IF YOU LOOK AT A PERFECTLY NORMAL hand through the lens of a cracked magnifying lens, it's obvious that the hand would appear to be misshapen. Remove the cracked lens, and you see your hand as it really is. Similarly, if you view the entire creation through the lens of the limited five material senses, it will appear distorted— a mix of good and bad, matter and spirit. Yet this false view, which seems impressively real, contradicts the Biblical account of creation in the first chapter of Genesis, which states unequivocally that God saw everything he had made, and it was very good (see 1:31). But does His good creation include a mix of good and evil? How many creations are there?
Christ Jesus gave us a compelling answer to these questions through his healing work. Certainly he faced the discords, limitations, and sorrows of the world, yet he showed us that through the lens of spiritual sense we see, or behold, God's goodness and His wholly spiritual creation. He said, "For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see" (John 9:39).
Jesus understood that the material senses are always false witnesses. He saw that what appeared to be solid matter to these senses was as illusive as the misshapen hand seen through the cracked lens. Instead of withered hands, blind eyes, and incurable conditions, Jesus saw health and normalcy. In situations where there appeared to be lack—lack of peace, or even food—he saw abundance. For example, on two occasions Jesus fed multitudes of his followers with just a few loaves and fishes (see Matt. 14:15–21 and Matt. 15:32–38). Instead of enduring a raging storm, or natural disaster, he pacified it and restored calm (see Mark 4:37–39). And when raising Lazarus from the tomb (see John 11:1–44), or restoring life to a young man on his way to burial (see Luke 7:11–16), Jesus proved life and divine mercy to be triumphant over sin and death.
