I was teaching at the Men’s Home Bible Study from John 9, where Jesus healed the blind beggar. God dropped it into my heart to ask one simple question… “What changed for the man when Jesus healed him of his blindness?” I wasn’t even sure myself of all the ways the question could be answered. The guys began to answer that question with their own thoughts and opinions. They had some great insights. There was the obvious answer, “He could see things that he had never seen before,”but then came other answers like, “He no longer needed other people to guide him,” and, “He became a testimony of Jesus’ healing power.”
Then the answer God wanted me to see when He prompted me to ask the question finally came to me. I asked the guys, “What was the blind man doing when Jesus first met him?” They replied, “He was begging.” So, I asked, “Was there a need for the man to beg any longer after Jesus healed him of his blindness?” They replied, “No!”
You see, Jesus didn’t just HEAL the man of his blindness… HE HEALED HIS LIFE! The only way this man could survive as a blind man was by begging. But, when he received sight he was then able to be a contributing member of society… to work a job… to take care of his own personal needs and welfare. Blindness had robbed him of these dignities.
Jesus doesn’t heal a man’s life so he can just go back and be the beggar he was. He brings a life change that becomes evident to all who have seen and known that man. This is the good news of the gospel. Jesus heals us and gives us back our ability to be “givers” instead of “takers.” He restores our dignity so that we’re no longer beggars, barely getting by and depending on others to meet our needs. Had there been a “rest of the story” about this blind beggar whom Jesus healed, we know one thing for sure: He would have no longer been called BLIND… or BEGGAR!
Psalm 37:25
I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.
