Beyond the Pharisees' Approval: A Miracle Embraced
John 9:13
They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind.
I can just feel the over-reach of abusive authority in the air as I read this verse. Here, a man who was blind from birth has received healing through the miraculous work of Jesus Christ, which would be reason for celebration for almost anyone, right? Well, ALMOST is the key word, because there was at least one group of people (namely, the Pharisees) that was not so happy about this healing. Why? Because it was all about control. Anything and everything that happened in their town was to either be run through them, or at the very least authorized by them. The temple was the epicenter of all Jewish life and customs, which affected not only their worship but their laws, their economy, their travels, you name it. This was the place where it was always happening. And the Pharisees had the community surrounding the temple well trained to bring any and all matters to their attention for their swift approval or disapproval. Now, this is where we come in on verse 13. Here they are, bringing this man who was healed of blindness to the Pharisees, as if some law was broken. Now, let that sink in; the over-reach of authority and power amongst the religious elite was so bad, that even a healthy, positive, wholesome event such as a miraculous healing, was to be scrutinized by these self-righteous individuals before it could be commonly accepted as a good or bad thing. Isn’t it amazing just how sickly skewed the perspective of such individuals can become, when power, authority, and greed take over their hearts? The truth was, “church” had just become routine, and the “powers that be” fought to remain so, because they loved to be seen, heard, and yes, even obeyed. And if there was to be any miracles looked at in a positive light, it would only be because they deemed it so. It mattered not to them as to the validity of the incident, because they just took for granted that they were the ones in power, and would always be the ones in power. The only problem with that was, their authority was weak and powerless in the light of this miracle-working man named Jesus Christ. In fact, Jesus neither sought for, nor was granted, the approval of these men in power. My advice, if you are under their spell, is to cut the strings TODAY!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill
They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind.
I can just feel the over-reach of abusive authority in the air as I read this verse. Here, a man who was blind from birth has received healing through the miraculous work of Jesus Christ, which would be reason for celebration for almost anyone, right? Well, ALMOST is the key word, because there was at least one group of people (namely, the Pharisees) that was not so happy about this healing. Why? Because it was all about control. Anything and everything that happened in their town was to either be run through them, or at the very least authorized by them. The temple was the epicenter of all Jewish life and customs, which affected not only their worship but their laws, their economy, their travels, you name it. This was the place where it was always happening. And the Pharisees had the community surrounding the temple well trained to bring any and all matters to their attention for their swift approval or disapproval. Now, this is where we come in on verse 13. Here they are, bringing this man who was healed of blindness to the Pharisees, as if some law was broken. Now, let that sink in; the over-reach of authority and power amongst the religious elite was so bad, that even a healthy, positive, wholesome event such as a miraculous healing, was to be scrutinized by these self-righteous individuals before it could be commonly accepted as a good or bad thing. Isn’t it amazing just how sickly skewed the perspective of such individuals can become, when power, authority, and greed take over their hearts? The truth was, “church” had just become routine, and the “powers that be” fought to remain so, because they loved to be seen, heard, and yes, even obeyed. And if there was to be any miracles looked at in a positive light, it would only be because they deemed it so. It mattered not to them as to the validity of the incident, because they just took for granted that they were the ones in power, and would always be the ones in power. The only problem with that was, their authority was weak and powerless in the light of this miracle-working man named Jesus Christ. In fact, Jesus neither sought for, nor was granted, the approval of these men in power. My advice, if you are under their spell, is to cut the strings TODAY!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill