That Was Then, This is Now
Notes
Transcript
I love the stories of the Bible, one of my many favorites are the miracles of Jesus. My sister just had a baby Friday with many complications, I can see their hurt, fear, and worry. I can only imagine the young couple as they look down at the sweet little bundle placed in her arms by the midwife. Mom strokes the little boy's chin but notices he doesn't seem to focus on anything, but reasons that he was just born a few moments ago. As days go by the painful reality sets in that little junior is blind. What are they going to do, what about all their dreams and plans for the boy? They do the best they can, seek medical help but there is nothing the doctors can do. They teach him what they can, and then as a young man he is sent out to beg for his living. That's what he was doing that Sabbath morning when Jesus came by, he spit on the ground made a little clay and put it on the young man's eyes. He was then commanded by Jesus to go wash in the pool Siloam.
What is it like to be blind? Probably the end of many crude and rude jokes, it's not just that you can't see, you have no reference point of sight. There were no doubt great times of depression, fear, anxiety, guilt (what did I or my parents do to get this?) and then left to beg for his sustenance. That is the then, that was yesterday, that was earlier today.
He did what Jesus told him to do, and everything changed, it was a whole new world, suddenly he could see - flowers, trees, the clouds, food, people faces, I love the testimony he gives,
"Once I was blind, that was then….but this is now, now I can see. "
A lot of bad people have experienced that kind of change as well. Darkness to light - death to life, sinner to saint.
Peter
Paul
Zacchaeus
Nicky Cruz
You can be stuck in your past, or you can get over to now
We are not privy to all the details in the Bible, we are however, given the gist of what happened to poor Mary Magdelene, I don't know what it must have been like, but the poor lady was under terrible demonic possession. Now this can mean several things, she may have acted deranged, she may have been a fortune teller of sorts, however it was she was in a terrible place, working for the wrong boss, wanting to change but not being able to. Till Jesus came by - the helpless possessed lady was changed into a faithful disciple, supporter, and eye witness testimony of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Grace can take a Saul and make him a Paul,
Can take a Rahab the prostitute and make her the pure and holy ancestor of Jesus
Can take whatever we are and make us into the Masterpiece of God.
Grace can take the gangster and turn him into a preacher (Nicky Cruz)
Grace can take your painful, hurting then, and turn them into joyful bright nows.
I promise you if you are still living in your painful thens, come to calvary, Jesus can change it all.