April 6th - Reflection

Matthew 9:27-34 (NRSV)
Jesus heals the blind

As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, crying loudly, "Have mercy on us, Son of David!" When he entered the house, the blind men came to him; and Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to him, "Yes, Lord." Then he touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith let it be done to you." And their eyes were opened. Then Jesus sternly ordered them, "See that no one knows of this." But they went away and spread the news about him throughout that district.

After they had gone away, a demoniac who was mute was brought to him. And when the demon had been cast out, the one who had been mute spoke; and the crowds were amazed and said, "Never has anything like this been seen in Israel." But the Pharisees said, "By the ruler of the demons he casts out the demons."

Reflection
To take such a wonderful step of faith and fully believe in the healing powers of Jesus, those life giving powers of Jesus, wouldn't that be such a monumental step of you life? You would want to run and tell everything that had happened, to family and friends. Sounds like such a great idea and a way to spread the gospel.

See what happened to me! A man asked me if I believed that he was able to take away my blindness, I believed and my blindness went away! What faith I have! If I didn't have such great faith, he would never have been able to do this! I made this man, Jesus, famous by my faith!.

Then this same guy saw a demoniac who was mute. This Jesus cast out the demon and the guy who was mute spoke. Jesus didn't tell him not to say anything. I wonder what he talked about? His life with a demon?

Both of these scenarios are twisted. The blind men were told not to talk. Could it be that Jesus would fear that he would lose them immediately if they took the action described above and took credit for their own healing because of their faith?

Jesus comes to us in our illness. Jesus loves both believer and those who do not believe. It's not our act of believing that saves us, but Jesus power of love that saves us. Jesus offers salvation if we believe or not. But the question becomes; will you accept this offer of salvation or turn in disbelief? If you walk away healed and claim your own goodness caused the healing, you have missed the point. You would be better off remaining silent for a while until you thought through the entire sequence of events and spent more time with God in understanding.

Likewise, Jesus loves us so much that when he sees a demon possession, he casts that demon out. With the demon out you would surely tell of the love you felt from Jesus compared to the awful prison of the demon. Jesus set you free. It's time to speak of his saving grace. This is not about you, it's all about Jesus. So why not go and tell.

Each story, points to our selfish pride. It's not about what we do or say. It's all about what Jesus has done for us and given us to say. In this love of Jesus, and following his command and lead, we can boldly go as his disciples into this world to declare the One God of Salvation. Thanks be to God!

Prayer
Lord you move throughout this world and bring miraculous healing daily. In your love for healing, may we faithfully follow you and think about how you came to us and saved us from sin, death, the devil and our sinful selves. Help us to keep our focus continually on you and not let us turn inward to ourselves. The world needs to know that it's all about you and not about me. As I find out it's about you, our relationship grows deep in the love you have shown me and I am eternally happy. Thanks. --- Amen