Some people took this blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. Jesus took the blind man by the hand and lead him out of the village... In that time there was profound stigma associated with blindness, or disability of any kind, sickness and disease and here Jesus not only touches this blind man but as he's leading the blind man out of the village he's walking with the blind man side by side, hand in hand. It would be simple for Jesus to just speak the words, "be healed" he's done that on many occasions, "get up and walk" he said to one man... could Jesus not have said, "vision be restored" but no, in this case Jesus becomes a little more personal. This was something I had overlooked in my earlier Christian days. I was so in awe of the supernatural healing power of Jesus that I overlooked the deeper and more intimate interactions that people had with Jesus like walking hand in hand through a village and Jesus being willing to be associated with the stigma surrounding this blind mans disability and I overlooked a different kind of healing that probably took place when Jesus physically touched this blind man. In high school I took drama class and one of the exercises that we did involved certain trust games. One day I had to keep my eyes closed and for an extended period of time trust the person leading me around the school ground. Where that person went I went and the point was to trust the person leading me and to keep my eyes closed. It was the most uncomfortable feeling I had ever experienced and can't imagine what life would be like if I were completely blind and in such a place of trusting in the person grabbing my hand and leading me to places only they know. So I placed myself in the shoe's of the blind man, if you will. I knew what it was like to be stigmatized and so there were aspects of this story I could understand but not the fullest extent for sure. Then it happened one day when I listened to a teaching on this very story, a teaching that has had a lasting impact on me and brought to a greater depth of understanding. I never thought to ask the questions...
Why did Jesus take the hand of this blind man?
What was the purpose in Jesus leading the blind man out of the Village?
What was in the process that was important, important enough for Jesus to do all that he did just to heal the blind man when all he had to do was just say the words?
My suggestion is that there came a deeper healing when Jesus took the hand of the blind man to walk with him. Jesus didn't do anything or say anything without there being any significance. There was always something to learn with what he did and what he said and it's very easy to overlook the subtle forms of healing when we're looking for the supernatural. We think the point of this story has to do with another blind man's vision being restored. I think the story runs much deeper then that, otherwise the only thing that Jesus would have done was restore the man's vision... but he took the man by the hand and walked with him hand in hand. What was the significance in that?
As I pondered this story further I began to ask a few more questions ...
How long did Jesus walk hand in hand with the blind man before he reached the boarder of town?
Who saw Jesus walking with the blind man hand in hand?
Is it fare to suggest that there is this possibility the whole Village saw Jesus walking with this blind man. Consider this, that Jesus became willing to be associated with an individual stigmatized by the whole of society. Here's this man, rejected, marginalized, and stigmatized by society. We all have needs to be loved, to be touched, to be seen, to be heard and without that we're so incredibly alone and neglected. Here's a man that probably wasn't touched all that often and it's interesting that the friends of this blind man didn't just beg Jesus to give sight to their blind man but their specific request was for Jesus to touch their blind friend.
Mark 8:22-25
English Standard Version (ESV)
Jesus Heals a Blind Man at Bethsaida
22And they came(A) to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. 23And(B) he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when(C) he had(D) spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, "Do you see anything?" 24And he looked up and said, "I see men, but they look like trees, walking." 25Then Jesus[a] laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.
Tonight I went for dinner at this restaurant just off of Main Street at King Edward. It's perfect for the location. It's just a few blocks away from where I live which is on Main Street. It's a nice place I just moved into. It has mostly the hippy type, young family, or young adults kind a vibe to the area and so it works well with me. It's just not the place I shop for clothing and I guess I can get used to going to restaurants that serve organic foods. This one place in particular called the Locus, is a place I'd recommend to everyone. I went alone as per usual. That being said if anybody wants to take me out on a date I am single and available to men only :) Of course I'd enjoy a ladies night out too! Locus has this very nice club atmosphere ambiance to it but the music isn't so loud that you have to scream at each other in order to have a half decent conversation. It's a great place for a date :)
As I sat at the table I had a very surreal kinda experience. Suddenly it was like a sound like vision tunnel type experience where I was there but not. It was like my senses were awakened to a whole new level as if the sound was new. I saw the waitresses running in and out of the patio serving table's. I saw there with a nice evening cool breeze flowing through the patio and saw the silhouette of images that were highlighted from the candle lit restaurant. The sound fresh and with a rhythm that could easily be in a popular club while people danced the night away. The only thing is, it was a pleasant and sweet experience that didn't involve drunk people grinding up against each other and then leaving the club to go off and do what is typically done after a night of clubbing, you'all probably know what I'm talking about. There was something different in the air that made for a night worth remembering despite the fact I was siting and eating my dinner alone. Just for the record it's not about going out for dinner alone but rather going out and enjoying life and so if dining out is fun do it with or without people but do it, enjoy it, treat yourself every once in a while.
As the sounds were becoming crystal clear, the silhouette formed... I began to ponder life and death. It was probably a good thing I sat there alone as I began to think about my life, the things I've done and what I want to do. I also began to think about death and what I'll leave behind, if anything. As far as I know I still have a full life ahead of me but what if my life is cut short?
There is this song that I'm growing to absolutely love right about now. The lyrics run through my mind all day every day. Here's the video of the song called Christ Is Risen. A few days ago I had written a relatively short blog post. Let him who have ears let him hear...
