September 2 Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the LORD. Leviticus 19:14 In addition to the obvious injunction not to be hardened to those who are physically inflicted, blindness and deafness are pictures throughout Scripture of the spiritual insensitivity of a world that’s lost. Cursing the deaf is subtle. Do we have an attitude of cursing those who bother us, those who act worldly because their ears are closed to an awareness of God? How did Jesus deal with the deaf? Consider these words from the Gospel of Mark . . . And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him. And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue; and looking up to Heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain. - Mark 7:32–35 Jesus not only took the deaf man aside from the crowd and gave him individual attention, but He put His fingers in the deaf man’s ears and gave him an individual touch. Jesus didn’t have to touch him. He could have spoken the word and that would have sufficed, but had He done so, the deaf man wouldn’t have heard it. So He related to the man where he was. Then Jesus looked to Heaven, showing the man from whence his healing would come. That’s the pattern - touching people and relating to them where they are concerning their knowledge and understanding. When Jesus spoke, the man’s ears were opened. And as you and I speak the Word of God, spiritually deaf ears are opened as well. Second, we’re not to trip the blind. The concept of being a stumbling block is also seen in 1 Corinthians 8, where a controversy had arisen concerning meat that had been offered to idols before it was sold in discount markets. Looking for a good buy and knowing that idols were powerless to affect meat, some Christians would purchase the meat at discount prices. Others, however, said the meat was defiled and not to be eaten. Paul’s answer was that while believers are the freest of men, we’re not to use our freedom in a way that causes others to stumble. In any given situation, each of us will either be a stumbling block or a stepping stone. People will either be hindered in coming to Jesus or we’ll be stepping stones on their path to Him. Sometimes I feel we’re the ones with blinded eyes, the ones who don’t see people properly; we’re the ones with deaf ears, unable to hear the cries of lost humanity. How can the Lord make us more like Himself? Look again at Mark’s Gospel . . . And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought. And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly. - Mark 8:22–25 Sometimes I think we who have been touched by the hand of Jesus Christ, we who have received divine enlightenment, still see men as trees: trees that are in our way, trees that are to be cut down and used for our own purposes. How did Jesus solve this problem? He touched the blind man a second time and made him look up. And then the man saw every man clearly. You and I also need to look up, for when we fix our eyes on Jesus, we become like Him (1 John 3:2). When I don’t look up to the Lord, I’ll look down on men. I’ll see them as trees. But when I focus on Jesus, I will see people as He sees them.
Posted on: Mon, 02 Sep 2013 14:52:19 +0000
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