Why does God heal some people and not others?

By Greg Laurie, Op-ed contributor Wednesday, November 08, 2023

Why does God heal some people but not others?

The answer to those questions is found in a story from the Gospel of John.

It’s the story of “the man born blind" which is one of the most interesting healing stories in the Gospels. It's a relatively simple account, but every time I read it, something new jumps out at me.

In this passage, Jesus chooses to heal the blind man using a method unlike anything else in the Gospels. Here’s the passage:

Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

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Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay.  And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing (John 9:1-6, NLT).

Look at the way Jesus chose to heal the man. He spit into the dirt, made some mud, and rubbed it on the man’s eyes. (If you’ve ever gotten mud in your eye, that sounds pretty terrible.) But then Jesus commanded the man to go find a pool — presumably with his eyes still covered in mud — and wash his eyes out.

To his credit, the blind man trusted Jesus. He staggered to the Pool of Siloam. When the man followed those instructions and washed the mud out of his eyes, he discovered he could see. It was a tactile, multi-step healing that got my attention.

Changing techniques

The spitting-into-dirt technique is not exactly Jesus’s standard method of healing. In fact, Jesus doesn’t really have a “standard method of healing” because He was always varying His methods.

Sometimes Jesus merely spoke, and the person was healed. We see this in Matthew 9 when Jesus tells a paralyzed man to pick up his mat and walk home. The Bible says, “And the man jumped up and went home!” The crowd was amazed and praised God in response.

In another story, from Mark 10, Jesus encountered a blind man named Bartimaeus and simply said, “Your faith has healed you” (Mark 10:52 NLT). Once He said those words, Bartimaeus could see.

On other occasions, it was the touch of Jesus that brought healing. When Jesus took Peter’s mother-in-law by the hand, her fever “left her” and she recovered very quickly (Matthew 8:15).

And in the next chapter, a woman who was sick found her way to Jesus and touched the “the fringe of his robe” (Matthew 9:20 NLT). He turned around, noticed her, and she was also healed.

One time, Jesus even healed someone from a distance. A Roman Centurion’s servant was sick, and the soldier left that servant at home before coming to Jesus to ask for healing. The Centurion said, “Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed” (Matthew 8:8 NLT). Jesus was inspired by the officer's faith, and the servant was healed at that moment.

Why does God heal some and not others? Many reasons could be cited, but I would just point this out: While it is true God heals some and does not heal others, it is also true that if we need His healing touch we should call out to Him and ask in prayer!

The Bible says, “You have not, because you ask not” (James 4:2). Pause right now, and if you need to be healed of some physical malady, ask Jesus to touch you!

Look to the healer

Jesus varied His methods so we wouldn’t pay attention to the way He healed but give all of our attention to the Healer Himself. In fact, we see this approach throughout the Bible, as God uses a variety of different people and methods to accomplish His purposes.

• He used a wooden staff in the hand of Moses to part the Red Sea (Exodus 14:16).
• He used pitchers and torches in the hands of Gideon and his men to achieve victory over the Midianites (Judges 7).
• He used the sound of trumpets to bring down the walls of Jericho (Joshua 6).
• He used a child’s lunch — five loaves of bread and two fish — to feed more than five thousand people (Luke 9:10-17).

God uses imperfect people. God can accomplish His will in any way He chooses, using simple things like sticks, torches, trumpets or fish.

As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians, “God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful ... As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God” (1 Corinthians 1:27,29 NLT).

Ordinary people, extraordinary results

A common human saying is “There’s a method to the madness,” but of God we might say “there’s a method to the miracle.”  Because when God does miraculous things through ordinary people or circumstances — or when Jesus heals someone with a glop of mud — people will talk about it.

Have you ever considered how much our passions fuel our conversations? You talk about what you are passionate about. Some people are passionate about food. Others are passionate about music or movies. Many are passionate about politics.

Christians should be passionate about Jesus. That’s not to say they don’t care about other things, but it is to say, that our primary focus, our main concern, and our strongest passion should be reserved for Jesus Christ. That’s why, so often in the Gospels, we see people who are healed go and tell others about what Jesus has done for them. They become passionate about telling that story!

This definitely happened with the blind man who followed Jesus’s instructions and washed in the Pool of Siloam. After the religious leaders realized the man could suddenly see, they felt threatened. So, they found a reason to get upset: The healing had occurred on the Sabbath.

The Jewish leaders questioned the man. They questioned his parents. They didn’t like what was happening. Here’s the rest of the story:

So for the second time they called in the man who had been blind and told him, “God should get the glory for this, because we know this man Jesus is a sinner.”

 “I don’t know whether he is a sinner,” the man replied. “But I know this: I was blind, and now I can see!” (John 9:24-25, NLT).

I love the zeal of a new believer. “I don’t know much. All I know is that Jesus healed me!” That’s the perfect way to describe his healing.

I love to see that kind of passion in followers of Jesus. Maybe He didn’t heal your blindness, but He changed your life — and you can tell other people about it. Did you know that 80% of people hear the Gospel from someone who has been a Christian for less than two years? You may not be an authority on theology, but if you know Jesus, you are the world’s greatest authority on what God has done for you!

Your greatest tool

In fact, your personal testimony is one of the most powerful tools you have. It’s a great way to start a conversation with a nonbeliever: “I don’t know much, but I know this is what God has done in my life.” And then all you have to do is share your story.

When Jesus was teaching and ministering, many people believed because of the testimony of those He healed. Many believed because His followers — new believers — shared their testimonies with their friends and family.

Jesus changes everything. He uses different tactics. He heals in different ways. He displays the power of God in unique circumstances.

But no one can dispute the results. The blind man told the religious authorities “I met the man named Jesus” and he was never the same again. The Gospel account says He ended up worshiping Jesus and following Him.

Jesus is waiting for all of us. How He chooses to change our lives may not look the same for everyone, but we can be assured He is ready to open our eyes and transform our lives forever.