信仰の手引き（英語・English）
The Blind Man Who Came Seeing
投稿者
goodnews2
投稿日
2023-08-25 01:32
閲覧数
104
Blind Man Begging People for Money
In John chapter 9 in the Bible, there is a story of a blind man sitting along the street. Because he is by the street, he can meet people, and among them there are some who would give him money. The blind man begged people for money and received some from those who took pity on him. He had to come out on the street every day to fill his hungry stomach.
That day, as usual, the blind man came out to the street and begged.
“Please spare me a penny. I’m so hungry.”
He was begging the passers-by to have pity on him. However, that day turned out to be the best day of his life. That is because he met Jesus.
Because He Had a Humble Heart
Jesus was standing in front of the blind man, but he could not see Him. Jesus spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle, and He anointed the eyes of the blind man.
Jesus said to him.
“Go, wash in the pool of Siloam.”
Upon hearing the words of Jesus, a thought might have arisen in the blind man’s heart.
‘Go wash in the pool of Siloam? Is my face that dirty? Even so, couldn’t you just give me some money?’
However, the blind man did not say anything about what Jesus had said.
Until now, to keep begging, the blind man has lived with a humble and low heart. He needed help from anyone, so he could not afford to have an arrogant heart. Although he
had thoughts rising in his mind, he could not act on them. To get money, he had to do whatever he could with what people told him to do. That is why he could not say anything about what Jesus told him to do.
The blind man could not see Jesus, nor could he see what Jesus had put on his eyes. He did not understand why Jesus was doing so.
But he did not ask, “What have you put on my eyes?” or “Why do I have to go to the pool of Siloam?” He only decided to follow the words of Jesus who told him to go and wash in the pool of Siloam.
This Is What I Look Like
The blind man thought, ‘I must first go to Siloam, as this man had told me to,’ and asked his way to the pool. When he arrived, he went down carefully toward the water.
He scooped up the water from the pool and began to wash his face.
He started to see things in blurred vision. For the first time in his life, he saw his own face reflected in the pool water.
‘This is what I look like!’
He turned to look at the people around him, at the trees and looked up at the sky.
‘This is what people look like, that is how trees look, and the sky looks like that!’
The blind man was able to see.
Grace Bestowed When Following the Word
Millions of people hear the words of Jesus. Regardless of our thoughts, when Jesus tells us to go and wash at the pool of Siloam, we must accept His words as they are and begin to act according to those words. But not many who listen to Jesus’ words do that.
The words of Jesus entered the heart of the blind man, and he had no other thoughts besides His words.
However, in our hearts, the words of Jesus along with many other thoughts are taking place. Those other thoughts keep us from following Jesus’ words as is.
Faith is believing in Jesus; it is accepting Jesus’ words, whatever they may be. The blind man accepted the words of Jesus into his heart and followed them exactly and received
the grace of opening his eyes.
Having the Same Heart as the Blind Man
I find myself so different from the blind man in front of the words of Jesus. Why is that? We have so many thoughts that live inside us and they defeat His words. Therefore, it is not the words of Jesus, but our thoughts that leads us. But the blind man was not like that. He did not know who Jesus was nor know why he had to go wash in the pool of Siloam, but he just followed Jesus’ words. ‘Go and wash in the pool of Siloam? Nonsense. I’m too busy begging right now.’ These thoughts must have arisen in the heart of the
blind man. But the words of Jesus entered his heart and defeated all his other thoughts.
We are not beggars, and we do not have to beg. However, unlike the blind man, that is why our hearts are filled with our thoughts. We have been led by our thoughts rather
than the words of Jesus. As we live our lives, when Jesus’ words win over our thoughts little by little and lead our hearts, we, too, can receive God’s grace and experience change just like the blind man.
