WE BELIEVE IN THE UNSEEN PRESENCE OF CHRIST WITH US
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As Jesus is walking along the road to Jerusalem with His disciples, they encounter a man who was born blind. Ever compassionate, Jesus reaches out to him. He applies mud to the man’s eyes and tells him to go wash in the Pool of Siloam.
The blind man complies and is miraculously healed! The people are skeptical, for they remember him to be the blind man who used to sit begging by the side of the road. Could this be the same man?
The day is a Sabbath, a holy day when no work is to be done, according to the rules the Pharisees have added to God’s law. Since healing is considered work, the Jewish leaders are indignant that Jesus should choose to heal on this sacred day. Yet Jesus follows the spirit of the law, which is love, over manmade rules. The Pharisees question the once-blind man…
“He put mud on my eyes… and I washed, and now I see.”
“What have you to say about Him?”
“He is a Prophet.” – John 9:15, 17
Disbelieving the man’s story, the Pharisees inquire of his parents as to whether he has indeed been blind since birth and how he has come to see. Fearing the Jewish leaders, the parents affirm their son’s infirmity, yet refuse to say how he can now see and who has healed him. For anyone recognizing Jesus as Messiah is excommunicated from the synagogue.
The Pharisees pressure the man to say that Jesus is a sinner for healing on the Sabbath…
“Whether He is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!… Do you want to become His disciples too?” – John 9:25, 27
At this the Pharisees are furious, hurling insults at the once-blind man. He courageously responds…
“We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does His will. Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing.” – John 9:31-33
Angrily, the Pharisees throw the man out. Jesus hears the news, finds the healed man and asks…
“Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
“Who is He, Sir?… Tell me so that I may believe in Him.”
“You have now seen Him… He is the One speaking with you.”
“Lord, I believe.” – John 9:35-38
This man’s faith in Christ has blossomed. He has moved from believing Jesus to be a man who performs amazing works… to being a Prophet… to being His Lord. Not only has the blind man received physical sight… he has gained spiritual sight. With his new eyes of faith open, he discerns the true character of Jesus as the Messiah.
The Pharisees remain spiritually blind to the truth of Jesus. Their eyes of faith are closed. Threatened by the power and popularity of Jesus, they only seek to be rid of Him. They are blind to His Messiahship. The people are reticent to believe, allowing their doubts and suspicions to keep them spiritually blind to the long-awaited Christ among them.
Have your eyes of faith been opened? Have you progressed from seeing Jesus as a man of miracles… to a Prophet and Healer… to Redeemer and Lord of your life?
“Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.” – Hebrews 11:1
Our Christian journey is a pilgrimage here on earth. Our thoughts and actions are influenced by the unseen reality of the presence of Christ in our lives. We may not see Him, yet we sense His presence. We recognize His divine workings in and through our lives… changing us to be ever more closely like Him.
If we are not discerning the reality of Christ’s presence… if we are not hearing His words speaking to our spirits… if we are not seeing our lives transforming, perhaps our spiritual eyesight has become clouded. Worldly interests and desires can cloud our eyes of faith, as can unconfessed sin.
“For we live by believing and not by seeing.” – 2 Corinthians 5:7
When we see with our eyes of faith, we believe that which is unseen. The blind man was unseeing, yet he believed. Too often people who see do not believe. There is no belief in anything that their eyes cannot see. Their belief is only in tangible realities.
Believers are ones who believe by faith that the spirit of Christ reigns within them. They do not let doubts and skepticism cloud their spiritual vision like the people of Jesus’ day. Nor do they allow spiritual blindness to set in by selfishly or stubbornly ignoring the truth as the Pharisees did.
As our spiritual eyes are opened, Jesus will become clearer to us. We will see Him as who He is… Messiah, Savior and Lord. As we remain open to hearing His words and heeding them… open to following His plan for our lives, He will reveal Himself more and more to us through divine revelation and spiritual insight. His path before us will become visible through our eyes of faith.
Our faith rests in our Redeemer enthroned in heaven. One day we will see Him face to face. We will receive our promised crown of life… and live and reign with Him for all eternity. Our lives are lived trusting in these unseen realities which can only be spiritually discerned. As we keep our eyes of faith focused on our Lord, we will see with spiritual clarity.
