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)
The construction of the tabernacle foreshadowed greater dwellings of God, which he keeps building by plundering the nations.
To those who try to impose their own rules on all Christians we should just say “No!”
God's presence in the early church produced awesome acts of community giving and healing but also an awesome judgment against hypocrisy and deception.
