If the Blind 9-26-2021
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Children’s Thought
Children’s Thought
If the Blind Put Their Hand in God's
If the Blind Put Their Hand in God's
You probably have all heard of Helen Keller.
She had the double calamity of being both unable to see,
she was blind,
and unable to hear.
Thinking her incapable of learning,
she was tolerated like an untrained, but loved animal
loose in the family home.
A women was hired to take care of her, and she realized that
Helen Keller was not a mere beast, unable to think or reason
and
to the families great distress,
she started restricting Helen,
so she could teach her things and
learn what Helen was cable of.
Helen Keller had a strong will, and resisted any training what so ever,
For a long time, no progress appeared to be made,
and the kind hearted family undermined Helen’s training
which just made it even slower.
Then one day, a light dawned in Helen’s mind
that these motions and gestures her teacher was making mean something.
All of a sudden she grasped names of things.
And her life began to change greatly.
She never gained her sight, but still she gained the whole world
and she gained a life with Christ.
By Bill Butsko
Helen Keller, shortly before her sixtieth birthday, expressed pity for the real unseeing,
for those who have eyes yet do not see.
Her long years of physical blindness have given her a spiritual insight which enables her to enjoy life in all its fullness.
She says:
"If the blind put their hand in God’s,
they find their way more surely than those who see but have not faith or purpose."
----Western Recorder, Copied from Sermon Central 9/25/2021
Wow, do you have faith and purpose,
or would Helen call you more blind then her?
That sets us up for reading our next passage in Mark.
22 They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. 23 He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?”
24 He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.”
25 Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 26 Jesus sent him home, saying, “Don’t even go into the village.”
27 Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”
28 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”
29 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”
30 Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.
Some people brought
Some people brought
The first thing I notice in our passage is a common thing happened again,
some people BROUGHT a blind man, a man in need to Jesus.
What kind of people
bring someone to Jesus?
in general anyway.
Do non believers bring someone to Jesus?
No
Do people afraid to share their faith
bring people to Jesus?
No
Do people who put popularity above their faith
bring people to Jesus?
How about people with little compassion for other,
do they bring people to Jesus?
What is your faith like?
Given the opportunity, would you bring
people to Jesus thru His Word
Would you bring people to Jesus
by telling them what he has done for you?
Would you bring people to Jesus by bringing them to church,
Christian Concerts
and other life events?
A Progressive Healing
A Progressive Healing
I healing took place in our passage.
What was unusual about this healing?
It was the only recorded healing by Jesus that appears to come in a two step process.
ALL the other healings appear to take
just
one
touch
But Jesus took the man aside,
spit in his eyes
and then he touched him
Then Jesus asked, one of the most astounding things
“Do you see anything?”
As though Jesus wasn’t sure if He had done enough yet?
And perhaps that is the case,
We will see in Mark chapter 9 where the disciples couldn’t cast out a demon
and Jesus had to do it. When the disciples asked why they couldn’t
Jesus said
29 He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.”
So perhaps first got the man’s eyes open
got his optical nerve and brain working
And then adjusted the mans vision.
Jesus may have been working with the mans faith.
At that time, the culture though saliva had healing powers
so Jesus spits in the mans eyes
People also thought Jesus, the healer, had to touch the person to heal them
so Jesus touched the man
like a pastor taking your hand or touching your shoulder when they pray for your healing.
Then Jesus touched the mans eyes
this process may have helped the man believe in his healing.
[pause]
I am glad that this healing wasn’t all at once.
I am glad that this healing wasn’t all at once.
Because it give legitimacy to God’s healing sometimes being a process.
Two people feel convicted about smoking cigarettes and both, surrender that to God and promise to stop, with God’s help
One of them is healed of those cravings instantly and never wants another cigarette.
The other is healed in a slow process of surrendering and relying on God’s strength
God’s Holy spirit to say “NO” to that craving.
Both instantaneous healing and
progressive healings are
Healing from God.
Today, more often then not, people
people seem to walk through a valley of fighting those urges
rather then be instantly healed.
Side Note:
Side Note:
In bible times, Jesus wanted to teach people how to live, while they wanted healing,
How often does Jesus want to impress on our heart, how to live
When we want healing?
Jesus commands
Jesus commands
Jesus gave two clear commands in our passage
He commanded the formerly blind man
“Don’t even go into the village” (NIV)
And then regarding Peter’s statement that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah
What did Jesus command
“not to tell anyone about him”(NIV)
The Bible, and Jesus give commands that apply to everyone
such as
Do not lie
Do not steal
Do not commit adultery.
