John 9: Jesus, the troublemaker| Ranato Cardoso Fresh from the last chapter’s confrontation, Jesus goes at it again with the Pharisees. He decides to heal someone on Saturday for the second time. But not even death-threats intimidate Him. That’s the Jesus I believe in! A brave, courageous, unafraid, troublemaker (to the Pharisees.) He came to shake-up the status quo. It’s impossible for you to know the real Jesus without Him shaking up the very foundation of your beliefs and traditions. But the healing of the blind man really starts with a stupid question made by the disciples. “Who sinned for him to be born blind, him or his parents?” It’s stupid because how could a man sin before birth? Notice that the question originates from religious beliefs. Isn’t it religion that likes to put the blame on a person’s sins, labeling them as the reason behind their problems, sentencing the person to suffer the punishment, and then giving them no solution? Those of you who have been reading John from the beginning, and still don’t understand, understand now: religion stupifies you, faith in Jesus opens your mind. In this chapter, we see the influence of religion once again: in order avoid being kicked out of the synagogue, the blind man’s parents give a fearful reply to the religious people. Not even the healing of their son could undo the muzzle that religion had put on them. That’s the state of many in this world, slaves to a religion. In truth, they are the blind men and women of today. But it’s nice to see the progress of the blind man’s faith. At first, he didn’t even know who Jesus was, but he was healed just the same. This proves that you don’t need to know God in order to receive a miracle. You simply need to believe. Receiving a miracle doesn’t mean that you received salvation. Then, when they asked him who Jesus was, the blind man answered: “He’s a prophet.” He could tell that Jesus was of God because of His good works. Many also believe that Jesus was simply a good teacher, a prophet like any other, who taught good things. But that belief is not enough. That’s why Jesus went after the blind man, after being expelled from the synagogue. Jesus then reveals Himself as Savior. The blind man quickly kneels at Jesus’ feet and believes in Him. He’s then saved. That is the process of faith you too should go through. Perhaps you didn’t even know Jesus up to now. Perhaps you’ve heard people talk about how good He is. But you haven’t knelt at His feet yet, or believed He is who He says He is. That kneeling down is much more than kneeling literally. It means to live your life in total submission to Him, to break-up with religion and live an intelligent faith in your day to day life. Do you believe?
Posted on: Wed, 02 Oct 2013 08:18:20 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015