Death isn't the end for those of us who believe and have the mark of Christ on our lives. We are saved by grace through faith in Christ but true faith will produce fruit because faith in Christ transforms lives and while our works is not what saves us but if we've had a true conversion experience we cannot escape the reality of a transformed life and who am I to place limits on what God can and cannot do. I am the created and He is my Creator. I am the clay and He is the potter. He is the one shaping and molding me into the image of His Son Jesus Christ and I am a blessed recipient of the work of Christ on the cross in more ways then one. It just happens that part of my story is from being so psychologically removed from all things feminine and from my own gender and into a whole embrace of godly femininity as God intended my femininity to be reflected and being secure in my own body. It's quite amazing to think how there used to be this felt distance and inability to really connect my mind and emotions to my body and then to have this connection. I no longer live from the mantra of, "I am a woman created in God's Image, God knit me together in my mother's womb, I am fearfully and wonderfully made ... it's no longer a mantra but rather something just simply lived, believed, and embraced. But the beginning of the mantra was the start of being willing to die. There are some things in this journey that just simply has to die and there is no easy way to go through death but death is what we're called into as Christ followers and well, if we're following Christ then we have to embrace our cross... in fact this is what Jesus said, "take up your cross and follow me... I don't have a home ... I have been persecuted therefore you will be persecuted, I was hated therefore you will be hated ... what Jesus walked into we will walk into and death is painful. We're called to put to death our old self and step into our new self. The question is, as you step into your new self, will you maintain control as to who or what that new self becomes or will you surrender that process to the Lord. My argument is this, that we will never put to death our old self if we place conditions on what that new self will look like. To me that isn't really death but rather torture because it prolongs the process of what we call death to self. What's the point in death? We cannot be raised up in Christ without first embracing death. We haven't truly begun our new life in Christ if we have not embraced death... in order to be raised up to experience the resurrection power of Jesus Christ we must first die. Here's good news for you ... you must die.
There is a gospel rarely told these days which is one of embracing the cross we must pick up as followers of Christ. It's not really having to do with anything but rather agreeing to sacrifice self. The last idol to crush really is the idol of self, which is, to live life as we see fit even if as we see fit takes on a religious tone to it. You'd be amazed at how many people hide behind religion and still having erected the idol of self worship. As I think about this I can't help but to think that what I'm asked to give up and surrender is NOTHING in comparison to what the Father has given to me. What I am asked to do in return is not even close to what Jesus has done for me. What I get in return is a new life and the ability to tap into the resurrection power of Jesus Christ while here on earth as the parts of me that were dead can come alive, so that the woman God intended for me to be would be free to come out from hiding and be seen. We haven't truly learned how to live until we learn how to die because life is in the resurrection. Let him who has ears let him hear....
Death isn't the end for those of us who believe and have the mark of Christ on our lives. We are saved by grace through faith in Christ but true faith will produce fruit because faith in Christ transforms lives and while our works is not what saves us but if we've had a true conversion experience we cannot escape the reality of a transformed life and who am I to place limits on what God can and cannot do. I am the created and He is my Creator. I am the clay and He is the potter. He is the one shaping and molding me into the image of His Son Jesus Christ and I am a blessed recipient of the work of Christ on the cross in more ways then one. It just happens that part of my story is from being so psychologically removed from all things feminine and from my own gender and into a whole embrace of godly femininity as God intended my femininity to be reflected and being secure in my own body. It's quite amazing to think how there used to be this felt distance and inability to really connect my mind and emotions to my body and then to have this connection. I no longer live from the mantra of, "I am a woman created in God's Image, God knit me together in my mother's womb, I am fearfully and wonderfully made ... it's no longer a mantra but rather something just simply lived, believed, and embraced. But the beginning of the mantra was the start of being willing to die. There are some things in this journey that just simply has to die and there is no easy way to go through death but death is what we're called into as Christ followers and well, if we're following Christ then we have to embrace our cross... in fact this is what Jesus said, "take up your cross and follow me... I don't have a home ... I have been persecuted therefore you will be persecuted, I was hated therefore you will be hated ... what Jesus walked into we will walk into and death is painful. We're called to put to death our old self and step into our new self. The question is, as you step into your new self, will you maintain control as to who or what that new self becomes or will you surrender that process to the Lord. My argument is this, that we will never put to death our old self if we place conditions on what that new self will look like. To me that isn't really death but rather torture because it prolongs the process of what we call death to self. What's the point in death? We cannot be raised up in Christ without first embracing death. We haven't truly begun our new life in Christ if we have not embraced death... in order to be raised up to experience the resurrection power of Jesus Christ we must first die. Here's good news for you ... you must die.
Philippians 3:8-11
English Standard Version (ESV)
8Indeed, I count everything as loss because of(A) the surpassing worth of(B) knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I(C) have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having(D) a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but(E) that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10(F) that I may know him and(G) the power of his resurrection, and(H) may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11that by any means possible I may(I) attain the resurrection from the dead.
There is a gospel rarely told these days which is one of embracing the cross we must pick up as followers of Christ. It's not really having to do with anything but rather agreeing to sacrifice self. The last idol to crush really is the idol of self, which is, to live life as we see fit even if as we see fit takes on a religious tone to it. You'd be amazed at how many people hide behind religion and still having erected the idol of self worship. As I think about this I can't help but to think that what I'm asked to give up and surrender is NOTHING in comparison to what the Father has given to me. What I am asked to do in return is not even close to what Jesus has done for me. What I get in return is a new life and the ability to tap into the resurrection power of Jesus Christ while here on earth as the parts of me that were dead can come alive, so that the woman God intended for me to be would be free to come out from hiding and be seen. We haven't truly learned how to live until we learn how to die because life is in the resurrection. Let him who has ears let him hear....
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