The Miracle Worker
The movie The Miracle Worker tells the story of Helen Keller. Born in Alabama in the 19th century, Helen was struck with a fever of the brain as an infant that left her deaf and blind. Trapped in a silent world of darkness, she was frustrated and wild as she grew because she could not see or communicate. Confronted and equally frustrated with her tantrums, Helen’s parents finally hired a teacher named Anne Sullivan to work with her.
Through an agonizing process, Miss Sullivan would work with Helen by placing objects in her hand. She would make symbols for the objects on Helen’s palm and, while holding her other hand on her vocal box, pronounce the name of the object repeatedly. Despite the patience of Miss Sullivan, Helen seemed as if she could never learn.
Finally, one day the breakthrough occurred as portrayed in a powerful scene in the movie. In the midst of another agonizing lesson, Helen, with water from the backyard pump pouring over her hands, suddenly starts crying out, “Wa-wa! Wa-wa!” She then takes other objects and, with her hand to Mis Sullivan’s throat and mouth, does her best to repeat the words she feels. That day began a lifetime of insatiable learning for Helen, as her blindness and deafness were overcome.
We like stories of someone overcoming great obstacles to succeed. Have you ever considered that spiritually you are like Helen Keller?
The Bible teaches that we do not have the ability to see spiritually, for the devil has “blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they do not see.” Our spiritual ears are also deaf, as we keep “hearing but do not understand.” Blind and deaf spiritually like Helen Keller, we also fight against this state, pitching fits of anger and rebellion against God.
In love and concern for us, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world. He was given a human soul and wrapped in helpless baby flesh. Born to a lowly family, He was laid in the feeding trough of animals. He grew up like any ordinary boy without worldly significance. As an adult, though, He showed He was a true “Miracle Worker,” touching blind eyes and deaf ears to heal them. Yet, like Helen Keller who could not understand what her teacher was trying to tell her, His own disciples could not “see or hear” His real reason for coming. When Jesus was eventually arrested, falsely convicted, crucified and buried, his disciples were absolutely befuddled about what it all meant.
Three days later, Jesus, alive from the dead, appeared to these men and said to them, “See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have” (Luke 24:39). When His disciples touched His scarred hands and feet, watched Him eat, and were helped by the Holy Spirit, then they knew. They saw. They heard. They believed. Like Helen Keller with her hand under the water while her teacher spoke, it all came together.
God had become man to save them by dying in their place for their sin and being raised from the dead to give them life with God. Jesus had become man, one like them except for sin, to help them see that message. On the day of His resurrection, the greatest of all miracles - the ability to believe in Christ - was granted to them.
Through the preaching of His gospel by His body, the church, He is still working that very same miracle. Do you see Him? Do you hear Him? Do you believe Him that His death and resurrection will heal you? If not, you need to go where His waters of life are flowing. Attend a church in your community that has a reputation for faithfulness and begin a quest to discover Christ. If you need help finding a church, ask the person who sent you to this site or this message, or leave a comment below.
