Everyone has a story. For most of us, that story includes trying to find the right path, wanting to know where to turn … it includes rejection or betrayal or trauma or tragedy. There is a story in John chapter 9 of a beggar with a dark past … but his story was about to change.
He was born blind. Unnoticed, unseen. If they did see him, they saw his limitation. Some saw his history. Some saw a problem to discuss and a theological argument to win. Jesus saw a man. Jesus touched him. The man was healed. His eyes made new.
Immediately, the religious crowd began to scoff. The Pharisees had their rules, their regulations, their systems, their accusations. They were more concerned about the religious Sabbath than the personal miracle. More concerned about control than compassion. More concerned about being right than seeing a man made whole.
They were men who knew the law. They knew they were more righteous than you.
They knew they were more holy than you. They knew they had the facts. They just didn’t see the truth.
Jesus warned us about comparing ourselves to others. He told the story of the religious man just like these Pharisees, who stood praying and essentially said, “Well, at least I’m not as bad as that guy.”
That comparison is deadly.
But another comparison may be even more dangerous. It’s the man who says of his future, “I’ll never be as good as that person. I’ll never measure up. I’ll never be clean enough, strong enough, holy enough, useful enough.”
That’s not the overcoming message of Jesus.
We all live with rules and regulations. We all know what it feels like to be measured, judged, labeled, and limited. The world keeps records. Religion keeps score. People remember your past.
But Jesus came to give us new life. A redeemed past and a bright future.
Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Cor. 5:17).
The man who was blind could now see. The men who said they could see were proved to be blind.
This man’s story is our story. The story of every man touched by Jesus. He had lived in the dark - and then the light came. Jesus, the light of the world!
Dark past, bright future.
Dark past, bright future!
This is why you and I do what we do. Across the world, men are hearing the Word, receiving truth, and finding a new future in Christ. Shame does not get the final word. Failure does not get the final word. Darkness does not get the final word.
Jesus is the answer. The Light has arrived, and freedom has come for the hearts of men. Men will live with a new story … I WAS BLIND, BUT NOW I SEE!
Thank you for standing with this brotherhood. Thank you for praying, supporting financially, believing, and helping carry this message to men who need the touch of Jesus.
The future is bright because Jesus is still changing men. From the darkness to the light on every street and in every heart.
Hope is alive, Hope has a name, Hope’s name is Jesus.
