From Old Testament times, the Jewish people knew that only God and his Messiah could open the eyes of the blind. However, over their long history, it had never happened. Therefore, when Jesus healed the eyes of a man born blind in John 9:1-41, he caused quite a stir. Some rejected the miracle as spurious, but the healed man held firm to what he knew to be true: "I was blind, and now I see." This is the same testimony of the simplest Christian whose spiritual eyes Jesus has opened to the truth. (sermon notes)
While forgiving is always costly, those who have been forgiven can and must forgive others in turn.
Through a series of mistakes by the disciples, Jesus taught them and us what following him is not.
Our little work of accepting each other in the church is part of the big work God is doing in the world.
