Wednesday, 17 December 2008
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The Point Behind Jesus' Example of the Blind Man
Remember the story of Jesus healing the blind man? Okay...I'll be more specific: remember the guy who Jesus made a poulstice of mud and spit for? I always felt a bit uneasy when hearing this one, because when the disciples asked why the guy was blind in the first place, whether it was his sin or his parent's, Jesus responded that the man was blind so that God's power could be seen working in him.I always thought this so unfair of God. Why condemn a man to blindness just so Jesus could perform a miracle? Jesus had already done enough to show his power; allowing hardship in one man's life just to prove a point seemed cruel.
As I've continued to listen to the same audio Book of John I mentioned yesterday, I realized that it likely wasn't God's desire to have this man born blind. A cruel god would do that, and our Father isn't cruel. Yet how could I understand this?
Knowing we live in a fallen world, and all that entails, helped me understand, but it was when the formerly blind man was brought before the Pharisees and told them, "I was blind, but now I see," that I fully got it. I know those words...when I sing them in Newton's Amazing Grace, I can't help but think of a plethera of old, stupid opinions. I certainly have been blind, but Jesus is making me see.
I realized we're all born with defects, just that some are more obvious than others. For example: I hate to admit I'm wrong when I know I'm right, especially in the insignificant nothings. I suffer from low self-esteem and self-worth. I am selfish, prideful, distrustful, unloving, impatient, opinionated, and I can have an irrational, blazing temper...among other things. Which makes me think: perhaps it would be better if I suffered only from physical blindness.
Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. ... Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin. Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians1: 27, 30-31, NLT
I finally see the point Jesus was trying to make - that when our blatant failings miraculously disappear, our family and community are left with no explanation other than Jesus (unless they're that Pharisitical sort.)
What do you think the point of the story of Jesus healing the blind man is?
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Comments (21)
I like what happened beforehand. The Apostles asked who sinned that made the man blind. There is an important doctrine that was taught here, that there is life BEFORE birth.
@J_Goldens_Shadow@xanga - Yes, it's commonly called "gestation".
I also like the point made in Mark 8:22-25 with another blind man. Jesus spit in his eyes and then asked what he could see. The man responded with shapes like trees walking around. So Jesus laid hands on him again and he was healed. I like that. If even Jesus had to do it again... we shouldn't feel discouraged if we aren't healed first go. Just have faith and keep on askin'. :)
I can't help thinking if you asked the healed man, "Would you rather have been born able to see, or have been born blind as you were and then been miraculously healed by Jesus?" he would have gone with the latter. The text doesn't say this about the man, but I can certainly say it about myself. I'm glad that God allowed me to go through the worst things that ever happened to me, because Jesus turned them into the best things that ever happened to me.
@MysteriumFidei@xanga - I talking spiritually. Before we were even conceived in the womb we lived with God. We knew Him. The Apostles knew this, which is why they asked.
Is no one concerned with the psychological repercussions this blind man would have faced by suddenly being able to see? I mean he lived his entire life blind and can now see. We all think that's a good thing because we are not blind. But to him, a world he knew and trusted based on his other senses has suddenly been opened up and become entirely alien to him. There has got to be a lot he must overcome. Something tells me he wouldn't be so happy about it as he's made out to be.
@roxics@xanga - have you seen Monty Python's Life if Brian? Hillarious moment when the begger who was blind could now see... lost his "very respectable living, thanks to him!" *grin*
@roxics@xanga - Read Mark 8 for a possible explanation to your theory. Jesus healed a blind man outside of Bathsaida, spitting on his eyes, putting his hands on him, and asking, "What do you see?" The man first said, "I see men like trees walking around." In other words, he didn't know what he was looking at.
I find it interesting that Mark included this particular exchange because we've come to find this to be the case among the blind who are given sight for the very first time. They have trouble adjusting and many times, while their eyes may be healed, their brain can't fully process what they're seeing.
So Jesus then placed his hand on the blind man again, and the Bible says the man's vision was restored. The second "healing" of the man was Jesus healing his mind. Jesus has the power to heal not only the body but the mind. What a wonderful Lord!
"I finally see the point Jesus was trying to make - that when our blatant failings miraculously disappear, our family and community are left with no explanation other than Jesus (unless they're that Pharisitical sort.)"
I really really like this application... a beautiful point made in a very poignant way!
Awesome post! It's amazing to think that God wants to use wretches like us to reveal Himself through :)
@MysteriumFidei@xanga - How do you sin in gestation? No, I think this is pretty clearly indicative of our existence before our birth.
My New Testament teacher (I attend BYU) made an excellent point. I think the story perfectly parallels the physically blind man, and the spiritually blind Pharisees.
