Do You Believe I Can Make You See?

After Jesus left the girl’s home, two blind men followed along behind him, shouting, “Son of David, have mercy on us!” They went right into the house where he was staying, and Jesus asked them, “Do you believe I can make you see?” “Yes, Lord,” they told him, “we do.” [Matthew 9.27-28]

A careful look at this passage may reveal a thought we should consider.

"Do you believe I can make you see?"

I always like to play with the emphasis on particular words in a sentence. For example, if I underline and emphasize any one word in the sentence directly above, it can change the emphasis of the whole sentence...

"Do you believe I can make you see?" Or,

"Do you believe I can make you see?" Or,,

"Do you believe I can make you see?" Or,

"Do you believe I can make you see?" Let's stop right there...

"Do you believe I can make you see?"

As I consider my responsibility to live and minister like Jesus, I must consider the last emphasis... Do people believe I  can make them see? Have I lived such a life before them -spoken with such authority and wisdom (as did Jesus) that they would believe I could bring healing to their lives?

Bear with me here. God is the healer. However, He uses men and women to do much of His work, right? But does He use just anyone? No. He uses those who have given themselves to be used! 

So, how we live our lives will either make people believe God can use us or not!

Consider Mark 6.1-6:

Jesus left that part of the country and returned with his disciples to Nazareth, his hometown. The next Sabbath he began teaching in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. They asked, “Where did he get all this wisdom and the power to perform such miracles?” Then they scoffed, “He’s just a carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon. And his sisters live right here among us.” They were deeply offended and refused to believe in him. Then Jesus told them, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his relatives and his own family.” And because of their unbelief, he couldn’t do any miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their unbelief.

There is something about knowing someone (or at least thinking we know someone). The people of Nazareth thought they knew Jesus AND IT AFFECTED JESUS' ABILITY TO DO MIGHTY WORKS! 

Think about this. I am not suggesting that Jesus had a bad reputation. But, you know what? Jesus had not begun ministry yet and so the people of Nazareth probably indeed knew Him as "a good boy" but certainly not as an authoritative miracle worker of God! 

Wow.

Father, help me to live a life that makes people believe...