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.

 

The Prophet Like Moses ~ His Coming

In chapter seven of Acts Stephen’s defense of the Gospel, which ultimately included proof of his own innocence of the charges of blasphemy brought against him, was presented in the form of a summary of the history of salvation in the persons of Abraham, Joseph and Moses. In a previous blog I wrote of his illustrations of Jesus and the infancy of the Church in the lives of Abraham and Joseph, but by far the main body of Stephen’s testimony lay in his illustration of Moses’ life.

 

The Gospel Cannot be Bound!

We discover in Acts 5:17 that the high priest and the Sadducees rose up against the Apostles (v.18). The officiating high priest at this time was Caiaphas, but Luke tells us in Acts 4:6 that he means Annas, because he calls him high priest, while placing Caiaphas as one of his family who was with him. In his Gospel Luke also names Annas as high priest together with the officiating Caiaphas (Luke 3:2). What this means is that, simply because Rome removed one man as the high priest and named another in his stead, did not remove that man from the office of high priest according to God. According to Scripture, the high priest was anointed for life. Aaron was Israel’s first high priest, and though his sons also officiated in that office (Numbers 3:3-4), he retained his office for life and was head over them (Numbers 33:38). Therefore, Annas retained all his power as high priest in the eyes of the Jews. His official title was Captain of the Temple (Acts 4:1).[1]

 

The Builders and the Stone

When the Apostles were arrested in Acts 4 they were force to confront the very people that had Jesus put to death. While some of these people could be swayed according to the theology they held, many of the members of the Sanhedrin were harsh, having their own interest in view. Their judgment was tempered only by the prevailing will of the people, which, if they could influence as was done in the case of Jesus’ crucifixion, strengthened their resolve to have their own desires implemented. Six months to a year ago these same men had Jesus put to death, and now they found themselves wrestling with his movement in the persons of the Apostles.

 

Lame Man Walking!

It wouldn’t be difficult to understand a man’s joy, if he were suddenly able to walk after being crippled for over 40 years. Peter healed such a man sitting at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple when he and John went up to pray (Acts 3:1-2). The man was expecting a small donation for a meal, but ended up being made whole. The text says that he was put at the gate daily, no doubt by someone in his family, but who would have thought when they put his socks on that morning…What a surprise!

 

Jesus—the Bread of Life

Jesus claims to be to be the Bread of life that came down from God out of heaven (John 6:32-33, 38), and he went on to say that no one has everlasting life unless he eats Jesus’ flesh and drinks his blood (John 6:50-51, 53-54). A great deal of misunderstanding has occurred over the theme of this part of the Gospel of John, including some modern critics saying that this part of the Gospel of John was taken from the pagan religious rites dealing with Mithraism. So what is Jesus saying and can we be sure the understanding is not taken from paganism?

 

The Man at the Pool and the Promised Land

It was for the Feast of Tabernacles that Jesus went again to Jerusalem (John 5:1). He came to the pool called Bethesda and healed a man who had been impotent for 38 years. For 38 years he couldn’t move from one place to another. He claimed that at a certain season (probably during this particular feast of the Jews) an angel stirred the water of the pool and the first to enter its waters would be healed (John 5:4), but he had no one to put him into the pool (John 5:7), for while he was crawling there someone else always entered first.

 

Will You Be Made Whole?

In John 5:6 Jesus asked an impotent man if he wanted to be made whole. On the surface, this is almost a silly question. Why wouldn’t the man wish to be made whole? Well, Jesus’ question goes much deeper than this simple observation. The man was crippled for 38 years. He claims he had no one who would help him (John 5:7), but obviously his basic needs were met by someone.

 

Worship in Spirit ~ Worship in Truth

After spending some time looking forward in John’s Gospel, I find my mind drawn one more time to the woman at the well in John 4. She expressed an inner conflict over the correct place of worship, which was an expression of the more obvious conflict between Jews and Samaritans.

 

How Secret are our Thoughts?

Would you be comfortable in the presence of someone who could read your mind? Some of us go to great lengths to make what we hope would be a good impression on others. Some businesses even employ people whose sole responsibility is to keep a good image of the company before the eyes of the public, and, if for any reason the company is caught doing something illegal or has produced a product that has hurt the public or the environment, these public relations employees try to turn the negative publicity into something positive or at least something less damaging to their company’s image.

 

You Are What You Eat

Is God concerned with our diet? Well, ‘yes & no’ would most likely be the truth. My family doctor is probably more concerned over my cholesterol level than God is. On the other hand God is interested in what I think about Jesus and in my overall spiritual well being.

 

Paul—The Apostle Shaped in Cilicia

After being run out of Arabia, Damascus and Jerusalem, Paul returned home to Tarsus in Cilicia. He was a citizen of Tarsus (Acts 21:39; 22:3), and this probably meant Paul’s family was at least moderately wealthy, because the civic reforms introduced there cir. 15 CE took away the status of citizenship from all householders who had not accumulated considerable land and wealth.

 

An Appointment with Destiny

Few people realize when they wake up in the morning of a particularly fateful day that they will be forever changed before they retire for the evening. Such a day occurred for the Samaritan woman the day she went out and met Jesus at Jacob’s well. Looking back on the scene, we can only marvel over the compassion God has for our condition. What a contrast there is between God and mankind. He created us to be his image, but, if there is anyone mankind does not wish to imitate, it would be God. Whether it is in politics, education, entertainment or even religion, we simply refuse to be like God!

 

Removing the Barriers

A few weeks earlier Jesus had spoken of his body being the Temple of God (John 2:19-21), but he was misunderstood by the rulers of the Jews. The Temple was divided into courts that separated the priests from the rest of the Israelites, these were still divided between men and women, and last of all there was a court for the gentiles, which was to the extreme limit of the Temple complex. No one was to go beyond the place provided for his status before God as spelled out in the traditions of those ruling the Temple. Yet, in Christ, the living Temple of God, there are no barriers. The wall of separation between us is torn down (Ephesians 2:13-14). In him there is neither Jew nor Greek, male or female, bond or free (Galatians 3:28). He is our Temple—we dwell in him, and in him there is no discrimination of any kind.

 

Saul in Damascus

Luke divides Saul’s visit to Damascus into a few days in Acts 9:19 and into “many days” of preaching and debating with those having an opposing point of view concerning Jesus in Acts 9:20-23. Luke doesn’t mention Saul’s time in Arabia, but Saul claims he spent over two years there (Galatians 1:18), before returning to Jerusalem three years after he originally left for Damascus and this two-plus-year period comes between verses 19 and 20 in Acts 9.