John 9:35-38 – 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 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.
THEME OF THE DAY: THE SEEKING LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST. Today’s scripture is the ending of the exciting account of a blind man given sight by the Lord Jesus. Let me encourage a complete reading of the story. It is insightful and may quickly become one of your favorite encounters of Jesus with a needy person.
The background is a man born blind, not because of sin, but as a means for God to manifest His amazing and marvelous work of grace in giving him sight. But the story is not without drama and pain. The man receives sight from the Creator in the flesh and is brought before the hostile religious crowd to explain himself. And does he take a grilling! It was intense, hurtful, and left the man feeling verbally beat up. To make matters worse, his parents were given an opportunity to stand up for their boy, but did not. It doesn’t end there. It gets worse. The young man actually gets tossed out of the synagogue. Not escorted out, but tossed out – literally. That brings us to the scripture of the day. He is alone, wandering the streets, and no doubt is struggling with comprehending what just happened. Put ourselves in his shoes. He might be talking to himself like this, “I don’t get it. What did I do wrong? All I did was encounter a man, a very unique man that I don’t even know His name, and He gave me sight. Then my religious leaders rake me over the verbal coals for what? All I did was tell the truth at what happened. And to make it worse, I thought my relationship with my folks was good. Yet, they wouldn’t even stick up for me. I wonder if I can even go home tonight.”
As the man walks alone street after street, certainly feeling the depression of loneliness and confusion, something happens. He stops and looks up. Right in front of him is the Man who gave him sight. He is face to face with Jesus. And another miracle happens. He is given spiritual sight to see and know Jesus for who He is beyond the physical healer he previously encountered.
So, what is the lesson for us from this story? It is found in the opening of today’s scripture – “Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him”. Isn’t this thrilling? Jesus came to the man. Jesus sought Him. Jesus was the compassionate pursuer of the hurting. Think on our walks with the Lord starting with our salvation and many times after. Recall Jesus coming to us; seeking us to comfort us. Our God is a pursuing God. His love seeks out. His love moves Him to come after us when we could not or would not come to Him. Such love. Such amazing love. Don’t take it for granted. In fact, model it. One of the signs of good spiritual health is being controlled and led by the love of Christ. If we are, we become like Jesus, pursuing and ministering to the hurting – sinner and saints alike.
There is tremendous power found in the Christian experiencing and being controlled by the love of Christ. It is a power bathed in humility and personal sacrifice. Where this love is found in the believer, there is a compelling desire to serve others. And this compelling desire will not remain passive or dormant. It moves the Christian to aggressive and purposeful obedience to the commands of God to love others, sacrifice for others, and put the interests of others ahead of self-interests. Simply put, where the love of Christ is found controlling His people, they will be sharing His love consistently, purposefully, sincerely, and widely in their churches and spheres of influence. They will be like Jesus and the blind man; seeking the hurting and ministering to them with the love of Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:14).
PRAYER: “Lord, may I model Your love by being a seeker of the hurting.”
QUOTE: “Where the love of Christ is present in believers, they simply must be involved in reaching the hurting”