Multiple Miracles

I had an interesting thought this morning that may possibly been a God-thought. Bear with me, I'm still working this one out, but I think something is there.

As I sat in church Sunday morning, the preacher, overseer of the Spanish Churches of God here in Florida, spoke out of John 9, about the healing of the man born blind. It was a great message, but as sometimes happens when someone is preaching, one little part caught my attention. If I were to ask you what the miracle was that happened in this chapter, you would most certainly tell me it was Jesus healing the poor blind beggar's eyes. And you'd be right. But I'd like to offer that while the opening of his eyes was indeed a powerful miracle, there is another here that I've never really thought of until now. The miracle of note wasn't the blind eyes opened, it was what God did in the life of the man who was blind. He didn't just go on about his merry way when the Lord healed him. He had been deeply touched by Jesus, and he minced no words about it.

Names were important in the Jewish culture. When a child was born, he was given a name that had significance. It could have been a prophetic name, like Moses. When Pharaoh's daughter found him in the basket, she gave him the name Moses, which means "drawn out". To her, it simply was commemorative of how she met the baby. What she didn't know was that it was a prophetic name, for Moses would be used by God to draw out the people of Israel from under Egyptian slavery. Some were named to mark something significant, usually to the bad. Jacob made his grand entrance into this world trying to one-up his twin brother, who was the first to pop out. He had has hand on his brother's heel. Some he was called "heel grabber", which can also mean "deceiver". It was also prophetic, as much of Jacob's life was spent trying to con and deceive others. Then there is Jabez. We are all familiar with his story, and I'm not going to talk about his prayer. You can read that book. Jabez was given a name that surely welcomed scorn. His name meant "pain". His mom maybe had an especially painful birth, or maybe the birth was accompanied with some kind of hardship. Whatever it was, Jabez's mom decided to remember it forever in the name she gave her baby. The cool part is, Jabez didn't let that name stop him. He didn't let it become prophetic. He did something about it, and he was honored for it in the scriptures.

What does any of this have to do with a guy in the first century who was blind? He was also a man with a destiny of pain established for him. His lot in life had been set. He didn't do anything to deserve it. He was born that way. Much of his life was spent begging for a living. When the disciples of the Lord found him, they asked Him whose fault it was that he was born that way. His, or his parents? I love the reply of Jesus. "Neither this man, nor his parents sinned. But he is blind to show the works of God in him." (paraphrased) Jesus healed him, and the next thing we know, the guy is preaching to the Pharisees! Usually the healed couldn't go away quietly. They told everyone they saw what Jesus did for them. So this guy is brought before the religious leaders and interrogated as to how he could now see. He looked those preachers square in the eye and told them what Jesus had done for him. The miracle I see is really the change of heart and boldness in his life. He could have remained quiet. But it's hard to stay quiet when the Lord has touched you.

Like I said, this is still incomplete, but I'm journaling it out here. There is much more to come. God bless!