Why Doesn’t God Heal Amputees?

First of all, allow me to apologize to those who endure such a plight as to have a member of one’s body severed. No one who has his or her body intact could ever imagine the trouble you endure throughout life. Some of the little things we all take for granted, such as buttoning one’s shirt or blouse can be a major chore for you. It is sad to even discuss your condition as though it were an example of the proof for or against the existence of God, yet I had been asked on a discussion board to show how a loving God can exist and never heal anyone who has part of his or her body severed. The following was my reply.

 

Authority But Not “Our” Authority

After Peter’s testimony before the Sanhedrin in Acts 4, the rulers took note that Peter and John had been with Jesus. They were surprised with the Apostles’ boldness. They had marveled at Jesus’ boldness despite the lack of formal education (John 7:15) He spoke with authority, but not authority conferred upon him by any of the Jewish rabbinical schools. The rulers were faced at this time with a similar phenomenon in Jesus’ disciples. Boldness is one of Luke’s favorite descriptions of believers (Acts 2:29; 4:13, 29, 31; 9:27, 29; 13:46; 14:3; 18:26; 19:8; 26:26; 28:31). The Greek word (G3954 or G3955) means to have assurance or confidence; to speak freely etc., and this boldness is always used in connection with the Gospel and testifying to the fact that Jesus is Lord (cp. Acts 9:27-29).

 

Jesus Is Lord of All!

Many, if not most of the Jews present at Pentecost 34 CE when the Holy Spirit fell down upon the Apostles, knew Jesus was a man, approved of God, in that he was enabled to perform so many great miracles. They knew this, yet they, and especially those who mocked at the praise of the Apostles, took and crucified Jesus (v.23)—cursing him by putting him on a tree. However, God showed he did not endorse the ruling of the Sanhedrin when he resurrected Jesus from the grave (v.24), because it was not possible for the grave to hold him. Why? It is because God foreknew they would do this, and he had it placed in prophecy in the mouth of David, that he would raise him from the dead. If it is in prophecy, it **must** be fulfilled, if God is to retain his good name.

 

The Coming of the Kingdom of God

Pentecost celebrated the enactment of the Old Covenant between God and Israel. It occurred on the fiftieth day following the weekly Sabbath within the eight day Passover Festival. The first day which counted toward Pentecost or the Feast of Weeks was always a Sunday. Its date varied, hence the need to count. This Sunday was the day the Wave Sheaf Offering was lifted up to be received of God, and in its offering the whole harvest was made holy to the Lord. Nothing in the fields could be harvested until this offering was made.

 

When is Enough, Enough?

At one of our annual family reunions my cousin, Michael, asked me about my writing. At that time I was writing a book about Jesus’ life and teachings according to the Gospel of Luke. I told him I wished I could retire and devote myself to completing it, but I didn’t think I had enough set aside to do so. He asked me: “What is enough?” I thought about his reply for quite awhile afterward, and Thanksgiving week that same year my company offered me an early retirement. I had to decide by the week before Christmas. It was a very intense month for me, but the long-story-short is: I decided I had enough, put my decision in God’s hands, and never looked back.

 

The Two Resurrections

Jesus told Martha that he was the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:24), and here in John 5 Jesus was telling the Jewish authorities that there are two resurrections, one called the “Resurrection of Life” and the other called the “Resurrection of Judgment” (John 4:29). What does this mean?

 

Bethesda and the Five Porches

A man lay impotent for 38 years at the pool called Bethesda which had five porches or porticos. It was located near the Sheep Gate on the north side of the Temple. The five porticos were places by the pool where folks could gather protected from the weather to rest, talk with friends, or simply contemplate what was on one’s mind. In a way these porticos could represent our five senses whereby we take in the world around us. We have no other means to physically know our world but through the senses of sight, hearing, touch, scent or taste that witness to us about the facts of our world.

 

Do We Know Jesus?

I cannot help but wonder what Nicodemus thought as he listened to Jesus so long ago. Jesus as much as told him that he was the Messiah; certainly John the Baptist was telling others Jesus was the Messiah. It was no secret that this is what Jesus was claiming to others, and many in Israel looked for the coming of the one of whom Daniel spoke and counted the days that pointed to his arrival (Daniel 9).