"I always felt a bit uneasy when hearing this one, because when the disciples asked why the guy was blind in the first place, whether it was his sin or his parent's, Jesus responded that the man was blind so that God's power could be seen working in him."
I'm thinking He may have put it that way to point out what was important and what was not. Who cares why this man was born blind? Jesus was going to make him see!
Just because one of Jesus' disciples asked a question is not a basis for building an entire doctrine. His disciples asked lots of stupid questions and made lots of dumb statements. Jesus frequently corrects them for their silliness. The Devil made outrageous statements to our Lord as well, and He didn't bother correcting his errors either. He just gave a truthful answer. The pre-existent nature of the soul is contrary to the entire Christian and Hebrew tradition and it's going to take a lot more than a singular misguided question from one of Jesus' disciples to make a good case.
@MysteriumFidei@xanga - Really now? Where is the contradiction? God talks to Jeremiah, stating He knew him even before Jeremiah was formed in the womb. We know Lucifer existed in Heaven before anyone was born. We know Christ, before he was born, was Jehovah. Who is to say we weren't there too? It sounds to me as though we all had spirits, and those who made bad decisions had consequences attached to them, like, oh... being kicked out of Heaven. The Jews have similar concept, the "Treasury of Souls", a place with a finite number of souls that must be born before the Messiah comes. I think a pre-mortal life makes absolute sense.
@Endersig@xanga - None of the things you list have any resemblance to Smith's fabricated doctrines.
1) The knowledge which God has of all people before all ages is the basis for predestination, not the preexistent nature of the soul.
2) Christ was not Jehovah before He was born. They are two different Persons.
3) The demons and angels which existed before the humans are not the same beings nor do they possess the same natures. Man was created at the finality of creation in God's image. This was the creative act that was done and Adam was given a soul at this point. He did not have a soul prior to this point.
4) I am not familiar with what some jews teach, nor do I see how it is relevant. Smith's doctrines are against the entire Christian tradition, which was my point, and it will take more than one man with a couple stretched verses to convince me that everybody who breathed before Joseph Smith was in error and that he alone possessed the truth. Either Jesus was right and the Church would be protected from error at all times, or Joseph Smith was right and everybody who ever lived before him was wrong. But you can't have both.
I'll stick with Jesus.
To show that apart from God's touching our eyes we are spiritually blind to the truth about God, that there is salvation in no other name but the name of His only begotten Son Jesus.
The miracles also attested of who Jesus was; they were fulfillments of OT prophecy about the Messiah.
@MysteriumFidei@xanga - You said it went against Christian and Hebrew traditions. My point was that isn't true. You still haven't demonstrated how anything is affected by the notion of us existing before we were born. There is no doctrine to the contrary, even.
As for Jehovah... what?! What does Jehovah mean? "I Am that I Am". Look at how Christ refers to himself throughout the New Testament. "I Am"... Before he was born, Christ was Jehovah.
Numbers 16:22, Job 38:7, Eccl. 12:7, Jeremiah 1:5, Zech 12:1, John 9:2, Acts 17:28, Rom 8:29, Eph 1:4, Hebrews 12:9, Jude 1:6, Rev 12:7 are all examples of a pre-mortal life for all of us.
Isaiah also makes it pretty clear that Jehovah is the Redeemer and Savior... who else was called the Redeemer? Who is the Savior?
(Isa 41:14, 43:11, and 45:17, to name a few)
@Endersig@xanga - Jesus' use of the phrase "I Am" was a claim to His divinity - this much is correct. It is, however, not correct to say that "Jesus used to be Jehovah. I realise that as a LDS you do not accept any of Christian teaching or tradition from the œcumenical synods, but those are authoritative for Christians and the definitions that came from them formulated our theological definitions. It is not correct to say that Jesus "used to be" Jehovah. They are different Persons of the same God, both eternal, both. St. Augustine's figure explains this according to Christian orthodoxy:
http://www.boston-catholic-journal.com/most-holy-trinity.jpg
The pre-existent nature of the soul can be read into any number of passages. But the teaching itself is foreign to Christianity. It exists in Buddhism, Freemasonry, Wiccanism, and other occult sects, but not Christianity. All of those religions also have their pet Bible verses to support all kinds of weird beliefs as well. Again, when it comes down to it, I can either belief Jesus' promise to lead and guide the Church into all truth, or I can believe Smith that everybody who ever lived before him was wrong and only he had the truth. I'll stick with Jesus, thank you.
So, how do you know this wasn't Jesus teaching about the pre-mortal existence of the soul? You just seem to dismiss it, but there is no doctrine to the contrary, and multiple instances for.
I will agree with you, however, that "used to be" has a somewhat different connotation then I intended. Christ IS Jehovah would probably have been better.
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الولادة الطبيعية |
الولادة القيصرية |
الحمل والولادة |
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إتفاق |
تاخر الحمل |