One of my favorite hymns is O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing by Charles Wesley. I especially like this verse:

Hear Him, ye deaf; His praise, ye dumb
Your loosened tongues employ
Ye blind, behold your Savior come
And leap, ye lame, for joy

When I hear this song, I think back to the interaction between Jesus and the disciples of John the Baptist. Wondering if Jesus might truly be the promised Messiah, they asked him straight up—are you the one? Jesus replied, Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.

Along with miracles performed and people turning to the Lord, these phrases conveyed a deeper reference to John the Baptist, then suffering in prison and soon to be murdered.

Isaiah, some 700 years before, wrote this prophecy about the hoped for Messiah: Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy.

Jesus referenced Isaiah in regards to himself. John, student of scripture and prophecy, immediately grasped this powerful, unequivocal and joyful message—the Messiah walks among us!

What proof accompanied the true Messiah? Blind eyes seeing color, deaf ears hearing babies cry, those who’ve only ever dragged themselves in the mud now racing through the square, and the voiceless yelling the goodness of God for all to hear.

Jesus added this last word in his conversation with John’s disciples: Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.

No problem for those lame now leaping for joy.

Matthew 11 & Isaiah 15 in week thirty-five of reading the Bible cover to cover

Photo by Harry Quan