Was Blind but now I see

WAS BLIND BUT NOW I SEE

When Jesus was ministering in Galilee, he healed three blind men.  One man was blind Bartimaeus 
Mark 10:46 And so they reached Jericho. Later, as they left town, a great crowd was following. Now it happened that a blind beggar named Bartimaeus was sitting beside the road as Jesus was going by. When Bartimaeus heard that Jesus from Nazareth was near, he began to shout out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
When Jesus heard him, he stopped there in the road and said, “Tell him to come here.”
So they called the blind man. “Be encouraged,” they said, “come on, he’s calling you!” Bartimaeus pulled off his old cloak and threw it aside, jumped up and came to Jesus.
“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked. The blind man said, “I want to see!”
And Jesus said to him, “All right, it’s done. Your faith has healed you.”
And instantly the blind man could see and followed Jesus down the road! 

Another man who was healed from blindness was healed by Jesus putting spit in his eyes
Mark 8:25. And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?” And he looked up and said, “I see people, but they look like trees, walking.” Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.

Another man healed from blindness by Jesus didn't have Jesus spit in his eye but rather Jesus spat on the ground and made mud.
John 9:7 As he was walking along, he saw a man blind from birth.
“Master,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it a result of his own sins or those of his parents?” “Neither,” Jesus answered. “But to demonstrate the power of God.
Then he spat on the ground and made mud from the spittle and smoothed the mud over the blind man’s eyes, and told him, “Go and wash in the Pool of Siloam. So the man went where he was sent and washed and came back seeing! 

Now for some speculation - We can imagine how these wonderful faith healings would have been compared and examined closely by Bible teachers (back then and still today) to discover the deeper meanings behind these experiences of faith. This would probably have given rise to earnest truth seekers and perhaps a few opportunists to hold a conference to discuss which was the most effective and appealing teaching method for being healed from blindness. After that conference three new denominations could very well have been formed all in the name of Jesus.  
There would have been the Bartamites the Spittites and the Muddites. 

The key to the Bartimite doctrine would be his throwing off the cloak before Jesus prayed. The historical context shows that this cloak that Bartimaeus was wearing was most likely an official begging coat for licenced beggars.
This could begin a new method of faith that could develop into some kind of practice still seen today about say, treading on your glasses while waiting in a prayer line with the expectation of being healed of sight defects. I watched this happen to two of my colleagues many years ago when I was in ministry training college. My two friends stomped on their spectacles as they received prayer from a visiting evangelist, and they had to go to the optometrist a few days later and each get a new pair of glasses. 

The Spittites. This doctrine would not only reveal truth concerning the spittle from Jesus’ mouth, which can speak of the living water of the Holy Spirit, but it would also introduce the new method of first praying, and then asking the person if they can see, and then laying on hands a second time to impart more faith for a better result.

The Muddites. The Muddite teaching emphasises that it was not only the living water of the spittle but it adds the method of mixing the spittle with the dust of the ground, which could speak of the Holy Spirit being joined to mankind. And furthermore, because the blind man had to wash in the pool of Siloam before he received his sight it could lead to the person being baptized into the local Muddite Assemblies church. 

However, what these three men really had in common was that they had been blind and now they could see - and they had all encountered Jesus and the love of God. Christianity challenges each individual to meet with Jesus in his or her own situation. The moment we make an exclusive doctrine out of a method we can bring division to the body of Christ. We place something else above Jesus and God’s love to indulge our own self-interest and it is like a market place of ‘get in on the latest and the best doctrine’ deal on offer. (only love conquers indulgent self-interest). 
Self-interest is a perfectly normal and responsible attitude for a person to have, to survive, stay as healthy as possible and be productive enough to do all this and to care for others. But when self interest becomes a problem of anxiety or wilfulness and me me me, and the dodgy doctrine deals have not worked the answer is to know that you are loved by someone who always acts for your best interest because they love you. That is what the Holy Spirit imparts to our hearts concerning Jesus and the Father.

Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus about being loving and wise in the teaching and applying of the truth of God’s word in the church. Paul wanted them to become a community of faith and love that expressed God’s love and faith and power into their world.

