Christmas can be a heartwarming time of family and togetherness, of presents and ornaments, but what is Christmas really all about? This delightful video shares the true meaning of Christmas.
July 12, 2023
Have you ever had to pray more than once for someone who was sick? I have. There’s a portion of Scripture where it looks as though Jesus also had to pray more than once. When He arrived at the town of Bethsaida, we are told that a blind man was brought to Him. And those who brought him “begged” Jesus to touch him. But He didn’t do what they desperately wanted Him to do:
So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything.
And he looked up and said, “I see men like trees, walking.”
Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly. (Mark 8:23-25)
All it would take was one touch, and the blind man would see. But Jesus didn’t do what they understandably expected. Look at Mark 6:56: “Wherever He entered, into villages, cities, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged Him that they might just touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched Him were made well.”
This was the One that stilled the storm with His voice, the One whose word brought the universe into existence.
“When we come to Christ, God opens the eyes of our understanding.”
But instead of touching the blind man, Jesus did some very strange things. He took him by the hand, led him out of the city, put spittle on his eyes, laid hands on him, prayed, and asked if the blind man could see. The blind man responded by saying something weird. He saw men as walking trees. Jesus put His hands on his eyes again, and he was then able to see all men clearly. Strange. The thought that He had to pray twice because the first time didn’t work is ludicrous. So, there must be more here than meets the eye. We’re not seeing the forest for the trees.
Notice what Scripture says: “Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up” (v. 25, emphasis added). Jesus made him look up.
When we come to Christ, God opens the eyes of our understanding. But it seems that many converts nowadays only see strangers as walking trees. They pass them in the supermarket, in the mall, at a sporting event, at the beach, or on a sidewalk knowing that they are going to Hell, and it seems they don’t see them as precious human beings. Do we pass sinners without a second thought? If Jesus has truly saved us, He has made us look up so that we see humanity clearly. They are valued souls made in the image of God who desperately need the Savior. If we haven’t been made to look up, we won’t see them as having any worth.
Look at what Jesus said to His disciples: “Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!” (John 4:35, emphasis added).
If we don’t lift up our eyes, we will walk by this sinful world without a second thought.
“If Jesus has truly saved us, He has made us look up so that we see humanity clearly. They are valued souls made in the image of God who desperately need the Savior.”
When I came to the Savior way back in 1972, I found that I couldn’t walk past a soul without seeing them clearly. These people were going to be justly damned by God for their sins. They were like sheep walking to the slaughter.
So, I got hold of some gospel tracts and regularly gave them out to strangers. I purchased a 34-seat bus and had professional 12-inch sign writing put around both sides—saying that the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ and that He said that He was the way the truth and the life. I put a billboard with scripture on it outside our house. I had professional sign writing put on my car doors. I had John 3:1-16 sign written in three-inch lettering on the front window of my store. I put a printing press in my house and began printing gospel tracts. I started a free evangelistic newspaper. I went to the heart of our city and began open-air preaching to the crowds who would stop and listen.
If anyone could have been considered a religious fanatic in those days, it was me. Nowadays, I am much worse. I am still unable to walk past a stranger without reaching out with the gospel. And I pray daily that every Christian would be like me—a normal biblical Christian.