You Weren’t Thrown Away
Written by Jarred Rushing
(9 minutes)
So once again they summoned the man who was healed of blindness and said to him, "Swear to God to tell us the truth! We know the man who healed you is a sinful man! Do you agree?" The healed man replied, "I have no idea what kind of man he is. All I know is that I was blind and now I can see for the first time in my life!" (John 9:24-25)
Some of the Jewish leaders were enraged and said, "Just who do you think you are to lecture us! You were born a blind, filthy sinner!" So they threw the man out in the street. When Jesus learned they had thrown him out, he went to find him and said to him, "Do you believe in the Son of God?" The man whose blind eyes were healed answered, "Who is he, Master? Tell me so that I can place all my faith in him." Jesus replied, "You're looking right at him. He's speaking with you. It's me, the one in front of you now." Then the man threw himself at his feet and worshiped Jesus and said, "Lord, I believe in you!" (John 9:34-38)
Our intimate encounters with Jesus change everything, especially our vision. With every moment in His presence, our sight is restored and we see Him a little clearer. And don't be fooled, the closer you get to Him, the less appealing you'll become to the religious system. This is what this ex-blind man discovered as he was trying to tell the religious leaders of his day about the encounter he just had with the man called Jesus. They wouldn't hear it. When their heart motives were being pressed by a man who had a significant experience with Yahweh, they resorted to name-calling and then they did what religion typically does when the conversation turns toward the heart; they kicked him out. A healed man was standing before them, trying to convince them that his testimony was true, and they threw him out on the street. Have you ever tried to convince the religious system of your intimate encounter with Jesus only to find yourself thrown away? Don't worry, that's a common testimony in the lives of those who have found themselves lured into the wilderness by Yahweh. Some of us couldn't keep up with religion's endless list of demands and chose to leave, while others of us did everything we could to stay only to be kicked out and thrown into the street. The spirit of religion doesn't tolerate questions of any kind and it certainly doesn't tolerate anyone that tries to address issues of the heart.
With all of that said you need to know something. It was Abba's grace that didn't allow it to work.
Like Pastor Tim said last Sunday, "You weren't thrown away, you were thrown to the feet of Jesus." It was Abba's grace that didn't allow you to succeed in that system. If that system had "worked" for you and had you found any measure of success in it, you never would have found the feet of Jesus. Abba saw you. He saw what your heart was really crying out for. When you tried to find acceptance and purpose in the eyes of religion, He said, "No!" And He used every moment to drive you further into His hands.
You weren't thrown away.
You were thrown to the feet of Jesus, the place you've always longed to be.
Be overwhelmed by Abba's grace that didn't allow it to work.
Be overtaken with gratitude that you weren't allowed to settle in slavery to the law.
It was Abba who lured you out of religion, so you could become a Lover of Jesus.
And now, all you know is that you met Jesus and everything changed. You tried so many other ways, but they all ended in disaster. Again, Abba's grace. Like St. Augustine penned, "Our heart is restless until it rests in you." Thank you, Abba, for not allowing us to find satisfaction in anything other than you! Thank you for using every moment to drive us into Your arms!
After the man healed of blindness throws himself at the feet of Jesus, Jesus lifts his head and utters some profound words:
And Jesus said, "I have come to judge those who think they see and make them blind. And for those who are blind, I have come to make them see." Some of the Pharisees were standing nearby and overheard these words. They interrupted Jesus and said, "You mean to tell us that we are blind?" Jesus told them, "If you would acknowledge your blindness, then your sin would be removed. But now that you claim to see, your sin remains with you!" (John 9:39-41)
I know those are hard words from Jesus, but keep them in mind as we look back at the Kingdom principle that we learned earlier this week. What we just saw in this story of the blind man and the Pharisees is the playing out of the Kingdom principle about revelation-light. Originally we read about this principle in Luke 11:33-36, but did you know Jesus mentions the same principle a couple of chapters earlier in the same Gospel of Luke? I think that highlights the importance of this Kingdom truth. Listen to the variation found in Luke 8:
"No one lights a lamp and then hides it, covering it over or putting it where its light won't be seen. No, the lamp is placed on a lampstand so others are able to benefit from its brightness. Because this revelation lamp now shines within you, nothing will be hidden from you--it will all be revealed. Every secret of the kingdom will be unveiled and out in the open, made known by the revelation-light. So pay careful attention to your hearts as you hear my teaching, for those who have open hearts, even more revelation will be given to them until it overflows. And for those who do not listen with open hearts, what little light they imagine to have will be taken away." (Luke 8:16-18)
Pay careful attention to your heart as you hear from Jesus.
The willing, tender, open heart will receive revelation-light until it overflows out into the world for others to see, shining brightly on a lampstand. But those with hard and closed hearts will lose what little light they imagine they have. The man healed of blindness heard Jesus offensively spitting in the dirt and then listened to his words with an open heart and he allowed that revelation-light to affect him. He heard Jesus' words and trusted Him, stumbling to the pool of Siloam to wash his blindness away forever. And I believe we see him receive even more revelation-light as he discerns the heart of the religious leaders in his conversation with them. And then he receives even more at the feet of Jesus, as he worships. And we see the Pharisees, with hard hearts, losing the light (the sight) that they believed they possessed. They had more physical sight and intellectual knowledge about the Messiah than the blind man, yet they were the ones who were not able to see. The Kingdom principle of revelation-light.
Are you paying careful attention to the words that Abba is speaking over you? Over your family? He's coming to the blind areas of our hearts today with the desire to restore our vision and bring us into a deeper union with Him, but it requires an open heart that is willing to be affected by His words. What are you doing with the words that Jesus is speaking? It's not just about hearing, the Pharisees could hear. It's about having a tender heart that can hear and trust His words enough to allow them to change the direction and focus of your life. When Jesus speaks, does your life become reoriented around what He has said? Reorientation means to adjust, align, or position things again around something else. Jesus' words should be rearranging our lives. All according to the degree that our heart is open and tender.
This is stirring me to revisit some past words that I've heard from Him and be honest about how those words have affected my life. Let's begin by honoring words that we've already heard. He has promised to pour out more and more until we're overflowing, but let's be good stewards and treasure the revelation-light we've already received.
Abba, thank you for your grace that doesn't allow us to stay where we are. Your grace that didn't allow us to thrive in that old, religious system of slavery. Your grace that is constantly rescuing us from the chains we've become comfortable wearing. Your grace that is willing to offend our minds to reveal our hearts, if it means getting us closer to You. Jesus was your final word, that separation and abandonment would not be an option in this love affair. Abba, thank you for coming after everything that was standing between us!
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Worship: "You Walk With Me" by Housefires
Honor: Give Online to The Wilderness Place
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