But then there are commands only to an individual
Or only for a certain time and a certain place.
So to the formerly blind man,
the command was not to go into the village.
Does that mean,
he should never go into a village?
Will he
lose his sight if he ever goes
into a village.
Or was that command, just for that day and hour?
so that Jesus wasn’t swamped by a huge crowd
when he is trying to prepare the disciple for his death and resurrection.
It is very clear from the context that the Ex-blind man only needs to stay out of town
needs to please keep the story of what happened
to himself, until Jesus has moved on.
To constrain him with
never entering town again would be a foolish application of Jesus command.
Likewise the command to the disciples,
not to tell anyone that
Jesus is the Christ
was a command
for that day
for that hour
And as you well know,
soon they would have new instructions to
Go and make disciples of all nations.
So, that means, when we read commands in scripture to
do or not do things
we need to use the wisdom that God supplies
to know how to apply that command or instructions.
Who do people say Jesus is?
Who do people say Jesus is?
So lets back up to the discussion of who Jesus is.
That what Jesus asks about on the road to Caesarea Philippi.
27 Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”
The linguists comments on this verse say it was more like
as they walked along Jesus kept asking them,
“Who do people say I am”
So I imagine what Mark was trying to communicate is that Jesus surveyed the group,
Phillip who do people say I am
Judas, who do people say to you that I am
and so on down the line.
Today, lots of people pay Jesus some lip service
good man
good teacher
But since he made lots of claims to being
God’s son
existing before Abraham
In light of Jesus claims, He is really one of three things
A Liar
A Lunatic
or Who He claims to be
The Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God.
And that brings us to Peters great confession
29 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”
or as some translations say
You are the Christ.
Once Peter made that declaration
His relationship to Christ forever changed.
No longer was he just a good teacher that Peter could sift through his teachings for
what Peter would take and
what Peter would ignore.
When Jesus is your Christ
YOUR SAVIOR,
He may still be your best bud
But he is far more than that and
to casually pick and choose where you will follow His example
and where you won’t
is WRONG!
Once we are convinced Jesus is the Christ,
that changes our relationship to Him.
I remember when I was searching for something
And my Christian friend sent his bible home with me to read.
I started reading it, and then a moment came
where I knew I believed,
Instantly, my relationship to Christ had changed,
I needed to state my intentions
I needed to commit
join up
or reject Him.
So I did a dumb thing!
I put it off.
Easter was coming, and though I had never been to church on Easter, I was sure there would be
an alter call that Sunday, so I said, OK, in a couple weeks
when Easter comes, I will go to church
I will go forward
I will accept Christ in my heart and ask for forgiveness of my sins.
that day.
And that was one of the dumbest things I have ever done.
There was no promise that I would not be called home before that day
There was no guarantee that my convictions wouldn’t fail before that day
There was no guarantee I would make it to church that day.
And you know,
I didn’t make it to church that day.
I was being trained to work in a gas station and the night before Easter I was called in to work my first graveyard shift
My first all nigher ever.
And come Easter Sunday morning,
I wanted to go to bed, far more than I wanted to struggle and get myself to church to accept Christ.
And I drove home, and went to bed.
I think I woke up around 4pm that day, and I still had enough conviction to go for a walk and ask Jesus in my life, ask Jesus to forgive my sins.
If I had to guess, what influences were going on behind the scenes that I was called to work graveyard, the night before I planned to accdept Christ,
I would have to guess, the prince of this world was trying to keep me a lost sinner.
What about you?
Have you come to the point, ever
where you called Jesus your Christ
Have you made that Identification yet?
If you have, what did you do with that conviction
Did you act on it and accept christ as your Lord and Savior
Or did you act foolishly like me
and keep Christ waiting.
If you wait long enough, the power of that conviction will fade away
and you will lose the hope of a life with Christ in your heart.
So,
So,
How familiar are you with Christ
You have heard of Him
You know Him
Your ready to share him with others?
What kind of healing have you experienced from Christ
Instantaneous deliverance and never looking back
Gradual, progressive healing, where it’s like
walking through the valley of death
needing God’s strength to get through each day.
That would be more common these days.
Have you ever felt the conviction to do or not do something?
I hope so, but do you have the wisdom to know
is that for now or forever
is that for me alone or for everyone.
Some feel it would be a sin, for them to get a tattoo.
And if that is your conviction, it would be.
Others have no problem with tattoos,
as long as there are not in worship of other gods.
The world may have lots of opinions about Christ but
What about you?
Is Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior?
If He is
How are you doing as His follower??????????
Let’s go to God in Prayer.