im, He asked him if
he saw anything. And, looking up, he said: I see men as it were trees
walking. After that again He laid His hands upon his eyes, and he
began to see, and was restored, so that he saw all things clearly."
It is clear from this that He did not heal him suddenly, but at first
imperfectly, and by means of His spittle. Therefore it seems that He
worked miracles on men unfittingly.

Obj. 3: Further, there is no need to remove at the same time things
which do not follow from one another. Now bodily ailments are not
always the result of sin, as appears from our Lord's words (John
9:3): "Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents, that he should
be born blind." It was unseemly, therefore, for Him to forgive the
sins of those who sought the healing of the body, as He is related to
have done in the case of the man sick of the palsy (Matt. 9:2): the
more that the healing of the body, being of less account than the
forgiveness of sins, does not seem a sufficient argument for the
power of forgiving sins.

Obj. 4: Further, Christ's miracles were worked in order to confirm
His doctrine, and witness to His Godhead, as stated above (Q. 43, A.
4). Now no man should hinder the purpose of his own work. Therefore
it seems unfitting that Christ commanded those who had been healed
miraculously to tell no one, as appears from Matt. 9:30 and Mk. 8:26:
the more so, since He commanded others to proclaim the miracles
worked on them; thus it is related (Mk. 5:19) that, after delivering
a man from the demons, He said to him: "Go into thy house to thy
friends, and tell them, how great things the Lord hath done for thee."

_On the contrary,_ It is written (Mk. 7:37): "He hath done all things
well: He hath made both the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak."

_I answer that,_ The means should be proportionate to the end. Now
Christ came into the world and taught in order to save man, according
to John 3:17: "For God sent not His Son into the world to judge the
world, but that the world may be saved by Him." Therefore it was
fitting that Christ, by miraculously healing men in particular,
should prove Himself to be the universal and spiritual Saviour of all.

Reply Obj. 1: The means are distinct from the end. Now the end for
which Christ's miracles were worked was the health of the rational
part, which is healed by the light of wisdom, and the gift of
righteousness: the former of which presupposes the latter, since, as
it is wri