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
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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
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