John 9 - 10:21
November 1, 2014

The disciples don't understand, so Jesus heals a man.  He heals because He has compassion, but also to prove a point.  It was no accident that it occurs on the Sabbath.  The particular man isn't by happenstance.  Everything occurs for a reason.
The Bible doesn't record that the man asked for his sight.  Of course he wanted to see, but he was born this way.  He didn't have an accident, or gradually lose his sight as he grew old....He had never seen, and was resigned to the idea of blindness from the time of his birth.   Perhaps he was near Jesus to hear the teaching, or to hear about how Jesus cast out demons, or something similar.  It is entirely possible that he was simply another man begging alongside the road.   How he got there isn't important, only that he has an encounter with Christ.
No one who encounters Jesus will be the same afterwards.  The Pharisees and the blind man were both changed.  One grew fond of Christ, and worshiped, and the other grew distant and angry.
Consider this, Jesus loved them both.  He went to the Pharisee's house as well as the sinners.  He made attempts to proclaim truth to them both.   One group accepted it as truth, the other believed him to be lying.  
I submit that you and I have the same decisions to make.   We were born blind, and have had our encounter with Jesus.  What you believe about Him....what you truly believe and act on, concerning Him will change your life.
Since your life is going to change anyway, why not choose to change for the better?    In humility, accept that Jesus is the creator, and as such is wiser and more powerful than you.   Accept that He loves you, and wants the best for you, and allow Him to lead and inform your life.

In doing this, we will be saved.    And, as the beginning of Chapter 10 so clearly says, it is only through the name of Jesus that this will happen.

There simply is no other way into the Kingdom.  We cannot argue for a side or back door.  None has been revealed.   We enter through Jesus Christ, or we don't enter at all.    Call upon His name, and endure the rejection of some who are close to you.  Endure the resistance you will undoubtedly feel from those who oppose the truth.  Endure the questions meant to trip you up, and in the end you will find yourself basking in the full light of the presence of the One who is above all others.

Be blessed today!


PR