-creative miracle! It’s a very powerful and awesome thing Jesus is doing. I believe Jesus did something so extraordinary that we would not be able to explain it. His unusual actions are because of his unusual circumstances.

No matter what unusual or life-threatening situations you are going through, Jesus sees you and He knows your situation and knows exactly what He’s going to do in your life. Trust Him through the storm of your affliction. He will never let you down.

Jesus Uniquely Heals a Blind Man in Two Stages

I saved this account for last in the Gospels because there is no miracle like it when Jesus healed blind people. In one instance, there is a blind man from Bethsaida Jesus heals (Mark 8:22-26). It may be the most unusual healing in the Gospels. That’s because instead of Jesus immediately healing the blind man, it happens in two stages.

Scholars refer to this as a progressive healing miracle because it is not like Jesus’s miracles were there is an immediate response. Here, this does not happen. One thing we learn from his interaction with this blind man is that we can ask a person if our prayers are affecting them physically as we pray. We can verify if healing is happening yet.

Jesus led the man out of the town for a reason. He did not want to heal this blind man just because the crowd asked Him to do it. I suspect that their motives were impure, wanting to see Jesus to a miracle in front of them. We must not have impure motives when we seek God for healing. Our healing is always about giving glory to God, not making a spectacle of His grace.

Jesus draws the man out of the town so He can heal him without pomp and circumstance. Scholars wonder why this was a two-stage miracle instead of an immediate one like Jesus usually does. They suggest the man did not have enough faith to receive his sight.

I don’t think that’s the reason. I don’t know why this man is not immediately healed, but I know this account of progressive healing teaches us that Jesus can decide how He wants to heal. Sometimes we want to tell Him what to do or when to do it. But it is up to Him.

In the first stage of healing, the man can see a little, just not details. Jesus lays his hands on the man’s eyes again and then he can see everything. We cannot suspect God is not moving in our affliction if we see gradual improvements instead of immediate ones. God is still working!

Jesus Heals Blind People in Acts

The Gospels are not the only place Jesus healed blind people. In Acts, Jesus is healing people through the ministry of His Church. We see one such healing in Acts 9:17-19. While Paul is on the road to Damascus to imprison Christian believers, he meets Jesus and is blinded by Him.

Jesus tells His disciple Ananias to go see Paul and heal him. When he does, something like scales fall from Paul’s eyes. It is a physical representation of what was spiritually happening to Paul. Although he was very educated, he experienced the true light of Jesus and was never the same.

Throughout the Bible, there are sometimes a play on words or concepts of blindness forced spiritual blindness. You can have physical and spiritual blindness, or you can see spiritual things even though you can’t see physically. There are so many who can physically see but are spiritually blinded and living in the dark. When Jesus heals physical and spiritual blindness, it is nothing short of a miracle.

Praying for Your Healing

If you are dealing with blindness or any loss of sight, let me pray for you and myself.

All seeing Lord Jesus, I bring my brother and sister in You and myself before You. We have been dealing either for a short time or our whole lives with some form of blindness. We know You have made the human eye and it is glorious. You have made it so intricately, and although doctors are trying to help us as much as they can, only You know it’s intricate design perfectly because You created our eyes. We ask You in Your powerful name to completely heal our eyes so that we can see what is around us as well as we can see you. We ask this in faith and in Your powerful name, amen.

Up Next

We’ve discussed the ways in which Jesus healed blind people in the Gospels. I’ve been mentioning the way in different posts about healing conditions caused by demons and how that relates to New Testament teaching. In my next post, that’s where I’m headed.

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