DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- PASSING BY

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- PASSING BY

"Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth." (John 9:1)

This scene really began in chapter 8. Jesus and the Jews were having a heated discussion about who Jesus was. He claimed to be God – Yahweh, the I Am of the Old Testament. The Jews were outraged at such a claim and took up rocks to stone Him, but Jesus passed through the midst of them. He passed by those who rejected Him.

Chapter 9 begins by picking up the narrative. As Jesus passed by the unbelieving Jews, He passed by a man who had been blind from birth. Jesus stopped and healed him by anointing the eyes of the blind man with mud he had made from spitting on the dust of the ground, and then instructing him to go to the pool of Siloam and wash away the mud.

There is a striking contrast – Jesus passed by the unbelievers but stopped to heal a man. The blind man believed Jesus and did as he was told, and he was healed.

It is not as though Jesus had ignored the unbelieving Jews. He had spent time trying to change their minds about Him. But the time came when they wanted to kill Him, that He left them. He gave them over to their refusal to believe, as it says in Romans chapter 1.

The songwriter said it well: "Is there a heart that is weary, longing for pardon day? Hear the glad message we bring you, Jesus is passing this way." But Jesus doesn't just pass by. He stops to touch and make whole those who are needy and recognize their need.

I love the song that says, "Pass me not, O Gentle Savior. Hear my humble cry. While on others Thou art calling, do not pass me by." Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit" -- those who know their need of God. He stops at the door of the person who knows he is needy and who will open the door to Him.

Love, Dad