Unnoticed

Do we really notice people we pass on the street?

Then he went and washed and came back able to see. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, 'Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?' Some were saying, 'It is he.' Others were saying, 'No, but it is someone like him.' He kept saying, 'I am the man.' But they kept asking him, 'Then how were your eyes opened?' He answered, 'The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, "Go to Siloam and wash." Then I went and washed and received my sight.' - John 9:7-11

What I like about this story today is that people doubted whether this guy who had received his sight was the same guy they passed by each day on the street.

No, it must be someone who looks like him.

They doubt their own memories, because they really didn't pay much attention to the man and his plight before.

Now that he was one of them, they were shaken.  What now?

The man went from being unnoticed to being noticed, and the people found that transition uncomfortable for them.  What do we do now?

The man was ignored by others, until he was cured and made like one of them. 

If we read this story and only see the miracle of Jesus healing the man, we may miss the bigger point.  The people are the ones in need of healing.  They are the ones who are blind.

They are us.

We are they.

Let us open our eyes and see.

More to come...