Impossible Healings: Relapses?

Then He touched their eyes, saying, 'According to your faith let it be to you.' And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, 'See that no one knows it.' But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country.

Matthew 9:29-31 (NKJV)*

As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed. And He strictly warned him and sent him away at once, and said to him, 'See that you say nothing to anyone...' However, he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the matter, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city.

Mark 1:42-45 (NKJV)**

And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.

So Jesus answered and said, 'Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?'

Luke 17:15-18 (NKJV)***

'See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.' The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus Who had made him well. For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him.

John 5:14-16 (NKJV)****

Jesus often warned the recipients of His miracles to remain silent, but many did not. 

  • I’ve wondered about their final outcome.

  • Did they suffer a medical relapse?

  • Did something even worse come upon them?

The man healed by the pool of Bethesda seems different than Christ’s other healings– those in whom faith was so conspicuous.

Crippled for 38 years, he joined a 'Great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water' (John 5:3).

As Jesus looked through the sad assembly, He focused on this unusual man, who seemed like a whiner– not a winner.

Even so, he rose to the occasion, was completely healed and left a new man. But soon therafter, he revealed the Name of Jesus to interrogating Jews. 'For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him.' (v.16)

In essence, the newly healed man ignored the great Physician's follow-up advice: 'Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.' (v.14)

This same warning applies to everyone the Lord has delivered from anything.

  • We DARE NOT forget the One Who freed us.

  • We DARE NOT ignore the One Who healed us.

  • We DARE NOT neglect to obey His Word.

  • We DARE NOT return to our dead-end lives.

Impossible Healings: Relapses? (Part 11)

Healings To Consider:

* A Man Healed at the Pool of Bethesda: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%205:1-15&version=NKJV

* Two Blind Men Healed: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew%209:27-31&version=NKJV

* Jesus Cleanses a Leper: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%201:40-45&version=NKJV

* Ten Lepers Cleansed: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2017:11-19&version=NKJV

NOTE: This is a 2023 update of a 2013 Carey Lewis Devotion. You may see notes to 'Actors, Models & Talent for Christ.' If you think you're not in show business, think again. Shakespeare said, 'All the world's a stage and all its men and women merely players. Mostly true. But you're not merely players. You are messengers and ambassadors for the King of kings.

Carey Arban