Matthew 11:5: “The blind see 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.”

January 9th, 2022 by Pastor Ed in devotional

When John the Baptist put was in prison, he sent his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the Coming One, or do we look for another?” (Matt. 11:3). Jesus’ answer was amazing, but could only be fully understood by someone who knew the prophecies about the Messiah found in the Old Testament, particularly Isaiah 35, which prophesied about the ministry of the Messiah:

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 the lame shall leap like a deer, / And the tongue of the dumb sing. / For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, / And streams in the desert. (Isa. 35:4b–6)

The poor were always overlooked since ancient philosophers and theologians didn’t have any good news for those who couldn’t pay for it. The preaching of the gospel to the poor is one of the defining proofs that Jesus is the Messiah.

When we begin to doubt whether or not Jesus is real, all we need to do is go ask a few people in church. If we can find people who used to be broken, lost, drunks, prostitutes, drug addicts, homeless, adulterous husbands and wives, criminals, dishonest politicians and lawyers, but are now free, then Jesus is still alive and working among us. We do see that the spiritually poor are now blessed, freed, and leading others to faith all around us. As John Newton wrote, “I once was lost, but now am found, / Was blind, but now I see.”

“Thank you, LORD, that the greatest miracle of all is that we have been changed.”