Brown's Daily Word 8-13-08

Good day,
I love to read about the mighty deeds of Jesus, our Lord. He is Mighty and Merciful. He is transcendent and yet totally Immanent. He is wholly Other, yet He is God with us in our sin and suffering. He heals and restores. He gives grace for every time of need. He is kind to those who fall. He is pavilioned in splendor and girded with praise. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Jesus our Lord is at work destroying the works of Satan. He is at work setting the captives free. He makes the lame walk again and take up a new hobby --- rock climbing. He makes the blind see and gives them a new hobbies -- bird watching. We see our Lord at work in John 9:1-9:41, dispelling the power of darkness. There’s a saying, "There’s none as blind as those who won’t see!" Helen Keller said, "What would be worse than being born blind? To have sight without vision." This is certainly true in the encounter that Jesus had with the Pharisees on the occasion when He healed a man who had been born blind (John 9). The scene was in Jerusalem. Jesus had just left the temple after a confrontation with the Pharisees over what they thought was an outrageous claim by Jesus. He had said, "I tell you the truth, before Abraham was born, I am!" (8:58). They were infuriated at what would have been gross heresy had it not been true, so they "picked up stones to stone him". Our Lord was aware that His time had not yet come for His Passion, so He "hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds." From then on, the Pharisees watched Jesus like a hawk to see if somehow they could find some pretext to bring an official charge. As Jesus walked away, we’re told, "He saw a man blind from birth." This unfortunate person was what we would call (in our day) congenitally blind, and what’s more, he was reduced to begging. Like ourselves, the disciples were always anxious to ask questions to which there are no final answers on this side of eternity. They posed the query to Jesus, "… who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind?" This has been the topic of speculation down the ages. Job wrestled with this ancient problem; the psalmists and prophets agonizing over it. The 21st century Christian leaders are no different over these perplexing issues. Dr Rowan Williams likes to tell the story of Pope John XXIII, who woke up worrying about a problem. He said to himself: “I’ll consult the Pope about that.” Then he thought: “Wait a minute, I am the Pope!” It’s no wonder the mystery of illness is a theological puzzle. "Who is responsible?", asked the disciples, ‘the man himself or his parents?" The Jewish rabbis had the idea that if a pregnant woman sinned, there may be some deformity in the child. It’s true that there’s often a relationship between cause and effect, such as the disastrous effect that alcohol during pregnancy has upon the unborn when the children grow up. C S Lewis wrote that God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. Sickness can be God’s megaphone to draw our attention back to Him. But while the Bible allows a general relationship between suffering and sin, due to the fall of man depicted in the Garden of Eden, it refuses to permit the principle to be set in stone for each individual. Yes, sin has produced a suffering world, but a given person’s suffering isn’t necessarily attributable to his or her personal sin. Jesus dismissed this simplistic theory of suffering as He answered the disciples’ question. "No" he said, "it wasn’t the sin of this man or his parents, but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life." Jesus was not interested in the ‘whys and wherefores’ of the past but, rather, how a person’s predicament can be resolved in the present. All things – even afflictions and calamities – can work to the glory of God. He can turn suffering into good. Jesus made it clear that He was not here to explain the mystery of evil, but to remove the cause of it and break its power. When Jesus made His first public address, He quoted from Isaiah’s prophecy that the Messiah would "proclaim freedom for prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind and to release the oppressed" (Luke 4:18). The Almighty is sovereign and has a purpose in all He does. Jesus knew that giving sight to the blind beggar would be one of the signs by which He would validate His claim as the Son of God. "I am the light of the world", he said, and He would prove it by changing the darkness of this man to light, symbolic of His greater work of releasing mankind from the power of sin's darkness through His atoning work on the Cross. We might be tempted to think it would be so much simpler if the gift of healing could be received on request, like reaching out for a bottle of medicine. But that simply is not God’s way. A balanced view of Scripture indicates that God has specific plans for us. He has the best in mind for us and, in His permissive will, may allow health and strength, or weakness and suffering, long life or short life. It is not for us to question His decision. Ultimately, we are at the mercy of God. Whether we are healed or not from a specific illness, we are to proclaim the faithfulness of a God who is alongside us in Christ. He suffered, died, and rose again for us. I recently read the testimony of a young woman who wasn’t healed. She said that God was glorified even more because, in spite of her continuing disability, she loved Him. That’s the ultimate test of our faith, as we walk by faith and not by sight. When suffering is submitted to God, then God’s work is displayed, by healing or deliverance, perhaps miraculously or with gifted medical assistance, or alternatively by a courageous acceptance of the suffering. It is then that we are enabled to discover God’s strength in our weakness. This was the experience of the apostle Paul when he wrote of his "thorn in the flesh". The Lord assured him with the words, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). Jesus proceeded to heal the blind beggar, using mud made from saliva and dirt. The gospel doesn’t tell us why Jesus should use this means when a word had sufficed in previous acts of healing. Perhaps the man needed to be involved in the healing process by some simple act of obedience or perhaps it to tell those who would read the story over the generations that God uses ‘props’ when it suits His purposes? The stories from Scripture are often to be interpreted as giving principles rather than strict precedents or formulas to be slavishly followed. The healing of the beggar’s blindness was clearly a miracle. The mud pack of clay may have been used to symbolize the defilement of sin that needed to be cleansed away and to demonstrate that healing could only come from the Lord Himself. But there was more to it than that: it was followed by a word from Jesus. "Go", He said, "wash in the Pool of Siloam." To achieve the cure, the beggar had to co-operate with Jesus. He had to show faith in our Lord’s words by obedience to the command. The Lord alone could perform the miracle and open the blind eyes, but He chose to do it through the obedience of faith in Him. The definition of ‘faith’ is simply taking Christ at His word. We are told. "So the man went and washed, and came home seeing." In a moment of time, the beggar’s darkness was turned to light.

In His Light,
Brown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8welVgKX8Qo