Anyone who says the Bible is out of date has never read the story of the man born blind as recorded in John Chapter 9. Whereas in my last blog I spoke of outrage and entitlement preventing free speech and the open discussion of ideas, this story so aptly depicts the closed mind of the fundamentalist - in this case, the Pharisees.
Jesus healed the blind man on the Sabbath and instead of compassion towards the blind man now being given his sight for the first time in his life, the Law of no work on the Sabbath took precedence in their minds. They argued and argued with this poor man so that in the end, all he could say to them was the truth - "One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I can see". They even approached his parents to verify that the man had in fact been blind from birth. Because of their fear of the Pharisees, the parents said that this was true, but when questioned further as to how he received his sight, the parents told the Pharisees "go ask him - he's an adult and can speak for himself". The Pharisees did indeed speak to the man a second time, but in love, Jesus also sought out the man who affirmed his true belief in Jesus.
Here was a man who was blind from birth, but after an encounter with Jesus, could now see. What is so difficult to understand about that? However, there was no way the Pharisees wanted to believe that Jesus could do this, as it would point to him as the Messiah, the one who would "make the lame walk and the blind to see" ( Isaiah 42:7) and they were not prepared to believe in Jesus. Their bitterness even drove them to kill him, but even death could not conquer the truth - Jesus is the Messiah.
Recently, the Queensland Government issued a statement to schools that students attending Religious Education were not to talk to other children about Jesus, and amongst other things, were not to share Christmas cards showing the nativity scene. This was immediately refuted by the Minister for Education, but all I see in these types of instances, and these days there are many, is the same attitude as the Pharisees - a closed mind to Christian philosophy and ignoring the positive influence of Christianity in our history. This fundamentalist attitude of these educated people absolutely blinds them to the truth - like the Pharisees, they want no part of Christianity nor do they even want to allow a respectful discussion.
I smile at the logic of the man born blind, as, no matter what the Pharisees had to say to him, nor how badly they treated him, in all honesty he could say "once I was blind, but now I can see".
No-one could refute that statement!
Jesus healed the blind man on the Sabbath and instead of compassion towards the blind man now being given his sight for the first time in his life, the Law of no work on the Sabbath took precedence in their minds. They argued and argued with this poor man so that in the end, all he could say to them was the truth - "One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I can see". They even approached his parents to verify that the man had in fact been blind from birth. Because of their fear of the Pharisees, the parents said that this was true, but when questioned further as to how he received his sight, the parents told the Pharisees "go ask him - he's an adult and can speak for himself". The Pharisees did indeed speak to the man a second time, but in love, Jesus also sought out the man who affirmed his true belief in Jesus.
Here was a man who was blind from birth, but after an encounter with Jesus, could now see. What is so difficult to understand about that? However, there was no way the Pharisees wanted to believe that Jesus could do this, as it would point to him as the Messiah, the one who would "make the lame walk and the blind to see" ( Isaiah 42:7) and they were not prepared to believe in Jesus. Their bitterness even drove them to kill him, but even death could not conquer the truth - Jesus is the Messiah.
Recently, the Queensland Government issued a statement to schools that students attending Religious Education were not to talk to other children about Jesus, and amongst other things, were not to share Christmas cards showing the nativity scene. This was immediately refuted by the Minister for Education, but all I see in these types of instances, and these days there are many, is the same attitude as the Pharisees - a closed mind to Christian philosophy and ignoring the positive influence of Christianity in our history. This fundamentalist attitude of these educated people absolutely blinds them to the truth - like the Pharisees, they want no part of Christianity nor do they even want to allow a respectful discussion.
I smile at the logic of the man born blind, as, no matter what the Pharisees had to say to him, nor how badly they treated him, in all honesty he could say "once I was blind, but now I can see".
No-one could refute that statement!
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