Jesus knew his authority and he used it for the benefit of others, not for himself nor to prove himself. Satan tempted him to benefit himself and to prove himself, but Jesus refused to do so then and continued to refuse to benefit from his own position. He had come to give his life as a ransom for many. While alive he blessed others with renewed health from disease and freedom from demons, but when he died he accomplished what men didn’t ask him for, a restored relationship with God, his Father. On one occasion, two blind men sitting on the road out of Jericho, cried out to Jesus for mercy. Jesus asked what they wanted. All they asked for was to have their eyes opened. However, they needed so much more and didn’t even know to ask. Then Jesus touched their eyes, they saw and followed Jesus. They could have gone their own way, but they didn’t. They followed Jesus. Their eyes were opened, but in that moment when they saw Jesus, they knew he was the one they had to follow.
All of us are like those two blind men sitting by the side of the road. We may think we know what we need and we pray to have that need fulfilled, but truly we need so much more. When Jesus died, he opened the way back to the position that we were created to fulfill. He opened the road to a restored relationship with God our creator and our Father, however just having the road open, is not enough. We must actively walk down that road. In order to have our eyes opened and to receive what we need, even those needs that we are ignorant of, means we must intentionally walk down that road and learn to live with Jesus. This is more than going to church and practicing spiritual disciplines. It involves at the very least allowing the Spirit of God to transform us into our version of Jesus. It involves doing things we never thought we would do and going places we never thought we would go. Through our response and involvement we allow the Holy Spirit to transform us and renew our minds. This process is not something we can accomplish on our own through our own efforts; it is a divine partnership. We do what Jesus sets before us to do and His Spirit does the changing in us as we cooperate with him. The amazing thing is that there is always more transformation that needs to take place on our journey with Jesus. There are always more corrections that Jesus’ Spirit reveals to us.
David Freitag 