Morning Message Text: Luke 13: 10-17
Jesus Heals a Crippled Woman on the Sabbath
10 On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues,
11 and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all.
12 When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.”
13 Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.
14 Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.”
15 The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water?
16 Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”
17 When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.
Morning Message:
There are different kinds of blindness. There is physical blindness that takes away the ability to physically see the world around us. It is hard for those of us who are blessed with sight to even perceive what it must be like for those who, for whatever the reason, cannot see. We are accustomed to finding our way around using our eyes to guide us. We walk by sight. If you have ever put on a blindfold and tried to feel your way around, you soon realize just how difficult it is to be unable to see. We rely on our eyes as we should, while those who have lost or never had the gift of sight have learned to use their other senses more efficiently.
There is also spiritual blindness. This, in my opinion, if not corrected, is far more devastating than physical blindness. Every one of us has experienced spiritual blindness. Until we come to Jesus and accept him as our Lord and Savior, we are spiritually blind. A person who has not accepted Jesus will never understand the Gospel no matter how hard we try to explain it to them. God will draw them and open the eyes of their hearts to the truth. This is the opportunity to receive Jesus and be saved. If you refuse God’s invitation you remain spiritually blind until, or if, you are given another opportunity by God. You know, the worst thing I can think of is standing before Jesus on judgment day and thinking to myself, I was almost persuaded to accept him, but I decided to wait. This brings us to the topic for today. Sometimes God gives me a lot of important things to say to you before I get to the message. Sometimes the real message for you is not even the point that I am trying to make. God speaks to each and every heart individually. I have learned through the years that my words are meaningless, apart from the blessing of God upon them and Him directing them into each heart as only He knows best.
Perceptional blindness, this is a blindness that all Christians fall into to some degree. We don’t realize that this is a problem unless it is brought to our attention. To perceive something means: “To become aware of by the means of the senses, to recognize or understand.” Perception is the act of perceiving, to appreciate or understand the circumstances.
There was a test developed by Harvard researchers. They showed that people are not always very attuned to their surroundings and often miss what is directly in front of them. We can easily look and not see. The test is called the Invisible Gorilla Test. I was tempted to use the video today, but I decided against it. The clip shows six basketball players. The audience is asked to watch the players and count how many times they pass the ball. At the end the audience is asked two questions. 1. How many times did the players pass the ball? And, 2. Did you see the gorilla? The response from ninety-nine percent of those watching is, “What gorilla?” The participants are shown the video again and this time are told not to count the passes, just watch. They are amazed to see that halfway through the clip a man dressed in a gorilla suit walks into the middle of the court and pounds his chest. It is as plain as day. How does anyone miss the gorilla? Almost all do! We can easily look and not see. This happens spiritually to Christians as well.
The Bible mentions Jesus “saw” forty times. The word “saw” caught my attention in today’s text and in other places like Matthew chapter nine. Seven times in Matthew nine, when others saw a traitor tax collector, Jesus saw a spiritually starving potential world changer. When others were oblivious to a paralyzed man, Jesus saw his faith. When nobody saw the bleeding woman, Jesus saw her. Even with the crowds, Jesus was attentive. He saw, he had compassion, cared, and prayed because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Jesus saw what others either didn’t or did not want to see.
In today’s scripture we read about a poor woman who came to the synagogue to worship. This was surely not the first time this woman came to church. She was crippled and had been in this condition for eighteen years. She was not hard to see. She was bent over and could not straighten up. Anyone who came to that church on a regular basis would have recognized her. But I wonder, did they still see her? In their vision, as they went through their worship and did everything that they came to church to do, had they become blind to the needs and the pain to those around them? When Jesus saw her He called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” Then He put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God. Jesus saw her with spiritual eyes and awareness. As followers of Jesus, we should have eyes that recognize and see the hurt and need of those around us.
Too often we allow ourselves to become like the synagogue leader. We become so preoccupied with the process, doing what we feel like we need to do or must do in order to worship. Following the rules is good and necessary, but Jesus saw the people and so should we. We have developed perceptual blindness. We see what we are looking for, but sometimes we overlook needs which are right in front of our eyes. There are gorillas in the forms of needy people jumping up and down in front of us, and we are so focused on the game of life that we don’t see them.
Maybe we should say this to ourselves daily, “I have broken eyes and perception blindness. I wonder how many people I have missed.”
There is a prayer that I read which I would like to end with. Maybe we can make it our own. “May we have eyes to see. May we see those who are lonely, crippled over emotionally or hiding an aching heart. May we have a spiritually sensitive radar system to notice. May we not be fooled by outward appearances. May we pick up on nonverbal clues that often speak louder than words. May we make room to care. In the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.”
In Christ’s Love and Peace,
Pastor Bob
Views: 1
