OPINION —
John tells in his gospel the story of Jesus restoring the sight of a man born blind. The man went home seeing, but when he told people Jesus had healed him, they did not believe him. The Pharisees refused to believe a sinner like Jesus could have opened the eyes of a blind man.
When Jesus heard the Pharisees had denounced the man and “threw him out,” He went looking for him. And John says, “when He found him,” Jesus revealed to the man his identity as the Son of God. The man promptly exclaimed, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshipped Jesus.
In that story we find three of the most precious words in the Bible: He found him! Jesus found him! Those three words explain the gospel. We were lost in the darkness of our sins but Jesus, God in flesh, came looking for us, to open our eyes that we might see His purpose for our lives.
John Newton was surely inspired by these same words when he wrote in “Amazing Grace” his testimony: “I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see.” Like the man born blind, He was lost but Jesus found him! Jesus opened his eyes so he could celebrate the “grace that appeared the hour he first believed!”
Study the gospels and you see that Jesus had a way of finding people and opening their eyes to see God’s will for their lives. He found Zacchaeus up in a tree and soon the miserable tax collector experienced the joy of a new way of life by trusting Jesus. He stopped cheating people and began caring for people.
Jesus found a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. She was thirsty for the love of God and as she talked with Jesus her thirst was satisfied by the truth he shared with her. She began drinking the living water of life. Soon she was so filled with joy that she left her water jar and went to town, telling people about Jesus. She had been blind, but Jesus opened her eyes.
The Pharisee Nicodemus was a brilliant member of the Jewish ruling council, but He was blind to God’s pathway into the kingdom of God. Jesus found him one night and explained to him “no one can see the kingdom of God unless He is born again.” The wise ruler’s eyes were opened. After Jesus died on the cross, it was Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea who tenderly removed Jesus’ body from the cross and placed it in a new garden tomb.
One day, Jesus encountered a man who had been an invalid for 38 years. When Jesus saw him lying by the pool of Bethesda, he asked him if he wanted to get well. The man said he had no one to help him into the pool when the water was stirred. Jesus said, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” John says, “At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked” (5:8-9).
Strangely, when people asked the man who had healed him, he had no idea it was Jesus, for our Lord had slipped into the crowd near the pool. Then John says, “Later Jesus found him!” Jesus found him! He explained to the man that it was He who had healed him and “The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well” (5:14-15). Jesus opened his eyes so he could celebrate the healing power of the Lord of heaven and earth!
At age 18, I felt called to preach and was soon found worthy of a license to preach. But I ran from God, enrolling at Auburn University to major in English and journalism. Looking back, I realized later I was hiding from God in places like the Press Box at Auburn on Saturdays. My part-time job was to assist the journalists who were covering the football games.
But Jesus found me. He called me out of that Press Box and said gently, “Walter, you can stop running; my plan is for you to preach the gospel.” I was blind to His will, but He opened my eyes. I yielded my life to His control and life has never been the same. Slowly, I began to understand that living as a servant of Jesus was my true identity.
Are you hiding from God? If so, Jesus is looking for you. When He finds you, if you are willing to trust Him, He will open your eyes to see God’s gracious plan for your life. Then, with unspeakable joy, you will begin telling others, “Jesus found me!”