 

You Must Be Born Again!

When Nicodemus came to speak with Jesus about the Kingdom of God, he was astonished to understand that as a Jew and son of Abraham, he had no right to the Kingdom of God. Even as a disciplined Pharisee, devoted to the Law, he had no right to the Kingdom of God. He couldn’t inherit this right; he couldn’t earn this right and the right could not be bestowed upon him by any man, no matter how lofty his position! This thought utterly astonished Nicodemus, and it ought to give us pause as well. How can I come into God’s Kingdom, if I cannot enter through my Christian parents, if I cannot enter through righteous discipline, or it cannot be bestowed upon me by a religious or legal authority or ceremonial act? How can I become a child of God?

 

How Not to Become a Christian

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Reading John 3 causes me to pause and revisit John 1:12-13 to consider its meaning once more. Nicodemus (John 3:1) was a very religious man who followed the Law of Moses meticulously. In fact, as a Pharisee, he also followed another law—the Oral Law. Traditionally, it is supposed to have been handed down from Moses, but its source is probably among the traditions brought back from Babylon following the captivity.

 

The End of the Age

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When the Bible speaks of end times or the end of the age most folks who read the Scriptures believe it is referring to the time of Jesus’ second return to this earth. Well, some references do indeed refer to this time, but not all. For example, the Genesis flood marked an end of an age and the beginning of another. When Israel was brought out of Egypt, it marked the end of an age (age of the patriarchs) and the beginning of another (the age of the Law). When Jesus came it marked the beginning of a new age (the age of grace / Kingdom of God) and when Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed, it marked the end of the age of Law. Therefore, if we really wish to understand what the Bible is telling us, we really need to read about these things within their context.

 

The Millennium and Binding Satan

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If the Millennium represents the Day of the Lord as I claimed in my previous blog, and the Day of the Lord represents the time of judgment between the Lord’s ascension and his return to this earth, one may ask, “Isn’t Satan bound at the beginning of the Millennium? How can there be so much evil today if he is already bound and not troubling man?” I hope to answer this question in this study; nevertheless, we need to understand that we have three enemies: the world, the flesh and the devil (Ephesians 2:2).

 

Trouble in the Capital!

Having come to the capital of Macedonia, Thessalonica, Paul and company preached the Gospel there. Paul, as was his custom, began by preaching in the synagogue of the city. This he did for two reasons. First of all, it was necessary to tell the Jews the Messiah had indeed come. For Paul not to begin with them would have been a grave insult, if not outright neglect. Secondly, during the first century CE the synagogue was home for gentiles who were ripe for the Gospel, in that they were already worshiping the God of Israel. They were the God-fearers who had not been circumcised, that is, they had not become Jews and had not broken off ties with other gentile friends. These would usually become the nucleus of the new church, together with any believing Jews.

 

The Lord Testified to the Message of His Grace

What catches my eye in Acts 14 is the contradictoriness of the people. Wherever Paul and Barnabas went there was division among the people. Some were for the apostles and some against them. But, this is only natural; that is, one should expect such things when the Gospel is preached.

Paul and Barnabas had come to Lystra in Asia, after having been driven out of Antioch of Pisidia and Iconium by the Jews pursuing them. The Jews had convinced the gentile authorities that Paul and Barnabas were dangerous people, so each city had tried to kill them. When they had come to Lystra, there was no synagogue in which to preach the Gospel, so Paul simply began speaking in a public place about the Lord in terms of what he had created. A man, crippled from birth, had been listening to Paul when Paul commanded the man to get up on his feet. The man did so, and all the people rejoiced saying “the gods are come to us in human form!”

 

The Trouble with Making Jesus a Part of One’s Life!

For the past few days I’ve been speaking of the Parable of the Sower. Today, I wish to finish up by speaking of the seed that fell among the thorns (Luke 8:14). The first thing that I notice here is that there is no mention of hard ground or a hard heart. Now the problem the believer experiences is not hardness of his heart but that his heart is fertile ground for anything that grows. It is competition for the nutrients of the soil (one’s time and energy) that is the problem, and the heart “brings no fruit to perfection.”