“Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back praising
God with a loud voice” Luke 17:15.
In cataract surgery the lens inside
the eye that has become cloudy is removed and replaced with an artificial lens
to restore clear vision. David Lose, a blogger on the Internet, has used this
image to describe what happened to one of the lepers in Luke’s Gospel. He says
the leper who returned to say thanks to Jesus was not only healed of leprosy
but he also had cataract surgery
because his vision was cleared up and he was no longer suffering from a blurred
and cloudy vision.
Jesus was travelling to Jerusalem along the border between
Galilee and Samaria, in “no man’s land”, when he encountered a congregation of ten
lepers who cried out to him for mercy. Leprosy was a dreaded skin disease and
those afflicted were banished from the community to die a slow and painful death. On hearing their desperate
cry and without touching, bathing or instructing them to go and dip in the River
Jordan 7 times like Elisha told Naaman (see 2 Kings 5), Jesus told them: “Go
show yourselves to the Priests”. The priest was authorized to issue medical
certificate of health.
It was while they were on their way that “one
of them, saw that he was healed”,
and he “turned back praising God with a loud voice.” His eyes were
opened. He could “see clearly now” and could relate to the words of a song Jamaican
superstar, Jimmy Cliff, penned which says:
I
can see clearly now the rain is gone.
I can see all obstacles in my way.
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind.
It's gonna be a bright (bright) bright (bright) sunshiny day.
I can see all obstacles in my way.
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind.
It's gonna be a bright (bright) bright (bright) sunshiny day.
His
ability to see clearly had a dramatic change in him. Notice that he changed
direction; he turned around; he returned to Jesus rather than proceeding to the
priests; he praised God with a loud voice; he was satisfied with what Jesus had
done for him; he received the pronouncement that he was made whole. He was healed
of leprosy and given new sight.
Many,
even believers, need new sight. Have you experienced the occasional fogginess?
One of the results of the passing of Hurricane Matthew was a temporary cloudy vision.
Why? Well, Matthew was heading for Jamaica. The world saw it! Many expected the
worse. Friends and colleagues called and expressed hope for the best. While Matthew
passed Jamaica and there is no significant damage to life or property in Haiti approximately
900 persons died and sections of Haiti, Bahamas, Cuba and USA were destroyed.
Some
Christians hold the view that Jamaica was spared because Jamaica is blessed and
highly favoured and the “prayer warriors” prayed. My vision was cloudy. I needed
a cataract
surgery. My
cleared-up vision helped me to recognize that Jamaica and Jamaicans are no better
than Haiti and Haitians. God loves the people in Haiti, Bahamas, Florida, Cuba
just as much as he loves the people in Jamaica. God disapproves of sin and evil
in Jamaica and other countries. Such clear vision makes an incredible
difference to how we view our life, neighbours, work, world and worship.
Anyone actively engaged in this world
can't help but have his or her vision made foggy by some of the experiences.
There is so much pain, doubt, and hardship that it can be difficult to sustain
faith in a loving God. Natural disasters, the senseless murders of men, women
and children, the scamming, the refugee crisis, the cruelties of Isis, the atrocities
of Boko Haram, the increasing gulf between rich and poor, the endurance of
racism, the trafficking of young girls, slavery, challenges our faith in an
All-knowing, All-powerful and caring God. We develop cloudy vision.
This incidence shows that faith in Jesus
and obedience to his instructions are required if our eyes to be opened so we
can see clearly.
Thanks
ReplyDelete