[i]In following my last post, I thought it would be appropriate to share something which I saw this week in my morning devotions. In the providence of God I have been taking public transportation to work for some time now, and this has given me more time to devote to the reading of the Word and other Christian works.[/i]
In speaking with [i]Jehovah's Witnesses[/i] about the doctrine they teach concerning the resurrection of the Lord Jesus from the dead, they will sometimes make mention of the fact that the disciples did not always recognise Him after His resurrection. This can be rightly understood, not as they say, "that He had a spirit body", but as the scripture explains, for instance in Luke 24:16
[b][color=000000] ...their eyes were [u]holden[/u] [i]that they should not know him[/i].[/color][/b]
This week I saw something else which, though speaking to this point, spoke even further to me.
[b]Jesus hid Himself[/b]
[b][color=000000] Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour.[/color][/b]
Speaking to the Jews, after He had told them that Abraham had rejoiced to see His day, The Lord made one of the clearest declarations of His person and being found in Scripture:
[b][color=000000]Jesus said unto them,[/color][/b]
[b][color=660033]Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.[/color][/b]
It should be plain, as it appears it was to the Jews who heard these awesome words(for they intended to kill Him on the spot), exactly Who Jesus claimed He was. He did not, for instance, say 'before Abraham was, I was', although that would have been as accurate and unambiguous to His hearers as would be nescessary to remain honest, if He had intended to convey to them that He merely existed in some form, before Abraham. That isn't what He said though.
You and I know very well Who the Lord Jesus claimed to be when He uttered those powerfull words - even the same One that spoke to Moses from the burning bush:
[b][color=000000] And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.[/color][/b]
Well, that is fairly plain to see, isn't it? But in the next verse I noticed something else. I'd noticed it before, but as I saw it this time, and looked a bit closer, I noticed something I hand't seen before. Here's the next verse, John 8:59:
[b][color=000000]Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.[/color][/b]
Did you see that? Right there towards the middle.
It says
[color=000000]'Jesus hid himself'[/color]
Isn't that interesting? Now, like I said, I've noticed that before; I always thought, alright, He's the LORD, He hid himself and got away from them. But how? This time, as I examined this passage closer and thought about 'the how', something else stood out: see there afterwards it says He went [i]through the midst of them[/i] and even [i]passed by[/i]. Well now, how exactly did He do that? How did He just walk through a crowd of people who were threatening Him with rocks!
[b]Hidden, but not out of view[/b]
If that seems like a difficult question to answer, it gets even more difficult as you read on. You might notice that the next verse begins a new chapter. As I read this this week it was fresh in my mind that these chapter breaks are not in the original texts as I'd heard that mentioned somewhere recently. So if you read it without the break, the flow seems to be that Jesus [i]passed by[/i] [b]and[/b] [i]as Jesus passed by[/i]...[b][color=000000] he saw a man which was blind from his birth.[/color][/b] In other words, no inturruption.
Well, if that's true, then the next verse [b]really[/b] sticks out like sore thumb:
[b][color=000000] And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?[/color][/b]
What? How is it that the Lord just passed through an angry mob and now He's stopped to talk with His disciples about a blind man? How is it that they knew where He was, and even followed Him?
[b]Thou hast hidden these things[/b]
Something I've learned in being confronted with the Word of God as I read it(yes I do mean confronted) is that when you find a passage that seems to be contradictory, or strange, or just flat out impossible, that's a good indication that God has hidden something there and is inviting the honest seeker to do some digging. It could be that He is also setting a stumbling block before the the scoffer and the skeptic.
So, how is it the disciples knew who Jesus was and were asking Him about this blind man? How exactly did He hide Himself from the mob to begin with? I think the answer is the same as with the disciples, [i]after[/i] His resurrection - [b][color=000000] their eyes were holden that they should not know him.[/color][/b]
How beautifull is that, brothers and sisters - that while the Lord had hidden Himself from the view of those Who rejected His claims to Deity, He revealed Himself to those who embraced Him, to those who were His? What follows this is the story of a man who was blind from birth, whom the Lord Jesus heals. Isn't he in a sense like us all. Have we not all been blind from birth - blind to our own sinfullness and need of God?
The religous leaders were right when they said of the man
Yet, he recieved a double cure of the Lord, for he said to the Lord
and the scripture says [b][color=000000]he worshipped Him.[/color][/b]
But sadly, of the religous leaders, the Lord said
[b][color=660033]If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.[/color][/b]
[b][color=660033]...For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.[/color][/b]
Does the Lord Hide Himself today? And reveal Himself as He will? Maybe the Lord is hiding Himself from you brother, or from you sister. If so, we will be confident together that He does so for our good. And that He will shew Himself to us again, when the time is right. In the meantime, let us seek after Him, with all our heart.
[b][color=000000] Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour.[/color][/b]
Edited 08 Dec, 2006, 10 PM. [i]Changed 'different body' to 'spirit body' as I think this more accurately reflects my understanding of the beliefes of this group as I have encountered them.[/i]
