I Was Blind, But Now I See!
I Was Blind, But Now I See!
By Dennis Huebshman
Jesus healed many people while on this earth, and sometimes they were used to show that He was God. There was one occasion where Jesus didn’t even see the one to be healed. Because of the faith of his Centurion master, Jesus healed the servant “long distance”. (Luke 7:1-10) (any emphasis mine)
He raised a widow’s son with just a word (Luke 7:12-15). Jesus controlled demons, and had them come out of people. At one event, he came across a man with many demons, and when questioned, they said their name was “legion”, and they asked Jesus for permission to enter a herd of swine. He gave the word, and subsequently the pigs ran into a lake and were drowned. (Luke 8:27-33)
Another time, Jesus was going to a ruler of the Synagogue’s home to heal a 12-year old girl. There was a crowd around Him, and a woman who had a blood disorder for 12 years came up behind Him. She touched the fringe of His garment, and was immediately healed. She had the faith this would happen before she touched Him. Jesus knew He had been touched, and that a healing had taken place. When confronted, she admitted what she had done, and Jesus Blessed her for her faith. (Luke 8:40-48) This healing went beyond just her blood issue. Because of her disorder, she had been declared “unclean” and not allowed in the synagogue or other meeting places. She had just about spent everything she had on doctors, but to no avail. She put her full faith and trust in the “Great Physician”, and her problem was immediately over. Once again, she was “clean” and acceptable in public.
In John 9, Jesus healed a blind man by putting a mud compound on his eyes, and then told the blind man to go wash, “in the pool of Siloam” The blind man followed Jesus’ instructions, and was able to see for the first time in his life. Afterwards, the “healed” man was taken before the Pharisees who questioned him how this had been done. When he told them how Jesus had healed him, they were indignant because it was done on the Sabbath. They had a long list of rules of things that weren’t allowed to be done on a Sabbath. They even questioned the man’s parents, but they said he was old enough to speak for himself. They did not want to get the leaders mad and be put out of the synagogue.
The Pharisees continued to interrogate the man, and told him the person who healed him was a sinner. In John 9:25, “He answered, whether He is a sinner, I do not know. One thing I do know; that though I was blind, now I see!” He went on to ask the Pharisees why they were so interested in his being healed. He cut them to the quick by asking, “Do you also want to become His disciple?” Of course they cast him out of the synagogue.
What happened next should be taught in every church, everywhere, but you won’t hear this. Jesus heard about what happened, and found the healed man. He asked the man if he believed in the “Son of Man”. Verses 36-38 state, “He answered, and who is He, Sir, that I may believe in Him? (37) Jesus said to him, you have seen Him, and it is He who is speaking to you. (38) He said, Lord, I Believe!, and he worshiped Him.”
Because of this one healing, Jesus proclaimed numerous things. First, the Pharisees hang-ups about the Sabbath were man-generated, not God ordained. When God gave the commandments to the Israelites, He was telling them they needed to take one day and devote it to “mostly” worship of Him. He never meant for it to become so cumbersome with pages and pages of made up restrictions.
Jesus often had issues with the religious leaders because of their “rules” not being from God. I believe He purposely made a mud compound which would have been prohibited, and had the man wash in a certain place, which would also have been prohibited. He knew the Pharisees would take note of this. There were several times Jesus tried to tell them that doing good for others on the Sabbath was perfectly acceptable to the Father.
Another issue is the importance placed on the Synagogue itself, or on church buildings. Jesus never needed a building to teach and perform His miracles in. Also, He taught and healed on various days and at various times. To Him, no one was “unclean” and not allowed to be close to the Savior. The woman with the blood disorder, people with leprosy, dead bodies and the like were not so “impure” that Jesus would not touch them. The woman with the blood issue was made clean; and through the shed blood of Our Savior, we All are made clean. The stipulation for this is we must accept His sacrifice for this to happen.
Belonging to an organized religion is fine, as long as the Savior is being worshiped in spirit and in truth; not the religion or it’s non-biblical rules. It’s sad that we have mega-churches that are only interested in keeping seats and collection plates full; yet leave people with empty souls. To shy away from the truth, is to turn away from the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Likewise, a couple of hours a week of so-called “devotion” and nothing else is useless. The blind man that was healed worshiped Jesus then and there. We don’t know what his future on earth was after that, but more than likely, he carried Jesus in his heart from then on. His worship meant more to Jesus than any accolades the Pharisees could ever make. The man who was released from the demons worshiped Jesus on the spot. He asked to be able to follow Jesus, but the Savior left him there as a testimony to the people in the man’s own area.
Our “relationship” with Jesus is more important than any “ear-tickling” message or entertaining stage productions. Jesus gave us two commandments that we are to follow. Matthew 22:37-40, “And He said to him, you shall love the Lord your God, with all your heart and all your soul and with all your mind. (38) This is the great and first commandment. (39) And a second is like it; you shall love your neighbor as yourself. (40) On these two commandments, depend all the law and the prophets.”
To believe we must do more works to try and earn a place with Him is wrong. Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by Grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of your own doing; it is the gift of God, (9) not a result of works, so that no one can boast.” Going on to verse 10, “For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” If we have Jesus in our hearts, we will want to turn away from the things of this world and live for Him and follow the commandments given above. What we do should be to bring honor to the Lord, and this should be our main motivation.
For people to add works as a condition of their salvation, they are adding to the gospel and distorting it. Galatians 1:8-9, “But even if we, or an Angel from Heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we presented to you, let him be accursed. (9) As we have said before, so now I say again; if any one is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.
Before totally coming to the Lord over 30 years ago, I was in a “mode” as many people today are in. I had no problem believing Jesus was real, but had never really accepted Him as my Savior. Even satan and his demons believe Jesus exists. I thought that if I did enough “good deeds”, that would get me into heaven. As Ephesians 2:8-9 state, no works puts us there. To think otherwise is to insult the sacrifice made by Our Savior. Once I started reading God’s word for myself, I found that, like the healed blind man, I was blind, but now I could see. I realized that without a true relationship with Jesus, I was lost.
He is always there when I talk to Him, and there’s nothing too great or small for me to bring up to Him. Anything I do for the Lord, I don’t count it as “earning” my place with Him. If something can be counted as good, my motive is to glorify the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, not myself. To try and count anything as a “good work”, Isaiah 64:6 tells us that to God, our attempts at “righteous deeds” are like filthy rags. It’s our “Heart-Condition” that counts. If we Love our Savior, and love our brothers and sisters (everyone), we are accepted.
Romans 10:9-13 tells what we must do to be saved, and Acts 4:12 says that Jesus is the only one by which we can be saved. John 14:6 absolutely says Jesus is the only Way to the Father. In Acts 16:30-31, the Philippian Jailer asked, “What must I do to be saved?” Verse 31 says, “And they said believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” It should be noted, each member of his family accepted Jesus for themselves.
He will be coming back soon to take believers away from the Wrath that is also coming. It is a gift given through the Grace of our Savior, and because of the Mercy of our Heavenly Father. Anyone adding to this is saying Jesus’ sacrifice was not enough.
Call out to Jesus; confess you are a sinner (Romans 3:23); ask for His forgiveness and for Him to be your Savior forever. If you truly believe this to be the truth, you will be saved.
Maranatha!