Monday, March 2, 2015

JESUS: THE SERVANT WHO GIVES SIGHT



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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Here is My servant, whom I uphold, My chosen one in whom I delight; I will put My Spirit on Him.”

This is what God the Lord says—the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out, who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it:

“I will keep you and will make You. You will open the eyes of the blind.”

Isaiah 42:1a, 5-6a, 7a

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

I’ve always loved these words from a classic praise and worship song:

Open our eyes Lord
We want to see Jesus,
To reach out and touch Him
And say that we love Him.

Open our ears Lord
And help us to listen,
Open our eyes Lord
We want to see Jesus.

We go through life from our earliest days on trying to look for truth and meaning so that we can make sense of the world around us. The problem is that we too often look in the wrong places and remain blinded to the real truth of things. We seek truth through our own intellect or the intellect of others. Some dedicate a lifetime to look for truths and find them frustrated and void in the end because they were blind as to where to look.

That’s why we need to sing out the words of the aforementioned song. For it’s only through Jesus that we can really see truth because only He is the truth, just as He is the only way and life we should model ours after (John 14:6).

You see, Jesus was in the sight providing business because God ordained it to be so. As we see in our continuing look at Isaiah 42, God chose His Son Jesus to be a servant who opens the eyes of the blind and reveals truth. Look at these verses:

“Here is My servant, whom I uphold, My chosen one in whom I delight; I will put My Spirit on Him.”

This is what God the Lord says—the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out, who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it:

“I will keep you and will make You. You will open the eyes of the blind.”  I
saiah 42:1a, 5-6a, 7a

God said that His Son would open the eyes of the blind and indeed, that’s exactly what He did. Look at this excerpt from the ministry work of the perfect servant Jesus, the servant who gives sight:

They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When He had spit on the man’s eyes and put His hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?”

He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.”

Once more Jesus put His hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. Mark 8:22-25

Imagine what it must be like to not be able to see. The whole world unidentifiable minus the sounds and smells you take in. It has to be excruciatingly frustrating and saddening, just as excruciatingly frustrating and saddening as it must be for people to try and find truth in life only to be blind to it because they look in all the wrong places.

In both instances, Jesus and only Jesus is the answer, the One who gives sight to the blind just as God the Father appointed Him to do.

Need one more biblical example?

Consider the story of Saul, the persecutor of Christians who presided over the stoning of Stephen as well as the murders of other disciples of Jesus. He thought he understood the truth of things and believed in what he was doing. The problem was that he was blind to the real truth because he was blind about Jesus. That would change.  

For while traveling the road to Damascus to continue his persecution of Christ followers, Saul had this rather abrupt encounter, one where he ironically found out just how harrowing blindness can be:

Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” He replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.  Acts 9:1-9

Three days he was blind. That’s a lot of time to consider things, to ponder who you encountered on that road to Damascus, the One named Jesus who brought you blindness. I wonder what went through Saul’s mind those three days. One thing I am sure of is that he yearned to regain his sight and be able to see once more but he would need someone who could give sight to him because he couldn’t do it on his own.

Enter Jesus, the perfect servant of God who gives sight to the blind, just as His Father empowered Him to do. Look at the rest of the story in Acts 9:

In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”

“Yes, Lord,” he answered.

The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. In a vision, he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”

“Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to Your holy people in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on Your name.”

But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is My chosen instrument to proclaim My name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for My name.”

Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. At once, he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.  Acts 9:10-22

A murderer of Christians was blinded from the sins he was committing only to have his sight restored to the real truth he needed to see, that Jesus is the Messiah and is capable of restoring sight to the blind. When the scales fell from Saul’s eyes, he became a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). His old life and self were gone and he boldly went forward for the cause of Christ as Jesus’ chosen instrument who would proclaim His name to the Gentiles and their kings as well as the people of Israel. In this newness of self, Saul could be no more and in his place emerged Paul, one of the greatest apostles ever. If you don’t believe it, look at how much of the New Testament is filled with writings of his work for the cause of Jesus and the Gospel.

Friends, there is hope for everyone in this world, even those who are blind because they do not have Jesus. This is because Jesus is ready to help everyone who is blind see again, not through the sinful lenses of the world but rather through His glorious eyes of righteousness. No one can grant sight like He can and no one truly sees unless they see through His eyes.

Going back to the earlier praise and worship song, let it be our anthem each and every day as we sing out:

Open my eyes Lord. I want to see Jesus (and I would add see like Him).

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com

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