Last week we looked at four of the conversations after the healing of the blind man. Today we'll look at the final one; this one is between the beggar and Jesus.
35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
36 “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”
37 Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”
38 Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.
One thing that I thought was so significant, is that Jesus sought out the beggar, after He heard that the Pharisees had cast him out. Isn't that awesome?
It wasn't by chance that their paths crossed again. It was because Jesus looked for him. He initiated the conversation.
The man has been threatened, and he's even been cast out of the religious community that he was raised in. He's clung to that community all his life. It's an integral part of his whole life, his being, his faith. But as we saw last week, he's been changed by this event in his life.
So Jesus seeks and finds him, and strikes up a conversation with him. And we see the final chapter of the transformation in the beggar's life.
He was blind.
He was healed.
He called Jesus "the man."
He called Him a "prophet."
He defended Him at a huge risk to his own life and the lives of his family members.
And then he fell down and worshipped Him.
That is the way we should respond, as well.
Do we worship Jesus? Do we give glory to Him, in spite of adversity in our lives? Our Father has a wise, good, Christ-glorifying purpose for everything that happens to us.
Do we find our worship of Jesus deepening, or weakening, in the midst of our messes and our pain?Jesus is the only way that we can respond correctly to the purpose of God in our lives.
Does our worship of Christ falter or strengthen, when our family members are fearful, or even unbelieving? Christ will strengthen us and give us joy -- all we need do is ask.
Can we join the rejected beggar in a triumphant testimony? I was blind, but now I see.
Jesus sought out the beggar and He is seeking for us today. He can make us be courageous worshippers.
He can transform us.
He is willing.
He's ready.
Are we?
I just listened to a video made of the actor Jim Caviezel where he says that God asked the members of the audience to be there and they responded yes. They may not have realized it until he pointed that out. This is the same principal you are talking about. God invites us, He seeks us, and we are responsible to accept His invitation.
ReplyDeleteA lot like that famous painting of Christ knocking on the door. There is no door nob or handle. He seeks, and we are to open the door.
He loves us. He wants us. He cries when we say no. I don't know about your, but that hurts me just to think of making Him cry.