Bible Study with the Cincotti’s – Arise & Walk – 12/07/2025
Today’s Bible Study, Authored by Arthur Cincotti.
Listen to our Bible Study Discussion at: Arise & Walk Audio Podcast
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Arise & Walk
“The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.” Mt. 11:5
The healing miracles Jesus performed, that are recorded in the gospels, have an obvious impact. They demonstrate His authority over the physical world that He created. He is able to do all in the above verse and more. Though it was important for Jesus to convey to the people His ability, what is more compelling is His willingness. In Mk. 1:40-41 a leper came to Jesus, “imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, ‘If You are willing, You can make me clean.’ Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, ‘I am willing; be cleansed.” His love and compassion for mankind compelled Jesus to enter His creation, to heal those who encountered Him and to suffer on the cross for the sake of the ultimate healing; the remission of sin. The physical healings were all temporary but the ones that are recorded also have a spiritual dimension.
On many occasions Jesus restored sight to the blind. This was impressive, especially since it is not recorded in the Old Testament of anyone having their sight restored. But Jesus also said, “Having eyes, do you not see?” Mk. 8:18. He frequently confronted spiritual blindness with more vigor than physical blindness.
The direction to walk is also used frequently in Scripture. It has a connotation of forward motion or progress. In Gen. 17:1, “the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, ‘I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.’” This is a commandment that reverberates through Scripture. In Lev. 26:3-4 God says to Israel, “If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments, and perform them, then I will give you rain in its season…”
We speak often of our Christian walk, meaning our experience and demonstration of our faith. We also rightly use the expression, “don’t just talk the talk, but walk the walk” This more than suggests that we should not just talk about our faith experience, but actually walk it out by being obedient to the commandments of God and to the calling that He has placed upon our lives. In Js. 2:14-26 we read the go to passage of Scripture that emphasizes this. It starts out by saying, “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?” The implication is that head knowledge of the Scriptures and proper theology are not sufficient for salvation. Our pastor, Jeff Haynor, is fond of saying that you won’t have to take an SAT to get into heaven. It is the practice of what we have learned, embraced and agreed with that demonstrates the integrity of our belief and the fortitude of our Christian walk.
We must see value in doing in order to do. Many people see value in exercising but do not exercise until it is a pressing matter. We often treat our faith like that. There is a natural benefit to walking in obedience, as the LORD speaks of in the Lev. 26 passage. Beyond the natural, quid pro quo aspect, we should know and be driven by the knowledge that our obedience is pleasing to God. This should stir us to walk in integrity and newness of life.
God always offers us a choice. Some people don’t want to change. Perhaps they perceive themselves as “good” or perhaps they perceive repentance as too difficult. Jesus said, on one occasion, “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Mk. 2:17. On another occasion Jesus actually asked a blind man, “What do you want Me to do for you?” Mk. 10:50. The passage goes on to say, “Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.” Jesus said to him, “’Go your way; your faith has made you well.’ And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.” vrs. 51. I’m assuming that he walked.
There were some consequences that followed for the blind man after receiving his sight. He would no longer be able to sit begging on the road as it says he did in vrs. 46. Unexpected change was imminent in his life. He would no longer be the object of pity or the recipient of helps. He was entering into a new life. This is what Paul speaks of in II Cor. 5:17 when he says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is anew creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” The biggest gift that he received from Jesus was a new identity. He would no longer be called “blind Bartimaeus”. He made a wise choice to follow Jesus after receiving his temporal miracle. In Lk. 17:11-19 we hear of ten lepers who were healed by Jesus, but only one, “fell on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks.”
The consequences of our salvation don’t stop at the alter where we first confess Christ as Savior, but they start there. Walking out this Christian pilgrimage is a lifelong experience that ushers us into eternity. There will be benchmarks of successes and failures along the way. These will mature us. Paul says, “…also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance. Character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” Rm. 5:3-5. He is transforming us, into His image, “from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” II Co. 3:18; and sometimes that transformation is painful.
We have to want it anyway, recognizing it’s value. We must realize that His desire, compelled by His love, is that we would be with Him for all eternity and enjoy His unveiled presence.
This gives rise to another dimension of the command to walk. In his book, The Unseen Realm, Michael Heiser points out, “The description of Yahweh ‘walking’ is also used of God’s active presence inside Israel’s tabernacle, creating another link between Eden, the cosmic mountain, and the tabernacle sanctuary… The idea that ‘walking’ was language that expressed presence shouldn’t be foreign to us. We use it, too, when we talk about ‘walking with God.’ Our conception is one of communion or relationship.” I should point out that the verb form of “tabernacle,” “to tabernacle” means to fellowship, inferring intimate fellowship. Adam walked with God in the garden. Scripture tells us that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, “walked with God; and he was not for God took him.” Gen. 5:24. God extends and invitation to Abram, in Gen. 13:17, “Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.” Jesus says to a paralytic, in Mk. 2:9 “Arise, take up your bed and walk”; He also said, “your sins are forgiven you.”
We can’t walk with God unless we are cleansed by the blood of Jesus and our sins are forgiven us; that is to say, “removed from us, “As far as the east is from the west.” Ps. 103:12. “For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?” II Cor. 6:14. To cultivate the presences of God in our lives, we must walk in obedience. Amos puts it this way, “Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?” Am. 3:3
To add as sense of value to the walking in the presence of God let me just point out that in His presence there is fullness of joy:
“You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Ps. 16:11
That’s a great reason to:
“Walk with the King today and be a blessing!”
(Robert A. Cook)
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