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The Gift of Healing September 12
Without Parade and Show
“Great multitudes followed [Jesus], and he healed them all; and
charged them that they should not make him known: that it might be fulfilled
which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, behold my servant,
whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased:
I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the
Gentiles. He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his
voice in the streets” (Matthew 12:15–19).
On several occasions when the Lord had wrought works of healing,
He charged those whom He had blessed to tell His deed to no
one. They ought to have heeded His injunctions and realized that
Christ had not lightly required silence on their part, but had a reason
for His command, and they should in no wise have disregarded His
expressed desire. It ought to have been sufficient for them to know
that He desired them to keep their own counsel, and had good reasons
for His urgent request. The Lord knew that in healing the sick, in
working miracles for the restoring of sight to the blind, and for the
cleansing of the leper, He was endangering His own life; for if the
priests and rulers would not receive the evidences He gave them of
His divine mission, they would misconstrue, falsify, and make
charges against Him. It is true that He did many miracles openly, yet
in some instances He requested that those whom He had blessed
should tell no man what He had done for them. When prejudice was
aroused, envy and jealousy cherished, and His way hedged up, He
left the cities, and went in search of those who would listen to and
appreciate the truth He came to impart. 27
“Seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not” (Jeremiah
45:5). The Lord has no place in His work for those who have a greater
desire to win the crown than to bear the cross. He wants men who are
more intent upon doing their duty than upon receiving their
reward—men who are more solicitous for principle than for promotion.
Those who are humble, and who do their work as unto God, may
not make so great a show as do those who are full of bustle and selfimportance;
but their work counts for more. 28
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