Ephesians Chapter 4:11-16. And he appointed some to be apostles and some to be prophets and some to be evangelists and some to be pastors and teachers of his word
12. Who would equip those who live for God to live a life of serving others (equip the saints for the work of the ministry) and be formed together for the expression of Jesus to the world.
13. Until we all come into the unity of the faith in the knowing of the Son of God, to become a complete person who measures up to having the fullness of Christ within us.
14. When this starts to happen, we won’t be like children tossed about in all directions and running here and there after every new alluring teaching from cunning teachers who load the dice to prosper their own ends and ambitions. 
15. But when truth is proclaimed, and it is empowered by God’s love it causes us as a body to grow and develop in oneness and harmony with Christ who is the head of that body. 
16. From this placement of the body with its head, which is Christ, comes the perfect collaboration of a completely balanced and effective body, as each part contributes the best it has in the best possible way so that the whole body becomes the expression of God’s love and power.

The early apostles and prophets and evangelists and pastors and teachers were ministries appointed by God that were trying to transition people from religion with its rituals and regulations into depending upon Jesus in a spiritual relationship with him.  They were talking to people from many different cultures and religions which all had written laws and rituals of some kind. These people had learned to feel more secure when they had ritual sacrifices and a ritual code of truth that specified exactly what method of application would get them some desired outcome or favour with God. That belief system was not faith in a living God, but faith in a methodology. Real faith is our believing in a living loving God who dwells within us working in our hearts to bring about his will in our lives as we surrender our needs and petitions to him. All those ministries I just mentioned spoke God’s word and trusted the Holy Spirit to teach each person how to hear from Jesus and how to live their life in partnership with him in a way that pleased the Father. This was something entirely new and scary because of the freedom that it brought.  But Jesus had said ‘I am the way the truth and the life’ and ‘no man can come to the Father except through me’ and that was the challenge that the apostles and prophets and pastors and teachers gave to every individual, to build up their faith in their walk with God.

When Paul was knocked to the ground on his way to Damascus to persecute Christians, Jesus told Paul that he had chosen him to be his apostle to the Gentiles, or non-Jews. Paul had to bring the revelation of ‘Christ in you’ to unbelievers who had a multiplicity of views on religion and God and spirituality. 
Paul set about laying down what was the first goal of the Church, which was to come into the ‘unity of the faith’ – ‘Until we all come into the unity of the faith in the knowing of the Son of God, to become a complete person who measures up to having the fullness of Christ within us’ (Vs.13) 
The Community of Faith does not judge or criticize another person’s genuine experience of Jesus, no matter how different it might be. Our ongoing conversation can be sharing the blessing of the ‘Jesus within us’ life. Paul wrote to the church in Rome commending them on their inner knowledge of Jesus and he was confident that they could speak comfort and wisdom into one another’s’ lives.  
Romans 15:14 I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to put one another in mind of God’s Word.
It is good for a local church gathering to have proven ministries in their midst that can encourage God’s people pastorally and prophetically and teach them in the counsel of God’s Word. And it is all about each one of us having a personal knowledge of Jesus being active in our lives. 
That kind of local church community is genuinely evangelical because the people live out the Gospel that speaks through their lives.

In the next verse (Vs.14) Paul warns us to not go after alluring teachings that promote methodologies for getting your prayers answered the way you want them to. All this does is bring about more division because people start focusing on the crafty methods to get their prayers answered rather than trust in the person of Jesus. The motivation behind these teachings/teachers is often human pride or ambition or financial gain and reputation.
Many of these methods, styles and brands of faith have been exposed in the last few years of this century and there is a lot of soul-searching going on now as people are being challenged to live for God and not for themselves.

There are many people seeking truth with a genuine heart and conscience that are of other faiths and spiritual practices. There are many who may have a concept of a God who is out there or up there somewhere and they must not be rejected and judged. God will judge each person one day and he alone knows their heart and conscience and their destiny. The Holy Spirit has been sent into the world to actively pursue the hearts of all of these people, as he did to Paul and has done to all of us.
But how sad it is that many seekers of truth see Christianity as divided and as worldly and as confused as any other religion. It does not have to be like that. 
We can be part of God’s drawing of people to himself as the one true God as we live in the ‘unity of the faith’ and allow Jesus to live out his life from within us. 
Paul writes to Timothy to encourage him about being part of this work of God.

1Timothy 2:1 The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Saviour God wants us to live.
He wants not only us but everyone saved, you know, everyone to come to the knowledge of the truth we've learned: that there's one God and only one, and one Priest-Mediator between God and us—Jesus, who offered his life in exchange for everyone held captive by sin, to set them all free, the evidence of this coming at the appointed time. This and this only has been my appointed work (I tell the truth I am not lying).

Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.