May 10, 2013 Conflict Resolution
Friday May 10, 2013
After his final encounter with the Pharisees the man who had received his sight was thrown out of the synagogue for testifying about Jesus and questioning the Jewish leaders about their judgment of Him. They had rained on this man’s joyous occasion and refused to acknowledge Jesus as even a prophet of God.
The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out. (John 9:30-34)
When Jesus heard he had been thrown out by the Pharisees he sought him and found him. This is how Jesus comes alongside all of us when we are unjustly treated because of our stand for truth. The man was unaware of who Jesus really was when he healed him, but Jesus came to him and revealed Himself to him, and the man believed and worshipped Him. When we first experience new life in Jesus we may not immediately recognize fully who he truly is. As He comes alongside us in the healing process and guides us in the way we should go, we will learn to trust Him more and more. As Jesus revealed Himself to the man whom he had healed, the man believed and worshipped Him. We will do the same as He reveals Himself to us. He has promised us, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5 NIV)
Jesus said that he had come into the world so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind. Some Pharisees heard Him say this and asked,
“What? Are we blind too?” Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.” (John 9:40-41 NIV) There is an old saying, “there are none so blind as those who will not see”. The Truth was within the Pharisees sight but they refused to see Him. They claimed their judgment was right without checking it against the word of God. That is why Jesus said their guilt still remains. We need to check everything that we have learned in the past against the truth of the word of God. When we discover something that we once believed is in conflict with the word of God, we need to remove the conflict. We need to change our old belief system and have it line up with the truth of God’s word.
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:12-13 NIV)
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