The Laying On of Hands
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was blind and now he sees something, but he doesn’t see correctly. Men appear to him like trees.
I guess they’re fuzzy and distorted. And He does something here that I think we haven’t talked
about enough. Verse 25 says, “After that he put his hands again upon his eyes.” Why would He
do that? If he believed he received, and he released his faith, isn’t that it? “He put his hands
again…” Again. Jesus put His hands on him, and he was seeing some. “He put his hands again
upon his eyes, and made him look up; and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.” It was
crystal clear.
There has been some confusion about this. You don’t want to try to receive, to believe you
receive your healing, in the sense of
trying to get God to heal you
. Do you see that phrase?
Trying to get God to heal you
over and over again. There are people who go forward in a service
to get prayed for and to have hands laid on them, or they ask someone to pray for them, and then
they check to see if they got healed. They say, “Well, I didn’t get healed,” and they do it again
and again. You do not want to do that. You can get further from it the more you go because
you’re walking completely by sight. When are you going to believe that you’re healed? But,
here’s the thing: God doesn’t have to do anything in order to heal you and me. It has already
been done. Long ago, before you and I were ever born, Jesus took all of our infirmities, He bore
all of our sicknesses, and He carried all of our pains. He already bought and paid for your
healing. It was already His will to do it before He did it, obviously, and He’s done it. It’s done.
Likewise, He has already taken all of the sins of everyone on the planet, hasn’t He? He does not
need to do one thing to save anyone on the planet. He has already done it. And millions of people
are praying, “Please, God, save my sister. Please, God, save my daddy. Please, God, save my…”
He already has. That’s really not the way to pray. See, you’re trying to get Him to do something
else to save them. He already has paid the price for all of their sins.
Some say, “Well, then, they’d automatically be saved.” No, they must believe it, and they must
receive it. What God has given by His grace must be received by our faith.
So, here Jesus ministers to this man, and he receives some of it, and then He ministers to him
again, and he receives the rest of it. He’s not trying to talk God into healing either time. Can you
see that?
Anointing is real. Healing power is real. Hebrews 6:2 says that the laying on of hands is one of
the foundational principles of the doctrine of Christ. It’s mentioned along with baptisms, and it’s
mentioned along with repentance and faith and judgment to come. The laying on of hands is a
holy, foundational, basic part of the teachings of the Christ. Jesus practiced it, and other people
in the Book of Acts practiced it. Paul laid hands on people. He laid hands on people to get healed
and get filled with the Spirit. (Acts 19:6) They laid hands on people who were being set apart for
ministry. (Acts 13:3) Remember, he told Timothy one time, “Stir up the gift of God that was in
you from the laying on of hands.” When he and others of the eldership of the ministry laid hands
on him, something came into him that he didn’t have before, that equipped him and enabled him
for ministry. (2 Timothy 1:6) Thank God for the laying on of hands. Thank God for healing
power.
