12/14/16
The earliest Christians followed a Jewish tradition of pausing to pray, preferably together, first thing in the morning, about mid morning, at noon, about mid afternoon, and in the evening. “Just a Note” posts are brief observations made from Scripture readings not related to a lectionary. If I have one to post, it normally appears about 9:00 in the morning, at “the hour of prayer.”
After Jesus healed the man born blind in John chapter 9, there was a dispute. Some people said they knew the man, others did not. Some who had known the man before denied knowing him. Why would this be?
Many people, when confronted with the power of God, shy away. We are so accustomed to things working the way we would expect that we are made very uncomfortable whenever something unusual is afoot. And this is certainly unusual. Miracles are exactly that, miraculous.
There is something more riding on this relationship. It’s probably important for us to notice that in John chapter 9 we will learn that those who follow Jesus are excluded from the synagogue. This is a very serious matter. In doing so, the leaders of the people say that a follower of Jesus is not actually of Israel. It shuts the person out from worship. It closes the doors of forgiveness.
Jesus, the same one who gave this blind man sight, is the one who can forgive and cleanse from sin. For this very reason he is divisive. We would rather not admit to having any need for forgiveness. We would rather see ourselves as sufficient. Yet Jesus will not leave us in that position. He comes to heal and restore. This is his gift of grace.
If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.
The earliest Christians followed a Jewish tradition of pausing to pray, preferably together, first thing in the morning, about mid morning, at noon, about mid afternoon, and in the evening. “Just a Note” posts are brief observations made from Scripture readings not related to a lectionary. If I have one to post, it normally appears about 9:00 in the morning, at “the hour of prayer.”
After Jesus healed the man born blind in John chapter 9, there was a dispute. Some people said they knew the man, others did not. Some who had known the man before denied knowing him. Why would this be?
Many people, when confronted with the power of God, shy away. We are so accustomed to things working the way we would expect that we are made very uncomfortable whenever something unusual is afoot. And this is certainly unusual. Miracles are exactly that, miraculous.
There is something more riding on this relationship. It’s probably important for us to notice that in John chapter 9 we will learn that those who follow Jesus are excluded from the synagogue. This is a very serious matter. In doing so, the leaders of the people say that a follower of Jesus is not actually of Israel. It shuts the person out from worship. It closes the doors of forgiveness.
Jesus, the same one who gave this blind man sight, is the one who can forgive and cleanse from sin. For this very reason he is divisive. We would rather not admit to having any need for forgiveness. We would rather see ourselves as sufficient. Yet Jesus will not leave us in that position. He comes to heal and restore. This is his gift of grace.
If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.
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