May 25, 2010

Numbers 34
One of the books that I have been gradually reading the last few years is Angie Debo’s A History of the Indians of the United States. It is indeed a fascinating book. It is amazing the number of atrocities that we have committed against each other. One thing is consistent in the relationship between those of European descent and Native American descent. It is that the white man has consistently taken away the land of the Native American. Usually it was with compensation, albeit usually inadequate and forced. This chapter gives Israel permanent ownership of the land to Israel. Unlike the US government, the Lord does not go back on His treaties. The Lord has promised Israel the land for ever. There is one stipulation though. The right to dwell in the land is linked to obedience. His gifts are never recalled. The right to enjoy them are linked to obedience. Isn’t He something? Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

John 9:1-23
"If you do not believe this story, ask the blind man, he saw it all." There are many folk poems of which we cannot completely trace their origin, and they have many versions. You probably recognize the line I opened with from such a poem. Throughout literature and even in the Bible, the figure of the blind man often stands for one who sees spiritually while the physically sighted are ones who are blind spiritually. It is a similar case in this true story of Jesus healing the blind man.
The man was blind from birth. He had never seen the face of his mother or father. He had never seen colors. He had no clue concerning the color of the dirt throughout the streets of Jerusalem. He had no clue of the beautiful buildings of the temple of Jerusalem. He had no idea of the beauty of the Mount of Olives when it was green from recent rains. His was a life of learning how to navigate through the streets by paces, sounds and scents. After having been healed by Jesus by this unusual healing technique, do you suppose he recognized his parents before they spoke? I wonder, what was that first meeting like. Suppose he walked in the house, looked straight at his mother and said, "Look mom! No cane!" Can you imagine the thrill that his parents experienced? They had the double whammy of their son's disability and the cultural mindset that his disability was their punishment for some sin, which they had committed. Now both were gone. Jesus had healed them.
The man was spiritually sighted enough to know that Jesus was from God; therefore, he would take his stand with Jesus. His parents were dumbfounded. For years they had to deal with gossip concerning what sin they had possibly committed in order for their son to have received this punishment. Now, that social stigma was no longer visible. They were not willing to go on the line risking being put out of the synagogue for something in which they had no part. They simply referred people back to their son. After all he was of legal age. Jesus had lit the world of this one man who was born blind. And his parents were cautiously entering the light.
Jesus always lights our world, if we will enter it. That is the glory of His nature. Now, that light doesn't always reveal what we expect. Do you suppose the blind man was surprised at what he saw or how his parents reacted? I tend to think that he was amazed by some of it, and some of it he already knew instinctively. But afterward he saw reality. It was no longer an imagined thing. When we enter the light of Jesus, some of what we see is truly amazing. Some of it we already knew instinctively. When we step into the light of Jesus, we see the ugliness of our sin. We already knew instinctively its ugliness. What amazes us are two things 1) how horribly ugly it is and 2) how beautiful and amazing His grace is. We are amazed that He would bear such ugliness upon the cross in our place. We are stamped with the amazement of His love for us. It is like His light burns away the sin replacing it with the beauty of His love. The result from Him is a desire to be pure in all things. That is why Paul tells us to examine ourselves lest we be reprobate. If there is no desire to be pure as He is pure, I have news for you; you are not standing in the light. Come on in! Bask in it! It’s great! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor