His pain, my gain.

Click here to read Mark 8:22-25

"...Jesus led him..." Mark 8:23

One day, some people brought a blind man to Jesus and begged Him to touch him. “Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village…” (Mark 8:23) Notice two things that Jesus did:

1. He took the blind man by the hand

2. He led the blind man out of the village.

I was studying that line very carefully and I realized that:

It DID NOT say:

A. “Jesus took the blind man’s hand and led him out of the village.”

It said:

B. “Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village.”

The “object” of attention in Statement A is “the blind man’s hand.” However the object of attention is Statement B is “The blind man.” Mark 8:23 does not use Statement A, rather it uses Statement B.

I am glad that when I encountered Jesus, He did not take only a few components of me – rather He took all of me. He did not take my hands alone, but he took ME by my hand – and that means a lot to me. It means a lot to me that He did not take my hands alone to serve His purpose – rather He used my hand to take ME – and then work out His purpose through me. He did not take my successes alone, or my failures alone - my strengths alone, or my weaknesses alone - my dreams alone, or my fears alone. He took me. “Jesus took the blind man…”

One of my favourite passages in the Bible is Exodus 12:12a-13: “For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night…The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live. When I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.” Notice those two words in the beginning of verse 12 i.e. “that night” That night! That night! Which night? The night the Passover Lamb was slaughtered! That very night a spotless lamb, without any blemish, was slaughtered in each of the houses in Israel. It bled to death slowly, bleating helplessly, suffering intense pain, for no wrong it had committed. Some of that blood was taken and smeared on the doorposts and the lintels of the houses. That night! That night! What happened that night? The angel of death “passed over” them!

What does any of the above have to do with Jesus taking a blind man by the hand? After all that is the central subject of our meditation. There is something about two people holding each other’s hand that is quite simple, yet profound. Question: What is it? Answer: Two people, who hold each other’s hand, can never do so, standing far apart from each other. If anyone has to hold the hand of the other, it can only be done so if they are NEAR each other. If the two parties move far apart, they will cease to hold hands. In other words, Jesus and the blind man can hold hands, only if they are NEAR each other.

What does this observation have to do with the blood of a slain Passover Lamb? Simply this: “Remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought NEAR by the blood of Christ” Ephesians 2: 12, 13. Brought NEAR! Brought NEAR! What brought us NEAR to God? The blood of Jesus, who is our Passover Lamb! The blood brought us NEAR to God and now He holds our hand! It would have never been possible for God to hold my hand unless I was brought NEAR Him. For that to happen, my Passover Lamb had to be slain.

When I think of the goodness of God, who chose to crush His Son with pain and kill him publicly on a cross - so that on account of the blood of His Son, I can be brought NEAR to God, I cannot help but give Him thanks. Christ could have only taken the blind man by the hand if they were NEAR each other. I was far away from God. On account of the blood of my Passover Lamb, I was brought NEAR to God. He took me! Oh, he took me! Not just some of me – all of me. That night! That night! The very night when God saw the blood on my ‘house’, the anger of God passed over me and death passed over me too! I was brought NEAR! NEAR to God.

Whenever I go through life and I feel that God is ‘far away,’ I think of the blood of my Passover Lamb. Why? Because God said “the blood shall be a sign for you…” A sign that His wrath is satisfied. A sign that death passed over me. A sign that I have been brought NEAR. A sign that He took me because I have been brought NEAR by the blood. The Bible says that the blind man was brought NEAR by “some people.” I wonder how many people. Two? Three? A dozen? I will never know... The Bible says that I was brought NEAR by the blood. I wonder how much it cost Him. I will never know, how much…

Now after the blind man is brought “NEAR,” the two hold hands and start walking together. After a while, Jesus lays His hands on him and asks him the strangest question i.e. “Can you see anything?” Why in the world would Jesus ask that? Like He didn’t know in the first place whether the blind man could see or not! Jesus knew everything! He even knew the secret intentions in the heart of the Pharisees! Surely, He should know whether the blind man can see or not! Mark 8:24 “And the man looked up and said, “I can see people, but they look like trees, walking.”

The blind man’s response reveals two things about him. I have stated them below:

Argument 1

He once had sight but then lost it – otherwise how could he recognize that he was seeing people who looked like trees. It indicates that He had prior knowledge of how trees and people look like.

Allegory 1

There is an allegory that can be drawn from the above argument that pertains to Adam’s race. The blind man lost what he once had. Adam also lost what he once had. The blind man’s need was to gain back what he once lost. Adam’s need was also to gain back what he once lost.

Argument 2

His posture prior to the question was such that he faced the ground – otherwise how would he see people, after looking “up”? Assume his posture was already upright prior to the question. The Bible says that upon hearing the question, he looked “up.” If that is so, he would have only seen the sky and not people! In other words, his posture straightened, in response to the question.

Allegory 2

Let me narrate the allegory that can be drawn from the above argument with an illustration. Imagine I lose my car one day and as a result I do not drive for a very long period of time. Now imagine I regain my car again. Although I have regained what I lost, there is something else I have lost over time i.e. the confidence and familiarity to drive. It will do me no good to regain my car, yet lack the ability to operate it. It was important for the blind man to adjust his posture in order to operate what he would regain i.e. his sight. Jesus asked that question, not because He didn’t know the man only had partial sight, but to aid and prepare him to operate what he would regain. Adam’s race lost a lot in the Garden of Eden. It would do me no good if I regain all that Adam lost, if I cannot “operate” it. Everything that the “Last Adam” regained is only useful for me, if it can be made real in me. How can be made real in me? - By the receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will help me “operate” everything that I regained in Christ.

And so, I conclude my thoughts on the glorious gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ – Calvary that helped me regain every thing the First Adam lost and the Holy Spirit that helps me “operate” everything the Last Adam gained.

He climbed up, but hurried down

Luke 19:4 “…he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree…” The Bible says that “Zacchaeus was trying to see who Jesus was…”(Luke 19:3a), which indicates that he had never seen Jesus before, but had probably heard about him. But Zacchaues had a problem. “…On account of the crowd he could not see Him, because he was short in stature.”(Luke 19:3b) Zacchaeus thought he could solve this particular problem by running ahead of Jesus and climbing up a sycamore tree that was on the way that Jesus was going to pass through. “When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried down and was happy to welcome Him.” (Luke 19:5,6) Isn’t it typical of us to keep thinking to ourselves that we have Jesus in hearts, Jesus in our homes, Jesus in our ministries, chiefly because we chose to invite him in. I wonder how we would have ever opened the door and invited him in, if He had not taken the first step to knock? Yes it is true that Zacchaeus welcomed Jesus home – but do you think he would have had that privilege, if Jesus had never bothered to stop by the tree, look up at him and say, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must…” Wait a minute… I must??? Did Jesus say, “I must…” Zaccheaus didn’t even know who Jesus was; he hadn’t even seen Him before! I would have thought that when you meet someone you haven’t met before and you wanted to stay over at their place for the day, you would ask “Could I please stay at your house today?” or “Would you mind if I stayed over at your place today?” On the contrary, what we read here is not a polite request from Jesus to Zacchaeus, but rather a compelling proposal – “I MUST stay at your house today.” Oh the love of a Holy King who thought of stopping by my sycamore tree and compelled me to have Him come home - home to a sinner like me!! Calvary was not a polite request to mankind to be saved, but a demonstration of how far the love of God would go to compel us to have Him come home to us. “…Rarely will anyone die for a righteous person – though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us…for while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son” (Romans 5:7,8,10a) Notice that in order for Zacchaeus to welcome Jesus home, he had to first hurry down the tree. Would he have been able to take Jesus home if he had refused to come down that tree? Absolutely not! Entering into fellowship with Christ is possible only when we LEAVE OUR GROUND and REACH HIS GROUND – i.e. THE BLOOD. Beware of assuming that Christ came home because you took the effort to climb up the tree. Rather it was because you took the effort and hurried down the tree that made it possible for you to take Him home. Which tree do you tend to climb? The tree of a rich Christian family heritage that makes you think it gives you easier access into fellowship with Christ? “Hurry down”; it is the blood that makes it possible. Or maybe the tree of a disciplined Bible study routine that you follow? “Hurry down” it is the blood that makes it possible. Or maybe the tree of a successful and useful ministry u have? “Hurry down”; it is the blood that makes it possible. “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” (Ephesians 2: 13) “…We have been justified by His blood…” (Romans 5:9). Hurry! Climb down your tree and enter into communion with Him, on basis of the blood and NOTHING else. Lastly, “…the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.” So it was not because Zacchaeus climbed up the tree that he had an encounter with Christ; it was because Jesus came seeking for him there. Even if Zacchaeus had not been on top of a tree, but behind a bush or even lost in the crowd – the Son of Man would have sought him out. “Those whom he foreknew he also predestined…those whom he predestined, he called; those whom he called, he also justified; and those whom he justified, he glorified” (Romans 8:29,30) Are you trying to seek Jesus, but at the same time you feel “short” and can’t seem to find Him? Do not fear – the Son of Man will “seek you out” wherever you are. God knows exactly where you are today. He knows your shortcomings, your fears, your desires, your failures, your worries –He knows everything. Believe in Him. Will you climb down that tree today and receive justification based on the blood that paid your penalty? Will you accept His Lordship over your life and receive His salvation? Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts… He climbed up, but he hurried down and called Him Lord.

I cannot do it

Mark 5: 4 “…he had often been restrained with shackles and chains but the chains he wrenched….shackles he broke…” In this passage of scripture, we read about a demon possessed man whom “no one could restrain”. This conclusion is arrived at because “he has often been restrained with shackles and chains, but the chains he wrenched apart, and the shackles he broke to pieces; and no one had the strength to subdue him.” (Luke 5:4) Although we may not be demon possessed and living among the tombs ourselves, there are many aspects about the spiritual walk we can learn through him. We see the problem being tackled here by two different approaches: i.e. the approach used by the people around him and the approached used by Jesus. The approach used by the people around him was to put restrictions on him viz. the chains, the shackles etc., to control his behaviour. Sooner or later they arrived at the conclusion that “no one could restrain him”. Similarly in our walk with the Lord we try our level best to resort to “restrictions” to live a life free of sin. Sooner than later, we realize that no matter how many times we decide and we resolve and no matter how hard we try, we do not have the power to live a life free of sin. “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate”. (Romans 7:15). The Apostle Paul in his struggle against sin came to this conclusion one day: “For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it” (Romans 7:18). The truth is, we cannot do what is right by resorting to “fix” our external actions because the problem is not external, but internal; i.e. the heart. “...it is what comes out of a person that defiles. For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come…” (John 7:20, 21). Hence, Jesus approached the issue from another angle; i.e. he dealt with the heart. In other words what chains and shackles did not achieve, the Word of the Lord by the Spirit of God did! Jesus became like us (human) in every aspect and he lived a life without sin – not by the application of external “restriction” or law, but by the Spirit of God. In fact, Jesus came to fulfill the law. He then went on the cross to crucify and kill this flesh in which “nothing good dwells”. And because God chose us and destined us in Christ (Ephesians 1:4, 5), we were also crucified with Him! (Romans 6:6) Jesus then rose again from the dead because death could not hold Him in its power (Acts 2:24). And after Jesus was glorified, God poured out His same Spirit on us, so that we may live as His witnesses. “…it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2: 20). So how can we live a righteous life? – Only by faith in Christ. Beware of implementing “restrictions” on ourselves to overcome sin and then blaming God for its failure. “…the righteous shall live by faith” (Romans1:17). So then remember, “I can will what is right, but I cannot do it”.