SIGHT FOR THE BLIND

Time with Jesus - Tuesday, 03 January 2012

I’ve heard it said that everything that took place in the Old Testament was there to illustrate that which Jesus would subsequently do in the New Testament. I’ve no reason to doubt the statement, but struggle with how the historical information fits into this category.

I’ve also been told that every one of the miracles attributed to Jesus have their counterpart in the Old Testament. This same Bible teacher has pointed out that everything Jesus did up to His Crucifixion and death was carried out in terms of the Old Covenant. I have no real reason to gainsay this. It’s true that He was born, lived and obeyed the law of God. In the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 He stated: ¹⁷ "Do not think I have come to get rid of what is written in the Law or in the Prophets. I have not come to do that. Instead, I have come to give full meaning to what is written. Mat 5:17 NIrV

There are many different people who love God’s Word. These men and women have different personalities and temperaments. Some tend to be romantic and read The Word looking for that which is gloriously liberating. Some tend to be more formal and categorize His life and words in terms of predefined classifications. There is a sense in which both are right and both are wrong. It would be wrong for me to be critical of others who tend to be more rigid in their understanding of Scripture. I often find that men and women from this “stream” have insights into Scripture that my romantic nature would never spot without it being drawn to my attention.

Over the years I’ve begun to learn that I greatly need those who have a different personality from mine. In the early 1990’s Phyllida and I served in a church in Worcester. There was one particular man with whom I almost always disagreed. But what we found was that this man was the perfect foil for my artistic romantic nature. We had some real ding dong disagreements. But invariably, his different approach was something we could not do without. In fact we would not hold church meetings without him. We found in practice that our greatest critic was actually our greatest asset! That was a revelation to all of us.

In the Scriptures today we deal with blindness and how Jesus dealt with it. We see Him restore physical sight to a blind man. We also see in Psalm 119 that The Lord gives “sight” to the spiritually blind. Indeed, throughout the Old and New Testaments we see spiritual and physical blindness being restored. Men and women who have walked in spiritual or physical blindness have had their vision restored. God excels in this. It’s almost as though He delights in enabling His people to see Him. Like our friend in Worcester, we may have different perspectives, but He delights in allowing His people to meet and from our different perspectives, to bring greater light than we could ever have achieved on our own.

In writing this morning’s meditation I’ve traced the restoration of sight from the Gospel back into the Psalms and tried to draw out the wonder of God bringing light to blind eyes.

Jim & Phyllida Strickland.

Sight for the Blind

What is it you are wanting the Lord to do for you? The blind man wanted vision, to see the way we do. It seems he had been blind from birth, so couldn’t comprehend, The things that he would look at, when his blindness reached its end. But Jesus had compassion and told him he could see. His faith had made the difference from the way he used to be. And when the Saviour left him, he followed on behind, Praising God for giving sight to someone who was blind. This story is recorded in the gospel of saint Luke. There in chapter eighteen we see it was no fluke. For Jesus was in “business” to give the people sight, When all that they had ever seen was never-ending night! But Jesus also shed His light on what is in His Word. And He will end our darkness, by the words that we have heard. He opens up our minds so that each one of us can see, The Scriptures that were written for the likes of you and me. The Lord God has been doing this for some two thousand years. He’s brought His understanding to mollify our fears. His Word is never changing, so what He did back then, Is what He’s made available for ordinary men. Now Jesus has ascended and sent the paraclete; His precious Holy Spirit so that Satan can be beat. He said that He would do it and so it’s guaranteed, That everything He did back then still could be done indeed. His brother James has told us, that all gifts from above, Come down to us from heaven, from the God of light and love. His gifts are not deceitful when they’re cascading down. They’re not two-faced or fickle; the very best in town. So if we ask the Father for wisdom and insight, He will not disappoint us and we’ll receive His light! We’ll grow in Godly knowledge. He’ll flood our hearts with hope, To better understand all things and show us how to cope. We’ll be His Holy People and know His mighty power. Our glorious inheritance, that’s bigger every hour. Then, as we honour Jesus, His Spirit will ensure, That while all of our motives are good and clean and pure, Our eyes indeed He’ll open, so that we all can see, Far better than that blind man He healed in Galilee. Jim Strickland – Written Wednesday 3rd Jan 2012