Saturday, August 21, 2021

Christ Cares for the Castaways - John 7-9

John 9:35-41 (ESV)
Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.

When others cast us out, Jesus is there to catch us.   The above story is the conclusion of the events where Jesus heals a blind man.   The man is healed and then instantly confronted by the jealous religious leaders of the day about being healed on the sabbath.  The man was insignificant to the religious big-shots.   They actually didn’t even know him.  They had to find his parents to confirm that he was indeed blind.  The man apparently had take up a begging spot along the side of the road.  Note:

John 9:1 (ESV)
As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.

Perhaps this is the first sign that Jesus cares for those who have been cast aside.   The religious leaders would have seen this man day after day; probably more times than Jesus did.  Yet, they didn’t even know him.  Here we see their lack of empathy and lack of obedience to care for the poor of the world around them.   After hearing about the man’s blindness, confirming the story multiple times, their concern was not to rejoice in the healing of a man’s sight, but that Jesus would do so on the Sabbath.  Note:

John 9:16 (ESV)
Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them.

The leaders eventually try to make a mockery of the man because they were so filed with jealousy and rage about his being healed by Jesus.  So, the man returns to Jesus and is accepted.   The religious leaders are so enamored by their own narrative that they fail to see the glory of Christ and the way Jesus accepts and cares for those in need.  Jesus calls those who are less favored in the world.  He confounds the wise.  He looks for the broken hearted.  Those are who He cares for.  He resist the proud and gives grace to the humble.   

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