The Blind See, the Deaf Hear, the Dumb Sing, and the Lame Leap (Isaiah 35:4-6)

2023-05-20

Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. (Isaiah 35:4-6)

The coming of the Lord is associated with amazing healings that were never heard of before. One healed blind man said, “Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind” (John 9:32). Men who never walked before were walking by name of Jesus (Acts 14:8-10). Others said of the Lord, “And were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak” (Mark 7:37).

When John the Baptist was in doubt, Jesus reassured him, saying, “Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them” (Matthew 11:4-5).

The coming of Jesus was filled with miraculous healings as a part of fulfillment of prophecy. Jesus attributed Isaiah 61:1 to Himself in Luke 4:18: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:18-19). He said, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears” (Luke 4:21). And again, we read, “That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses” (Matthew 8:17; cf. Isaiah 53:4-5). Most importantly, the Lord brought spiritual healing: “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed” (1 Peter 2:24), where Peter also quoted Isaiah 53:5.

Not everybody was miraculously healed during the ministry of the apostles. Paul was never healed of his thorn in the flesh. But Jesus healed everyone who came to Him in faith while He was here. “And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people” (Matthew 9:35).