We are now officially in the second week of our devotional Journey to the Cross. Welcome to Day 8 as we discuss Luke 7:18-23.

Then John’s disciples told him about all these things. So John summoned two of his disciples and sent them to the Lord, asking, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” When the men reached him, they said, “John the Baptist sent us to ask you, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?’”

At that time Jesus healed many people of diseases, afflictions, and evil spirits, and he granted sight to many blind people. He replied to them,

“Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor are told the good news, and blessed is the one who isn’t offended by me.

Luke 7:18-23

Traveling along historic Route 66, there are some strange things you come across. Not far from us in Arcadia is the Round Barn. Amarillo, TX has the Cadillac Ranch. Holbrook, Arizona has the Wigwam Hotel. Just east of Catoosa, OK is a large blue whale. Hugh Davis built the Blue Whale in the early 1970s as a surprise anniversary gift to his wife Zelta, who collected whale figurines. But the Blue Whale and its pond became a favored swimming hole for travelers along Route 66. While it welcomes countless tourists, the Blue Whale is seldom a final destination. It serves primarily as a marker along the way. Roadside attractions like these a simply stopping-points along the way to other places.

We have already briefly seen that John the Baptist baptized Jesus. He continued to baptize people for some time (John 3:23), but Matthew 14 indicates that John was imprisoned by Herod Antipas not long after because John condemned Herod for divorcing his wife and then marring Herodias, the divorced wife of his half-brother Philip.

As John is sitting in prison, he began to receive reports about Jesus’s miracles. He had already proclaimed Jesus to be the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world (John 1:29). Yet John wondered, perhaps because of his own situation, whether Jesus really could be doing all of these things. Jesus’s response to John’s disciples was to come and see. Look at all the things that I am doing, the miracles I am performing. What do the signs indicate?

During His earthly ministry, Jesus performed many miracles. He made the blind see, the deaf hear, and the lame walk. He cleansed the lepers and raised the dead. Twice He multiplied loaves of bread to feed thousands. He restored the sick and injured people to health. As great as all of these social works were, they were not Jesus’s final mission. The miracles were signs pointing toward something even better. They were stopping points along the way, and the radio station He played was the good news of the gospel – repent, believe, and follow Me. But the destination of the journey was Calvary’s cross.

As God had intended from eternity before Creation, Jesus overcame not just the temporary symptoms of sin. Jesus’s sacrificial death on the cross went to the root cause. He opened the doorway for your full forgiveness and full healing of the sickness that ensnares us all – sin itself. He provided a full, eternal healing evidenced by His victory over death when He was resurrected three days later.

While we should minister to people’s physical, mental, and emotional needs through social works, they should be steps and signs that lead to sharing the need that every person has – a spiritual problem that only Jesus can correct.

Today read about some of Jesus’s healing and preaching ministry in Luke 4:38-44. Then as you pray, thank God for the miracles Jesus performed as signs so we could understand. Thank Him for the even more miraculous work He accomplished on the cross of healing you for all eternity.

Thanks for joining me for today’s devotional. Come back tomorrow for Day 9.