Skip to main content
When Jesus heard what had happened, 
he found the man 
and asked, 
"Do you believe in the Son of Man?"
The man answered, 
"Who is he, sir? I want to believe in him."
John 9:35-36 NLT
Jesus had given this man who had been on the outer of society all his life, the opportunity to  enter in, to belong, by removing the barrier.
The barrier was not just his lack of sight but the stigma attached to it by his culture. 
Remember the opening question from Jesus' disciples in verse 1?
Who sinned. 
Who is to blame. 
And they only saw two options, the person in front of them or his parents. 
Jesus healing the man, effectively giving him entrance back into society challenged the systems and thoughts that had kept him on the outer.
Kept him excluded.
Made him "less than". 
Systems and thoughts that allowed the church to flourish, society to function all the while stepping past a blind man begging for survival. 
And Jesus fixed that without asking him to believe first. 
Without inviting him to church first.
Jesus' disciples couldn't see the problem because they'd been raised in it. This is the way the world is. 
They were blind to it.
Allow the gospel, the good news of grace, to open our eyes to those around us, to systems that benefit some and oppress others, to those who are on the outer. 
#sunday
#thisisworshipbringinghealingandhope
#whereamIblind

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,  for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can't see - such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. Colossians 1:15-16 NLT OK so this is an English translation of a letter Paul wrote to a church 2,000 years ago, but does it feel like Paul is wrestling with words and ideas to try and capture all of who Jesus is, of who God is, of how does it work that the walking around Jesus was also there before the beginning of the beginning of everything we can see and touch and know. Not only that but Jesus was somehow the agent of everything that has been made in the physical, social, and spiritual.  Jesus is at the centre of it all.  Walking around Jesus. Cooking fish for breakfast Jesus. Heart aching as he ...
As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside privately and told them what was going to happen to him.  "Listen," he said,  "we're going up to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be betrayed to the leading priests and the teachers of religious law.  They will sentence him to die. Then they will hand him over to the Romans to be mocked,  flogged with a whip,  and crucified.  But on the third day he will be raised from the dead." Matthew 20:17-20 NLT Jesus wanted his team, those closest to him, to know what was going to happen next.  It seems he wanted them to be prepared.  To be able to hold the hope of what's at the end as they go through the watching him be betrayed, sentenced, mocked, abused, and killed.  I wonder if Jesus needed to tell them, to let those he knew best what was ahead because he needed them with him. Jesus wanted community in the most difficult of times. It's no wonder that we do too.  We're in...
For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. James 1:23-24 NASB For many people this is a time of year for a bit of introspection, thinking about the year that was, and what's ahead. James is encouraging us to live out God's Word. Whereever we find ourselves, whatever our circumstances. Its like looking at yourself. You don't forget who you are. The greek word here is "eimi" I am. We don't forget who we are. I am who I am in everything I do. And that's how James wants us to live out God's Word. It's not "hey just don't forget to live out what you've heard", the living out is inseparable from the hearing. #james #james1 #Godsgym #theWordjustliveit